St Ives Is suffered their sixth straight East League Division 1 defeat and are still rock bottom, but at least there were some positives to be had.

Not least that they were within sight of their first point of the campaign before Ford nicked it at the death.

Traffic problems led to a late start and as a consequence neither side had much rhythm to their game initially. The visitors got the only goal of the half, although St Ives did create a few openings. Better hockey from both teams in the second period, with Callum Cleland equalising from close range, Ford regaining their lead and James Lloyd expertly finishing a penalty stroke to square the scores.

It could have gone either way then, but typically for St Ives it went the way of their opponents.

It was a similar story for the second string, in that another defeat, this time 3-1 to Cambridge South I, left them second bottom in Division 3 NW. Paul Swannell scored the goal.

Simon Rees’s double and Rob Brand’s strike were not enough to save St Ives thirds from defeat as Cambridge Nomads II scored five. The fourth team continued their poor away form with a 5-0 loss to Cambridge City V.

The club’s ladies first team, in contrast to their male counterparts, enjoyed a 6-2 victory over North Norfolk I in their East League Division 1 North match. Their first win of the season lifted them to third from bottom.

By then it was all wrapped up, though, with Helen Seabourne and Emma Rushmer both claiming hat-tricks and fellow forward Holly Stride bagging the other two.