SAFFRON WALDEN II 2 WITHAM 4

East League division 3SE

Witham Hockey Club's men stamped a psychological blow on Saffron Walden as a dominant second- half performance saw them beat their rivals and leapfrog them to the top of East League division three south east.

The game started off at a fast pace with neither able to dictate pace or direction, with the ball being frantically sprayed around the pitch.

In the end, it took a short corner to break the deadlock, when James Suett and Richard Marshall saw shots saved in quick succession, only for Suett to finally sweep it home to make it 1-0 to Witham.

Saffron Walden then upped their game and Neal Hadgraft had to pull off a string of solid saves to keep them at bay as Witham were guilty of holding on to the ball and giving away cheap possession.

That ultimately led to an equaliser.

Hadgraft made a great save, which looped into the air and, with all players waiting for a short corner to be given, no whistle came and Saffron Walden capitalised and struck home to make it 1-1 at half-time.

Knowing they had to move the ball on quicker, Witham began to dominate much more with the middle trio of Andy Holm, Tom Wilsher and Marshall imposing themselves on the game.

Tom D’Arcy-Smith, Karl Khan and Hugh Loy were also giving much better performances and it wasn’t long before Witham took a 2-1 lead.

It came from a short corner again, which was drilled to Loy, who finished from close range.

With Witham frustrating Saffron Walden attacks, they extended their lead when Wilsher drove home from the top of the D.

However, the home side managed to get on the scoresheet again with a well -struck reverse hit that evaded the Witham defence.

That should have made it a tense last ten minutes, but Paul Bellehewe pushed the ball towards goal and the Saffron Walden goal keeper inexplicably stepped over it assuming that Bellehewe had been out of the area.

Unfortunately for the hosts, Bellehewe had been a good yard inside and the umpire had no option but to give the goal to make the score 4-2. They then stood firm and easily saw out the final minutes to go top of the league.

Man-of-the-match Holm said: “The second half was important to impose our hockey on to Saffron Walden as we knew we could dictate the play far more convincingly than the first and it was good to see that the game plan set was carried out.”

Witham entertain Clacton on Saturday knowing that they need to build on their performances to ensure that they stay top of the league.

All support will be welcomed at Bramston for a 2pm start.