Whitchurch baking up a treat as they secure promotion
With three games remaining, Newport turned up the heat in their Midlands Hockey Division 8 North West promotion push with a fine 11-2 victory against Bloxwich.
With a near full strength squad to pick from, Newport made the most of being able to rotate players and played the game with pace and intensity from the outset.
The hosts took an early lead after five minutes courtesy of Benji Howells, who tucked the ball away from six yards out.
That strike set the tone as Newport piled on the pressure, quickly adding to their lead with finishes from Alex O’Keeffe, Ferdie Brookes and Brad Cronwell.
Bloxwich grabbed a goal back from a short corner on the stroke of half-time.
Knowing that golf difference could come into play to decide the promotion places, Newport went up another gear in the second half.
Ash Williams, on his return from injury entered the forward line and netted five goals, which included a three-minute hat-trick.
Matt Sanders also got on the scoresheet with a trademark reverse stick strike while Howells grabbed his second.
The win left Newport second in the table, just one point behind leaders Stone and two ahead of third-placed Keele University. Newport travel to Leek on Saturday.
Newport’s youthful second team fell to a 5-1 defeat against high-flyers Leek.
The badgers played out an entertaining, end to end 4-4 draw against Stone.
