HOCKEYHaslemere 3, IW 0
HAVING lost some key players to injury, this fixture against one of the league’s top sides was always going to be tough.
The Island started in determined fashion with Tony Howsam and Stuart Allen dominating the midfield. The two linked well to set up Tom Young whose effort was saved well by the Haslemere keeper.
At the other end of the pitch Lewis Heaven-Gandy was forced off with injury after bravely taking a succession of drag-flicks to various parts of his anatomy.
Steve Woodford suffered a stick to the face but managed to play on despite seeing a few stars.
The re-shuffle in the ranks gave Haslemere a little more space to play and they managed to scramble a goal just before the break.
Tom Young had a chance to level after he was put clean through by Steve Johnston but his effort snuck just wide.
The second half descended into somewhat of a scrap with some less-than-sporting play from the home side and after they scored their second, heads could easily have gone down.
But the Island battled throughout with passion and determination that in games gone by would have picked them up points.
Alex Foye went close for the Island with a drag flick that whistled just wide, before the IW conceded their third.
Blandford 9, IW II 0
IW were overcome by a Blandford side blessed with a star player, who scored six and had a hand in creating the rest.
On a hard pitch, IW II found themselves 4-0 down at half time with Blandford’s outstanding forward scoring three of the goals, including a reverse-stick strike that could grace any international match.
Despite IW II dominating the first part of the second half, Blandford added five more before the final whistle, with their hot-shot forward netting a second hat-trick.