Hockey: Hampstead & Westminster women win again

Hampstead & Westminster’s women made it six wins out of six with success at Cambridge City.

Expecting their toughest test of the season so far against fourth-placed City, they struggled to keep their structure during a frantic, fast-paced first half.

Hampstead turned over possession too often, but neither side could break the deadlock and the scoreline remained blank at the break.

After changing their tactics, Hampstead came out strong in the second half and forced a penalty corner within five minutes.

A new umpire had to be summoned from the sidelines when one suffered a calf injury, but when play restarted, Hampstead took the lead as Annabelle Driver deflected home.

With a lot more composure and most of the possession Hampstead doubled their lead with a field goal by Joyce Esser.

And although Cambridge upped their attacks in the final minutes of the game, the Hampstead defence remained strong to hold on for a 2-0 win and remain top of the table with a 100 per cent recrod.

Hampstead return to Paddington Recreation Ground on Saturday to entertain Harleston Magpies.

The men grabbed a much-needed point from their Premier Division contest with East Grinstead.

Last season saw two tightly contested fixtures between the sides and Sunday’s latest meeting in Maida Vale was no different.

Hampstead opened the scoring after just eight minutes when Ireland’s Chris Cargo robbed an East Grinstead full-back of the ball and cooly finished to give the home side the lead.

But it took the visitors just 10 minutes to level the scoring through Chris Griffiths and they took the lead shortly after the break.

Hampstead threw everything at their rivals, but they couldn’t force an equaliser until Mickie Watt put away his fifth goal of the season with just six minutes left on the clock to grab a vital share of the spoils after some narrow defeats in recent weeks.

Hampstead & Westminster travel to Reading on Saturday.