Telford & Wrekin hit back to secure a point on road

They will start the clash sitting second in the standings, five points behind leaders Stourport following last weekend’s battling draw at Sutton Coldfield.

Telford, who were depleted by injuries, showed plenty of character to battle back to share the spoils after trailing 3-1 early in the second half.

Dave Tracey had fired them in front during the first half when he netted the rebound after Tom Mallett’s low effort had been saved.

Sutton replied with two goals in quick succession before half-time and then extended their lead after the break.

But Telford rallied and Liam Hennessy dragged them back into the game with a superb effort that found the bottom corner.

The visitors then piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser and their efforts were rewarded when Sean Huffer teed up Tracey for his second goal of the game.

Ed Fowler was the star of the show as Newport bagged the Shropshire bragging rights and climbed to the top of the Midlands Hockey Division Eight North West standings.

Fowler led the charge with a four-goal salvo during an impressive 7-0 success against Shrewsbury on Saturday.

Ash Williams also netted twice and Sam Haigh once to helps secure a seventh win in nine outings for unbeaten Newport.

Shrewsbury started the game brightly, but failed to test Newport’s defence. The hosts then started to settle and opened the scoring courtesy of a reverse stick strike from Williams.

Newport continued to attack and quickly doubled their lead thanks to a tidy finish from Fowler.

Fowler then added his second of the day after rounding the keeper to make it 3-0 at half-time.

Williams added goal number four before Fowler completed his hat-trick on the 60-minute mark. With the game now out of sight, Fowler tucked away Newport’s sixth and his fourth before Haigh completed the scoring with a lovely first-time lob over the keeper.

Ludlow bounced back to winning ways in Midlands Hockey Division Four West.

After being edged out by Olton & West Warwickshire the previous week, Ludlow came out on top of a keenly-contested clash with visiting Burton.

Despite missing skipper Sam Pratt, some excellent early team play resulted in Ludlow bagging an early goal. Tom Blount was the man on target.

Ludlow continued to dominate the first half but failed to finish off their good approach play with further goals.

Burton improved in the second half and dragged themselves back on level terms.

But Ludlow rallied and secured the points late on when Ben Crump struck following a penalty corner.

Ludlow, who are sixth in the standings with four wins and four defeats, are away to Solihull Blossomfield on Saturday.

Shaunagh Yarham was the star of the show as table-topping Ludlow Ladies chalked up another victory.

Yarham hit the back of the net twice to help secure a 4-2 victory over City of Birmingham.

The mother and daughter combination of Helen Braden and Tilly Braden added Ludlow’s other goals.

Whitchurch are braced for a crunch clash with North West Hockey Division Five South Central title rivals Knutsford.

The top two in the standings meet tomorrow with hosts Whitchurch looking to extend their one-point advantage at the top of the standings.

Whitchurch emphasised the gap between the top and bottom of the division last weekend by recording a crushing 9-0 win at Golborne.

And table-topping Whitchurch even played the first quarter-of-an-hour without a keeper after Paul Leigh got caught in traffic on the M6.

However, fielding an additional outfield player actually gave the visitors a competitive edge against an under-strength Golborne outfit, who had to call up players from their third team to make up the numbers.

Jack Barnes and Luke Beddow led the victory charge with hat-tricks while Chris Ruscoe scored twice and Tom Forster once.

Whitchurch Ladies tasted defeat on home soil as they lost 2-0 to unbeaten league leaders Cheshire Blues.