HOCKEY Breaking sports news every day at www.kentonline.co.uk/sport Victory indicates progress Canterbury Marcano brace keeps run going

Canterbury men’s 1sts extended their winning run to five games across all competitions as they beat Cambridge City 3-1 on Sunday. Teague Marcano registered a brace while Tom Bean also got on the scoresheet to help their side remain second in the Conference East with 29 points. The 2nds, meanwhile, won 7-3 away to Bromley & Beckenham 2nds following a hat-trick from Michael Farrer. Goals from Callum Brown-lea, Jamie Tritton and a brace from Nick Buckingham helped seal the win as Canterbury moved above Old Georgians 2nds into fifth place in the table. The afternoon ended in defeat for the Pilgrims as they were beaten 2-1 by BBHC 1sts, whilst the 4th team lost 5-2 to Tunbridge Wells 2nds. Elsewhere Matt Hammond scored two on his birthday to help Canterbury’s 3rds towards a 4-3 win over Cliftonville 1sts. Josh Rollinson and Rich Sabin were also among the goals to assist their side in strengthening their grip on second place in Division 1. Efforts from Tyler Aitken, Chris Goulden and Alex Laslett were not enough to lead the Millers to victory as they were beaten 5-3 by Herne Bay 2nds. Canterbury 5ths lost 3-0 at Open Premier B leaders Tunbridge Wells Vets to remain in eighth and still one point behind Old Williamsonians 3rds. The last-placed Griffins played out a 3-3 draw with the latter after goals from Arran Brice, Ollie Boswell and Nathan Fox ensured they remain one point behind Maidstone 3rds. Canterbury’s Squires had no reply for Maidstone 4ths’ five goals in their Open Division 1 clash. They failed to close the gap on third-placed Folkestone Optimist 5ths. Craig Boyne believes Canterbury’s 3-1 win over Cambridge showed how far the team has progressed this season.

Two goals from Teague Marcano and one from Tom Bean ensured the side remain in second place in the Conference East Division.

The result follows up November’s 1-1 draw in the corresponding fixture in boosting Canterbury’s promotion hopes.

“It was a good sign of development and a relatively comfortable game for us which was good,” Boyne said.

“Last time was disappointing as we didn’t play near to the level we can but we were always in control this time round.

“It’s nice that we were able to get a comfortable win even though we could have played better. To be able to get results with an average performance can be important.”

Boyne pinpointed the ability to operate quickly in compact areas as a component his side will continue to work on.

“Their press wasn’t amazing and that is still something we need to work on in terms of beating the press and getting out of tight situations.

“We are now in a strong position, we’ve made the top six like we set out to so now we’d like to finish second.

“There’s no real pressure on us to fail but we kind of put pressure on ourselves to finish well.

“There needs to be a maturity in terms of still getting results even if we aren’t playing our best.”

Canterbury will continue their season on Saturday away to Teddington, who they lost 4-3 to back in November.

Assessing the game, Boyne added: “They’re still fighting.

“They had a key midfielder in Chris Seddon last time but he’s not there now.

“It just didn’t come together for us against them last time and we came away from that game quite disappointed, but we are a much better team now than we were back then.

“They were much better than we were in that game, but this is a good opportunity to make up for it.”

Canterbury’s strength in numbers is now set to be put to the test as they juggle their league duties with preparation for the Adult Tier 1 Championship final.

“There have been a few school tournaments lately so there have been a few small injuries to come out of that. We have the depth throughout the team though to make changes.”

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BOSTIK SOUTH EAST

PWD L F A Pt Cray Wdrs..... 28 22 5 1 63 22 71 Horsham....... 29 17 4 8 53 33 55 Ashford......... 28 17 3 8 58 27 54 Hastings ....... 29 16 5 8 60 38 53 Haywards H .. 28 15 7 6 55 38 52 Hythe............ 29 12 7 10 54 47 43 Whyteleafe.... 28 12 5 11 50 40 41 VCD .............. 27 13 2 12 51 50 41 Ramsgate ..... 29 9 9 11 46 44 36 Phoenix Sp ... 28 9 9 10 50 54 36 E Grinstead ... 29 9 8 12 49 54 35 Sittingbrne.... 28 11 2 15 43 50 35 Sevenoaks.... 28 9 7 12 38 42 34 T Bridges ...... 29 9 4 16 44 60 31 Herne Bay..... 28 9 3 16 52 69 30 Faversham.... 29 8 6 15 43 68 30 Whitstable .... 27 7 8 12 24 43 29 Guernsey ...... 28 7 5 16 39 59 26 Greenwich .... 29 7 3 19 34 68 24 Results: Saturday: Ashford 3 Ramsgate 0, Cray Wanderers 2 Horsham 0, East Grinstead 1 Herne Bay 1, Faversham 0 Phoenix Sports 0, Hythe 1 Whyteleafe 0, Sevenoaks 0 Sittingbourne 1, Three Bridges 2 Greenwich 0, VCD 0 Hastings 2, Whitstable 3 Guernsey 1. Fixtures: Saturday: Ashford v East Grinstead, Faversham v VCD, Greenwich v Horsham,horsham Hastings v Cray Wanderers, Haywards Heath v Whyteleafe, Herne Bay v Guernsey, Hythe v Ramsgate, Phoenix Sports v Sevenoaks, Whitstable v Sittingbourne.

FA VASE Semi-final first leg Fixture: Sunday:

Canterbury.

SOUTHERN COUNTIES EAST LEAGUE Premier Division