2023/24 Season - Week 20

Photo credit: Martin Wootton

Blueharts Men’s 2s closed in on the East Division 2 South West title – but had to do it the hard way against Welwyn Garden City at Lucas Lane on Saturday.

Blueharts dominated possession in the first period but went into the break a goal behind.

But the Hitchin side regrouped and goals from Kyle Watson and James Morris saw them over the line, along with a dominating midfield performance from Chris Nicholls.

The 2s are now six points clear of St Albans having lost just once in their 18 games this season.

The Men’s 1s also had a successful Saturday with a 3-1 win at Dereham.

The Blues took the lead after a flowing move started by man-of-the-match Sam Rees was finished off with a deft deflection from Ethan Gaunt.

Dereham levelled and the 1s had to dig in with some resolute defending from Dan Fair and goalkeeper Alex Ford.

Their work paid off at the other end as Graham Burr scored for the 1s to take the lead again and the win was sealed with a drag flick from Ben Apperley.

The win moves Blueharts second in the East Premier Division, above local rivals Letchworth.

And it was a successful Saturday for the Ladies 1s after a 1-0 win at Chelmsford.

Both sides threatened to score in the first half but after the break the decisive moment came from Liv Byford who converted a penalty corner routine for the only goal of the game.

Isla Campbell gave the opposition defence plenty of headaches and Emily Fair came close to doubling the lead.

The win lifted Blueharts up to seventh in their first season back in the East Premier Division, and the team dedicated their win to coach Stefan Taylor as he recovers from back surgery.

The Ladies 3s were involved in a tightly-fought local derby against Stevenage, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 down to earn a 2-2 draw with skipper Rachel Campbell and Meme Brown on target.

The Men’s 4s continued their excellent season following a thrilling 6-4 win against Vauxhall with Sean Storey scoring twice and Ollie Wright, Scott Cromack, Noah Grylls and Paul Buckland one apiece.

The win was also notable for an outstanding man-of-the-match performance from Matt Burton.

The 4s are now seven points clear of the 3s in the Division 3 table, after the 3s went down 2-0 against a powerful St Albans side.

Blueharts were unable to match the home side’s hunger for the ball and went a goal down after a well-worked short corner.

St Albans then doubled their lead after they won the ball from the 3s defence and ruthlessly punished the mistake.

The 3s had goalkeeper Paul Marston to thank after his series of stops kept the deficit down.

There was an excellent performance from the Ladies 5s who defied table-topping Berkhamsted - and underlined their progress this season - to emerge with a creditable 1-1 draw.

The 5s were defensively resilient throughout and Emily Bill’s goal earned them a valuable draw in a match where goalkeeper Sam Coughlan-Flood was outstanding for the Blues.

The Men's 5s however suffered another frustrating day as they squandered a 3-1 lead at West Herts to go down 4-3 to a late winner from the Watford-based side.

Ben Hammond, Ashley Hammond and Joel Davey had given the 5s the perfect platform with their goals before the home second-half fightback.

The Men’s 7s put in a spirited performance against second-placed Bedford before going down 4-2.

Goals from Bobby Bridges and Terry Salisbury put Blueharts level at 2-2 before Bedford edged ahead.