After two defeats last time out, the senior sides of Welwyn Garden City produced good performances to claim three points each in the East Hockey League.

The ladies left it very late to take the win away to Harpenden in Division Two South West.

It had been a tense game throughout with both sides seeing green cards flashed at various intervals.

And that full commitment from those in blue shirts, culminated with a goal that started with youngster Connie Dykes making a half pitch run and taking on Harpenden defenders.

It ended with her getting a cross into the D for Anna Geaves to hit it home, Amelia Brown making sure it had crossed the line.

It left a few minutes for Harpenden to try and get an equaliser but WGC keeper Erica Stovold made some crucial saves to ggive Welwyn the win.

Heather Veal took the player of the match award, closely followed by Fin McIntyre who produced plenty of skill to outfox her opponents.

Centre midfielders, Ruby Sanderson and Mel Evans also did an excellent job of tracking the opposition before making calculated tackles while Julieta Bonazza was another to show off strong stick work and move it round Harpenden defenders.

The men meanwhile were at home to St Albans and they too bounced back after the previous week's disappointment, winning 2-1.

Welwyn had welcomed back a couple of key players to boost confidence and they started the game well with some nice wing play from Paul Marchant and Teddy May.

St Albans did get more possession as the half wore on but they were held at arm's length, while it also allowed WGC to be dangerous on the counter.

And that was the route of the first goal. Good interplay between Dan White and Marchant, along with some confusion between the Saints defenders, let Nate Last run onto the loose ball and score into an empty net.

The second arrived just before the break, good battling from Nate McIntyre sent the ball towards Last again.

And he used the supporting Bryn Evans by not using him, going himself and round the keeper for a reverse shot and 2-0.

The second half saw a shift in momentum with St Albans and their young forward starting to find their feet.

Last and Evans almost made it three but Welwyn needed to do a lot more defending, most of which was very good.

However, the amount of possession for Saints was put to good use, Dan Klinger making a good stop but unable to prevent the rebound from going in.

Last almost sealed the win again on the counter but that was disallowed for an earlier infringement.

It made no odds though as Welwyn stayed strong to claim the victory.

For Potters Bar, there was mixed results, although most did have to comfort of being at home.

The one side who did have to travel were the men's first team, and after battling through road closures and traffic problems on the M25, they returned from Brentwood with a 6-1 defeat.

Richard Calver got the only goal as they stay bottom of Division One South.

 

The Ladies had started off the long day at Dame Alice Owens with a 3-1 loss to Bishop's Stortford, Nikki Hughes, on target, and the men's seconds also lost, beaten 6-2 versus Hertford after conceding three in eight second-half minutes.

Both Bar goals were scored by Flynn Jennings.

There was better news though for the threes and fours.

The thirds beat Cheshunt 4-2, Aryan Walia getting all four of them, while Andy Latham, Gabriel Banzuelo and Scott Alexander bagged the goals as the fourths beat Shefford & Sandy 3-0.