St Neots Hockey Club reports from Owen Edwards.

St Neots Men’s 1s narrowly scraped a 3-2 win over local rivals St Ives 2s in their season opener.

Saints looked dangerous from the start and created a number of goal scoring chances, but it wasn’t until midway through the first half when they took the lead.

A well worked short corner routine was finished by Rory Jones.

Saints failed to extend their lead, letting the visitors back into the game as they converted their own short corner.

Shortly after getting their equaliser, St Ives took the lead following another short corner putting the pressure on Saints as the game neared half time.

Just before the break, a good team move saw Nick Hipwell equalise for Saints on his return to the club.

In the second half, Saints continued to create chances but were denied by a string of good saves by the St Ives keeper.

Saints finally regained the lead when Michael Hornby fired in a rebounded shot from a tight angle.

Despite some late counter attacks from St Ives, Saints held on for the three points to get their season up and running.

After missing out on promotion last season, the Men’s 2s began this campaign with a 1-1 draw away to Wisbech 3s.

Shahbaz Ali scored for Saints on his league debut.

The Men’s 3s look to bounce back from relegation last season and started in the best way they could with a 6-0 thrashing of Wisbech Town 4s.

James Neuhauser scored his first for the club as one of three debutants, which included two 13 year olds.

David Martin and Paul Lawman each scored two, while Oliver Holmes also bagged a goal for himself.

After gaining promotion last season, the Women’s 1s started with a tough 4-0 home loss to Ipswich 2s.

In a reverse of fortunes, the Women’s 2s began their campaign with a 2-1 win over Pelicans 2s after suffering relegation last season. 

Co-captains China Forsdick and Sue Glover were both on the scoresheet.

Not to be outdone by her mum, Abbie Glover scored both goals in the Women’s 4’s 2-1 win at home to Ely City 3s. 

A hat-trick from Tanishka Chamberlain helped the Women’s 3s get off to a great start beating Newmarket 3s 5-0. Vanessa Wilson and Nicola Quincey scored the other two.