BRAINTREE 2

EAST LONDON IV 2

East League division 4SE

BRAINTREE Hockey Club men's first team had their first East League division four south east fixture since mid-December and returned with a 2-2 draw against East London.

Despite cold weather cutting down training opportunities, Braintree started well, with chances in the opening minutes and they opened the scoring with a well worked penalty corner converted by Gaz Luxton.

The rest of the first half saw chances for both sides but neither have were able to add to the score sheet at the break.

The start of the second half was similar to the first and Ed Candler made it 2-0 with an accurate strike low across the goal into the far corner.

East London stepped up their line, though, and pressured Braintree's defence when in possession.

This and tiring legs resulted in Braintree's loss of composure and East London started to create pressure on the Braintree goal.

Within 20 minutes they had brought the scores level and that was how it stayed at the final whistle.

A draw was probably the right result for both teams' efforts, as Braintree look to chase down on a growing gap to the top teams in the division.

BRAINTREE KNIGHTS 3

MALDON III 1

East League division 9SE

THE Braintree Knights had a strong return to form against Maldon in East League division nine south east.

The team was almost back to full strength, with the luxury of two substitutes

The defence held up well against some strong attacking moves from Maldon, with centre back Graham Douglas tackling ferociously to break up many of their attacking moves and some great saves form Bob Freeman in goal.

With a 1-0 lead at half-time, which came thanks to a strike from top scorer Trevor Waspe, the Knights went on to win 3- 1.

Waspe added a second after the break and Duncan Fielding got Braintree's third.