Haslemere Ladies 4, Aldershot & Farnham 0

DESPITE being without talismanic coach Peter Crook, Halsmere Ladies bounced back from last week’s disappointing defeat against Eastbourne by thrashing derby rivals Aldershot & Farnham in Division 3B of the South Hockey League.

The goals were scored by skipper Sarah Elworthy, Rebecca Mitchell, Donna Read and Abbie Walhen.

The first 10 minutes was a cagey affair with both teams enjoying good periods of possession and testing the resolve of the respective defensive lines, but with a deep bench and some astute tactical substitutions by assistant coach Heidi Wells it was Haslemere who struck the first blow.

Some neat inter-play and a searing run by Alice Toynton down the left flank resulted in Aldershot & Farnham conceding the first short corner of the match which was duly dispatched to the keeper’s left by the ever-reliant Elworthy.

And Haslemere quickly doubled their lead, attacking down the right through Hall and Williams before a rocket of a cross from Read found the end of Mitchell’s stick as she steered it into the back of the net.

This served as a wake-up call for Aldershot & Farnham who started to find their rhythm, but the defensive trio of Hutchings, Edwards, Knight and Walhen, marshalled by the vocal Daniels in goal, repelled everything that was thrown at them.

Wells called for intensity, retention and distribution from the home side during the break and they were quick to deliver early in the second half as Entiknap, Cross, Gribble and Bernays linked majestically to set up Read for the third goal.

But the goal was contentious as Read made a deep run to the base line before finding the net from a tight angle, amid protests from A&F who thought the ball had crossed the base line.

And happy Haslemere rounded off the scoring as Walhen converted a short corner to wrap up a convincing win to move up to fourth in the league.