After their day one defeat at the hands of Welsh Wanderers, champions Polytechnic responded with an easy 19-7 victory over Sutton & Cheam in men’s Division One at Watford today. Liam Neill scored four and there were two goals apiece for David Rom, Federico Carucci, Zack Herberstein and Chris Icely.

Wanderers completed a second win – 13-2 against Lancaster. Joe Jenkins-Delf (Photo: Trevor Hyde) was again in sparkling form, adding six to his seven-goal haul against Poly.

Cheltenham secured their first points with a 12-10 success against Sheffield. But Penguin lost for a second time – well beaten 17-7 by City of Manchester, for whom Ben Grech, Joe O’Regan and James Blenkinsop all claimed hat-tricks. 

There’s very little to choose between the teams in a highly competitive men’s Division 2, as proved by an opening weekend at Bolton featuring no less than four draws – and with Exeter as the only winners of their two matches.

After drawing their games on day one, Caledonia and City of Bristol finished all square once again – 16-16. Bristol were 9-4 ahead after two periods but the Scots hit back to pull level at 10-10, then 14-14.

Caledonia then went 16-14 up – goals by Murray Dickson and Rory Nesbitt  - only for Bristol’s Will Thompson to strike twice with a penalty 35 seconds from the end and – with just two seconds to go – a final equaliser. Thompson finished with five goals.

Exeter led for much of their clash with Portobello, who fought back to equalise at 11-11, then 14-14. Reuben Powell’s penalty two minutes from the end grabbed the points for the Devon club at 15-14.

​Hucknall and Southampton played out the fourth draw of the weekend - 10-10. The final quarter saw Hucknall leading 10-8, but two goals by Jacob Graham secured a point for Southampton. Matt Braun scored six for Hucknall with Jackson Mullins contributing five of the Southampton goals.

Andy Holt and Josh Barrett (Photo: Trevor Hyde) both scored three in Watford’s 16-8 defeat of Invicta. 

The Powell brothers were in great form as Exeter began their men’s Division 2 challenge with a fine 18-13 victory over Watford at Bolton today.

Exeter took charge in the third period, racing clear to 14-8 after leading 7-5 at the half-way stage. Kameron Powell (Photo: Trevor Hyde) scored six and his younger brother Reuben five.

Hucknall led City of Bristol for the first time at 10-9 with just 1.55 remaining when Paulius Gabrys netted. The game finished all square thanks to a penalty converted by Nathan Brown 32 seconds from the end. 

​Davide Ingala scored five as Portobello beat Invicta 17-14. A last minute goal by junior Murray Dickson enabled Caledonia to snatch a 14-14 draw with Southampton.

Welsh Wanderers celebrated their return to BWPL men’s top division with a stunning 19-16 victory over reigning champions Polytechnic at Watford today.

A closely-fought match went to 15-14 in favour of Wanderers near the end of the third period when Joe Jenkins-Delf (Photo: Trevor Hyde) scored his seventh goal of the match.

Wanderers then dominated the final quarter, extending their lead to 19-14 with goals by Tom Greenfield, skipper Dan Laxton, Lewis Gilmour and Matt Griffiths before Poly rallied too late to save the game.

Defeat was a blow for Poly, although they will recall that, a year ago, they lost their opening Division 1 match against Caledonia (the Scots’ only success of phase one) before launching their great run to the BWPL title.
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The shocks continued as Sheffield completed an 18-13 win against Penguin, the third period proving significant as Sheffield turned a 10-8 lead into 15-10. Joel Abbott (5) and Corran Bradley (3) led the Sheffield scoring.

Later, City of Manchester made a confident start to their campaign, beating Cheltenham 14-9, including three goals by Ben Grech. Sutton & Cheam trailed 3-2 after three periods against Lancaster but late goals by Dicken Maclean, Stephen Bayles and Toby Hook secured a 5-3 win. 

Six goals in the first two quarters by ex-Canadian junior international Mathilde Ribordy set up Coventry's 11-6 victory over Hucknall in women's Division 1 at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.

Mathilde added a seventh later on - and would have made it eight but for a fine penalty save by Hucknall goalkeeper Madeline Brown. 

City of Manchester thumped Otter 22-7. The game ended chaotically with Otter down to four players due to the loss of other team members racking up three exclusion offences. 

Sheffield Sharks completed their second win - 16-13 against Penguin Emperors. Amelia Peters (Photo: Trevor Hyde) scored four, taking her weekend tally to ten. 
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In Division 2, Manchester Comets' Zara Christie scored in the very last second to clinch a 12-11 victory over Mid Sussex Marlins. Five seconds from the end, Marlins called a time-out and their goalkeeper Madeline Calthrop took a long shot, which missed - giving Manchester's keeper a chance to grab the ball and score from the whole length of the pitch. The ball landed short of the goal, momentum allowing it to dribble over the line.

A hat-trick in the final period by Emily Crossley earned Rotherham Metro a 10-8 win against City of Bristol after the teams were level at 7-7 with four minutes remaining.

Watford recovered from 9-7 down in Division 3 to beat Caledonia 13-12 thanks largely to three late goals by Eve Barnes.