Telford & Wrekin Hockey Club target top six finish

Telford & Wrekin Hockey Club brought the curtain down on a "mixed" first half of the season – and immediately set their sights on a top six finish.

Shropshire's trail-blazers notched a vital 3-0 victory over Coventry & North Warwick at Lilleshall in the final round of pre-Christmas fixtures in the Midlands Premier League.

Their next competitive outing isn't until January 14, but Telford enter the extended break in high spirits after back-to-back successes.

"Saturday was an important win and now we have to keep it going when we re-start in January," said spokesman Jon Woodrow.

"It's been a bit of a mixed bag so far and we have had a lot of disruption to the team.

"For one reason and another, we hadn't had a full squad to choose from until last Saturday.

"But we are now in a position in the league that we think we should be and the top six has got to be the aim."

Dave Tracey broke the deadlock against Coventry & North Warwick with a reverse stick effort and a drag flick from Alex Johnson and a Chris Jones goal sealed the triumph after the break.

But it was a second clean sheet in as many weeks which provided Woodrow with as much satisfaction as the victory.

"We have had Dave Jones, who was our goalkeeper in the National League, back for the last six games and he has been superb," added Woodrow.

"And we have also put a lot of emphasis on defending as a team over the last few weeks.

"It doesn't matter how well the defenders do if the six players in front of them aren't doing their jobs."

While Telford don't have a game for almost two months, they will be far from inactive.

An internal practice game against the club's squad members who are away at university is planned for the festive period, while they will also stage indoor training sessions at Lilleshall.