Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Bay beaten in 11-goal thriller
Herne Bay
Herne Bay were edged out after a dramatic finish, losing 6-5 to Gore Court 2nds to lie in mid-table in South League Kent Division 2.
The teams were evenly matched and it was 3-3 at the break and 5-5 in the dying minutes, only for the hosts to snatch a last-gasp winner.
Craig Dale’s hat-trick inspired the 2nds to a 4-1 win against Folkestone 4ths in Kent Open Premier B.
Bay’s third straight win kept them top of the table, with Paul Mcvey adding the other goal and young defender Shaun Lunn earning the man-of-the-match plaudits.
The 3rds went down 2-1 for the second straight week, this time at Marden Russets 3rds, to lose ground in Division 1.
A depleted Bay struggled to break down their hosts and were 2- 0 down at the break.
Though they improved in the second half but Adam Foster’s strike was a mere consolation.
Bay 5ths maintained their 100% record at the top of Division 4 after seeing-off the third-placed 4ths 4-2 at Herne Bay High.
Aaron White ran the show for the winners, scoring a hat-trick, though Mark Hart’s lethal finish was the goal of the game.
Dave White and Adam Foster scored for the 4ths.
Bay Ladies remain unbeaten and sit top of Kent League Division 1 after a 2-1 success at Gillingham Anchorians.
Sophie Forwood scored both for Bay to secure the points in Medway.
The 2nds climbed to third in Division 4 after their fourth straight win, a 3- 0 success against local rivals Faversham.
Bay 3rds are on an even more impressive run as their 2- 0 victory at Sevenoaks 7ths was a fifth in succession in Division 5.
The visitors made light of the weather conditions and strong opponents to break the deadlock just before half-time through Nicola Holmes’ well-struck shot.
The second-half was end-to-end with Bay twice clearing off their own line, however with 10 minutes to go the crucial second goal arrived when Alina Hallitschke pounced on a poor clearance to score from close range.
In a fine team effort midfielder Sam Mckinven was named playerof-the-match.
Canterbury’s over- 40s made light work of Herne Bay in the second round of the England Hockey National Over- 40s Cup at Polo Farm on Sunday.
The city club raced into a 2- 0 lead with two penalty corner conversions inside five minutes and though Bay competed, they could not take their chances against a solid home defence.
A third goal arrived on the break before half-time and after the turnaround the pattern of the first-half was repeated as two set-piece goals in quick succession made it 5- 0.
Bay pressed for a consolation goal but Canterbury had the final say with two late short-corner strikes.