All the latest hockey news from the North West League

Mar 17 2010 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

LONG-time leaders of the North West League, Neston South Wirral, surrendered top spot as they were held to a disappointing 3-3 draw at Tameside.

Things started positively enough, with Neston taking the lead when Dan Khedun guided home his 15th goal of the season after good work from Mark Donnelly down the left. Against the run of play, Tameside grabbed an equaliser when the Neston defence was caught napping to allow Andy Wareham to fire in. This inspired the home side, and they went 2-1 in front at the interval as another lapse in concentration let Wareham in for his second.

After the break, the game became increasingly stretched, and Rob Cookson took advantage to make it 2-2. Neston had several opportunities to grab the lead before Rogier Van Der Ouderaa finally put them in front from a well worked penalty corner. However, Neston's inability to close out games has long been an achilles heel, and Zach Finn punished their gung-ho approach to level the scores again. In the final ten minutes, Neston laid siege to the home goal but they couldn't sneak a winner, as Cookson and Lawrence McNeight were both denied by stunning saves from the Tameside keeper.

Just four points separate the top five teams in the league, and the promotion issue is far from clear. Neston would be expected to take maximum points from their final game at already relegated Liverpool University, but several of the current squad are fully aware that the students ended their last serious promotion challenge five years ago. Even a win may not be enough, as three of the leading teams still have a game in hand, and the league will not decide the number of promotion places until after the conclusion of the National League relegation play-offs.