Hockey

Evie shows class as Dereham win again

Dereham retained their place at the top of the East Premier League with a convincing 7-3 win at West Herts.

West Herts were well organised and looked dangerous going forward, but Dereham's superiority in attack told, with top scorer Evie Gardner scoring two. Kath Malvern and Sam Skelton also netted twice, with Hannah Palmer adding one to her total.

Gardner showed her international credentials time after time by slicing through West Herts' defence and she not only claimed two goals but numerous short corner penalties due to West Herts being unable to tackle her within the rules.

In Division 1N Norwich City and Harleston Magpies II each picked up their second point of the season as they shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw. Catherine Cooke and Esme Barber were the scorers for City.

Lowestoft continued to lead the way after winning 3-0 at Ipswich II. They lead Wisbech, who beat St Ives 2-1 at home, on goal difference.

Division 2NE leaders Watton travelled to Norwich Dragons II and secured a convincing 5-1 win with a confident team performance. There were two goals in the first half from player of the match Charlotte Paine. Dragons replied with a goal from a penalty corner but another strike from Paine within a minute ensured Watton kept their two goal cushion. Constant pressure saw further goals from Paine and Lauren Eyles seal the win.

Norwich Dragons remain second, just one point adrift of Watton, after winning 2-0 at Old Buckenham.

North Walsham are still looking for their first win of the season after losing 3-0 at home to Carlton Park, with the scoreline failing to accurately reflect the competitiveness of the game.

The hosts were in the game right until the final minutes, when two short corner goals completed the scoring.

Sprowston recorded their second league victory of the season as they won 2-0 at UEA.

Captain Sarah Miller opened the scoring following a forward run from defence and a neat one two with Amy Butler. Sprowston then doubled their lead following some good passing, with Paula Kent scoring from close range.

Sprowston continued to dominate, with good wing play from player of the match Tania Pendreich.

In friendly matches Norwich City II beat Beccles 3-0 (Emily Anthony 2, Katy Stoker), Broadland beat Loddon 6-1, with Kerry Payne's outstanding strike being the highlight, Broadland II lost 5-3 to Harleston Magpies IV (Danni Parke, Lindsay Hale, Abi Dennison) and Watton III beat Old Buckenham II 6-1 (Kimberley Ashby, Laura Sellive, Sally Eastwood, Charlotte Sandcraft and Shirley Turtle).