Hockey round-up: Maidenhead men's 1sts renew top three charge with win over Wycombe

Maidenhead men’s 1sts renewed their charge for a top three finish with a 2-1 success at rivals Wycombe.

Much of the early possession was with the hosts, but they created few chances and struggled to break through Maids’ formation.

Their frustration started to show, with wild passes that were intercepted by the hard-working forward line of Steve Roe, Matthew Florida-James and James Luff.

This gave some fantastic counter-attacking chances to the visitors, one of which brought the first goal when Roe intercepted a pass and released Florida-James, who scored when one-on-one with the keeper.

Just before the half-time whistle, and perfectly timed from a Maidenhead perspective, a second goal was scored by Florida-James from a penalty corner drag flick.

Wycombe fought hard in the second half and pushed Maids to their limits.

A goal-line clearance from Phil Cowell ensured the hosts did not score until five minutes from time.

This set up a nervous finale but the visitors hung on to bag three points.

On Saturday, Maids host Wallingford.

*The men’s 2nds came from behind to draw 1-1 with Wyc- ombe thanks to a Duncan Small goal.

*Maidenhead Boyne Hill failed to take a host of chances as they drew 1-1 with Reading Rovers.

The home side put the visitors under the cosh in the first half, and led when Bruce McArthur exchanged passes with George Wallace and netted his fourth of the campaign.

But they lacked a clinical edge in front of goal and Reading sensed the opportunity of an upset, breaking in the second half to score on the counter attack.

A few further chances were mustered and the match finished 1-1 – a fair result but one that could have been different had Boyne Hill taken their chances.

*Maidenhead Mavericks beat Bromley & Beck-enham 4-2 after taking a grip on the game in the first half.

There were few chances in the first 20 minutes but eventually Mavericks went ahead when Adrian Hurley jumped on to an error and was taken out by the keeper for a penalty stroke, which was confidently dispatched by Brad Allen. The second goal came soon after with Roger Campbell following up at a well-taken short corner to flick the ball over the keeper.

Bromley scored early in the second half, but the two-goal lead was restored when Michael Carr scored a similar one-touch goal from a great pass from Merv Evans.

Bromley again hit back before Hurley scored Mavericks’ fourth goal to secure victory and maintain their fourth place in the table.

*At times Maidenhead Magicians were made to look pedestrian-like as they drew 1-1 with Wallingford 4ths.

Wallingford, a much-improved opposition to the side the Magicians faced on the first day of the season, forced Dave Taylor into making numerous first-half saves.

The hosts took the lead from a fiercely hit reverse stick shot, but the Magicians eventually found their stride and salvaged a draw through Oz’s drag flick equaliser into the bottom left-hand corner.

*Maidenhead Merlins were forced to come from behind to salvage a 3-3 draw with the Camberley Owls.

The final result stretched the Merlins’ unbeaten run in the league to five games after a testing start to their campaign.

The Owls led through two first-half goals. The first was conceded following poor Merlins’ defending and the second was rattled home from a short corner, despite keeper Ronnie Fuller’s best efforts to block it.

The Merlins got themselves back in the game through Andy Ivey’s first goal, and he notched his second a few minutes later from another well-worked Merlins’ move. The Owls grabbed the advantage back to make it  3-2, but Ivey completed his hat-trick with a trademark strike into the bottom corner, and their point was preserved thanks to a wonderful late save from Fuller.

*Maidenhead women’s 3rds pushed Oxford University 2nds all the way in their 3-2 defeat at the weekend.

The visitors began with real purpose and took the lead when Debbie Keel created space for a shot that flew past the Oxford keeper after six minutes.

Oxford equalised after only two minutes, and scored twice more in the second half to establish a commanding lead, but the visitors kept going and were rewarded when Keel slammed home from a rebound to make the final score 3-2. Player of the match was Maddie Jones.