Ashmoor men’s 1st XI deliver an entertaining draw

ASHMOOR men's 1st XI travelled to face Team Bath at their university venue, and despite the absence of Lewis Hammett, Fletch Naisbett-Jones and Sol Bloomfield, produced a really good team performance, especially in a dominant second half.

Cullen Turner made his first appearance of the season in Ashmoor's defence, and brother Dec also received a call-up after Tom Conway failed a late fitness test.

Ashmoor started the brighter and took the lead after good work from Cullen Turner. He fed Spencer Baxter who rolled his marker well and buried his shot confidently to make in 1-0 after six minutes.

However, Ashmoor switched off and Bath were level just three minutes later. Jasper Bubb in the Ashmoor goal made a good save from an initial shot but nobody picked up the rebounder and he forced his shot home for 1-1.

Theo Bennett then had a good 1-on-1 chance but was denied. With quarter time approaching, Bath produced a copycat goal - a shot followed by a rebound, although there were suspicions of a Bath foot before the striker buried his shot.

Bath continued to press and had the game's first penalty corner but it was well defended by Ashmoor.

In the second quarter, Ashmoor enjoyed good spells of possession, but weren’t successful with the final pass to create many scoring opportunities.

Ashmoor changed it up at halftime and it produced immediate dividends. Ashmoor won their first penalty corner but skipper Jamie Bishop fired just wide.

As three-quarter time approached, Cathan Wherry also forced a save from the Bath keeper with a deflected effort.

Ashmoor needed a really concerted final quarter and they thought they had equalised in the first minute. Rich Fisher squared his pass, Euan Jones deflected it towards the far post, where Baxter was on hand to put it away.

However, the umpire ruled he had seen a foot in the buildup and to Ashmoor's dismay it was cancelled out.

Ashmoor remained on the front foot though and sustained pressure led to a second penalty corner. This time Bishop's effort was good enough to beat the keeper, but the defender on the line made a great save to deny the Ashmoor captain.

Wherry got to the attempted clearance and won another penalty corner. This time the ball came to Rich Fisher and he fired his shot into the net - the goal didn’t stand having been deemed not to have come out of the shooting circle first.

Ashmoor were piling on the pressure and this time Bishop scored from another penalty corner to give the away side a richly-deserved equaliser.

Minutes later, the best move of the game led to a golden chance for the winning goal.

Player coach Jack Dinnie got in round the back and played in Bennett steaming through from defence. He looked certain to score with the goal gaping but put his effort agonisingly wide.

With time almost up, Bath were awarded a dubious penalty corner chance but Bubb pulled off a great save to leave the final score as an entertaining 2-2 draw. Ashmoor remain unbeaten away from home in the West Conference.

The Pallex Player of the Match award went to youngster Spencer Baxter who had a standout game in a good team performance.

In the club's other matches, Ashmoor women's 1st XI produced a good performance in a 3-1 defeat to Kingsbridge & Salcombe W1s.

Tilly McEwen drew Ashmoor level just after half time, before Kingsbridge scored two more to make the difference at the end. Ashmoor ladies Player of the Match was Evie Lockett for a steely performance.

Meanwhile Ashmoor's new Women's 2nd XI Development team, a lovely mixture of youngsters and more mature 'back to hockey' players, produced another encouraging result.

In their home game against Ocean City W4s the team gelled superbly - Emma Silk got her first ever Ashmoor goal, and Daisy Dray netted another.

Ella Hubert was unstoppable in grabbing the other five! The team are now joint top of Petroc League Division 3. The Player of the Match award was jointly shared between Silk & Dray.

Ashmoor men's 2nd XI started well in their match against Torbay M1s, combining well to score early on through new signing Ben Handley.

However, despite good pressure, they couldn’t add to this. They were left to rue their misses when Torbay ghosted in to equalise midway through. The second half was one way traffic with the away side countering well and exposing Ashmoor on the break.

The scoreline wasn’t a true reflection of the game and Ollie Brown scored a classy consolation goal for Ashmoor at the end to make it 7-2.

Ashmoor men's 3rd team produced their third win, and kept yet another clean sheet, this time with a 5-0 win at Isca.

Captain John Lilley led the way with two goals, the others coming from Ali Wood, and Harry Easthope plus Player of the Match Alex Southgate. The 3rd XI find themselves currently unbeaten and jointly heading up Riviera League Division 2.

In the 4th team's game against Ocean City M4s, Kian Stevens got his first goal of the season to give captain James Bromfield's side the lead.

After the break, Ocean City equalised, but Steve Dinnie played in Nick Edmeades for the deserved winning goal in a 2-1 final score. The Player of the Match award went to son Theo Edmeades who worked hard all game in Ashmoor's midfield.

This Saturday, the men's 2nd team are at home to Sidmouth & Ottery 1sts, whilst the 3rd XI aim to maintain their 100% record at Exeter M4s. The 4th XIs travel to play Exeter M5s Development team.

The Ashmoor women's 1st teams have a home match against Ocean City W2s, whilst the 2nd team have another home game, also against Ocean City W5s Development team.

Then, on Sunday, the Ashmoor men's 1st XI have a mouth-watering clash against top of the table Marlow 1st XI. The EHL match is a 1:00pm start at their Totnes base - it's free to see and all supporters are welcome.

Images courtesy of Mark Lockett Photography.