HARPENDEN 2 WITHAM 2

East League division 2S

James Suett’s late goal rescued a point for Witham Hockey Club’s men’s first team to take them closer to their principle target of avoiding relegation this season.

Witham, who are sponsored by Omars of Hatfield Peverel, weren’t helped by the late arrival of a few players and it meant that Harpenden came out of the blocks far quicker than them.

The first half was very much played in Witham’s half and the visitors could count themselves lucky to only be 1-0 down at the break to a goal that came after 15 minutes from a short corner. The second half was far more competitive, though, and Witham could have won the game but for some poor finishing.

They played a higher tempo game while the hosts tried to wind the clock down, but the umpire finally had enough.

Witham tried to take a quick free-hit but a Harpenden defender slapped the ball away and was sent to the sin-bin.

Minutes later they were down to nine as another attempt at slowing down play was chalked up and with Witham now in control, they drew level with a goal from Suett.

Skipper Richard Marshall should have then made it 2-1 after Chris Smith dispossessed a defender and squared the ball across the D, but Marshall put it wide.

Smith had an identical chance on the other side of the pitch, however, he put his shot wide too, Suett then hit the post from a short corner and Mike Taylor missed a one-on-one opportunity.

After the chances had gone begging, Witham were made to pay for them as Harpenden scored to make it 2-1.

Andy Holm had been sent off for a deliberate foot and a short corner was then slotted away by Harpenden to give them the lead with four minutes remaining.

Fortunately Witham kept their heads and kept the pressure up, winning one short corner that couldn’t be converted and then another in the final minute that saw Suett come to the rescue by cracking home a superb drag flick into the corner to make the final score 2-2.

Man-of-the-match Suett said: “This was a poor day for Witham in terms of the way that we played for much of the game.

“It was our worse performance for some time, however, we dragged out a point so we can’t be too downbeat and we maintained the gap on the teams below us.”