Oxton hockey club have a weekend of mixed fortunes, with defeat in the league but victory in the cup

Nov 3 2010 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

OXTON hockey club men’s first team had a double header at the weekend and although they put in two good performances had mixed results.

In the Northern Premier League on Saturday they entertained Yorkshire side and promotion rivals Wakefield.

The home side started brightly creating plenty of chances and having lots of possession but they couldn’t break down Wakefield’s defence.

Wakefield were superior in one department – they took what few chances they had. At half time they were 3-0 ahead thanks to two short corner routines and a hotly disputed penalty flick.

In the second half Oxton continued to pressure the Wakefield defence, but again several chances went begging. At last with ten minutes to go they pulled a goal back through Dave Bailey after good work from Anto Rawlinson. But it was too little too late and Wakefield were glad to hear the final whistle to move above Oxton in the table.

On Sunday Oxton played host to London side Indian Gymkhana in the national HA Cup. The visitors are top of their league, one higher than Oxton, so this was going to be a stern test.

But in a rousing performance in which all sixteen squad members played their part Oxton came out deserved 2-1 winners.

Although they fell behind to a well worked goal after 20 minutes and survived several short corners, Oxton began to rattle the visitors with their movement and robust tackling.

Twenty minutes into the second half Oxton deservedly drew level, skipper Gordon Moore hammering home from a short corner. Oxton sensed victory but the game was to go into extra time, and the game became increasingly fractious and tense, both sides going for he golden goal winner.

Finally a couple of minutes into the second period of extra time Oxton scored the winning goal. Another short corner was saved by the Gymkhana keeper but Sam Cooke reacted quickly to return the ball back into the area where Dave Given tapped in.

A Dave Lawless hat-trick helped the second team to a 5-1 win at Prescot, Alex Muir and Tom Hughes with the other goals. A hat-trick from Simon Moore helped the thirds defeat Lytham 2s 6-2. The fourth team stayed top of their league with a 6-2 against Neston South Wirral thirds.

NICK FLYNN