East Div 3NW

Market Deeping 1st XI (3) Peterborough Athletic 2nd XI (0)

Deeping started the game well and from the off pressured the Athletic midfield and defence denying them any time to settle. 

Against a sound and experienced veteran Athletic defence Deeping used their passing game and superior pace to create uncertainty and panic. However, despite all of this pressure the Athletic rearguard action held firm until ace "poacher" Paul Tancred managed to break the dead-lock half-way through the first half.

The pressure continued relentlessly with the Deeping keeper being a virtual spectator to the game and it was perhaps fitting that ex-Athletic player Chris Mann chose this game as the time to score his first goal for the club.

 A 2-0 half-time scoreline clearly flattered the opposition. The second half continued in the same vein with the midfield engine room of Andy Brassington and Darren Hetherage controlling the flow of the game.

An Ali Rowledge goal was harshly disallowed before Paul Tancred added his second and despite further Deeping pressure the scoreline remained at 3-0.  

Market Deeping Ladies (2) v Wisbech 3rd XI (0)

Market Deeping Ladies started their first home game in a very controlled manner. For the first five minutes Wisbech 3s did not touch the ball as Deeping passed smoothly from player to player. With such pressure on the opposition's defence the gaps opened and chance after chance came for the Deeping attack. They in turn were denied a formidable Wisbech goalkeeper.

Deeping did not lose heart or patience, and continued to fire at the goal, until a defence splitting pass from Helen Middleton to Sarah Smith was crossed into the D and lifted into the net in text-book style by Janet Eagle Smith to give the home team a deserved lead. Energy levels were heightened by the long-awaited goal and all players became hungry for more. Again and again the Wisbech defence seemed in trouble and yet cleared the ball at the last minute.

Finally, after a sustained spell of pressure in which Deeping won a series of short corners, Heather Greenhalgh struck the ball powerfully into the corner, past the seemingly invincible keeper.

The second half was all Deeping but despite continuous pressure on the goal, goal line clearances and a powerful shot clattering into the post, a string of short corners led to nothing. Meanwhile Karen Jenkins directed a calm defence who let nothing through and neatly tidied up whenever Wisbech attempted to break-out.

Unbeaten Deeping stay top of Cambs Div 2 after three games.

Man of the Match: Helen Middleton, Jenny Brassington & Heather Greenhalgh

East Div 4NW

Peterborough Athletic 3rd XI (0) v Market Deeping 2nd XI (3)

Deeping can only thank Peterborough Athletic for allowing this match to start late, and still count as a league match. After a communications cock-up Jason Purllant rushed from an earlier game at literally 5 minutes notice to occupy the goal for the first half.

This was edgy and competitive with chances spurned at both ends, punctuated with passages of flowing hockey from both sides. The score remained uncomfortably balanced at 0 - 0 at half time.

The second half saw a more inspired performance from the Deeping team as they won the percentage balls and tackles around the pitch. A glorious move saw Magnus Windsor on the left switch the ball to Phil Tokens on the right who laid on Pete Smith who drove a fierce ball goalwards. It was finished, in typical poacher style, by Steve “Muddy” Waters deflecting the ball into the empty net.

Goal number two arrived from a short corner routine drilled in from an acute angle by Ben Walden. Goal number three came late in the second half from a Graham Barnes lay-off to Waters on the near post. His particularly bobbly shot rebounded in off the Athletic keeper.

All in all a particular pleasing win made all the better by being played in good spirit – something that hasn't always characterised this fixture.

East Div 7NW

Market Deeping 3rd XI (11) v Wisbech 5th XI (3)

Deeping dominated this game throughout after a delayed start so it's quite staggering to report that they twice went behind in the first half. Nervous starts by Deeping's youngsters in their first league game of the season didn't help, but pressure eventually told and Deeping led 4-2 at half time. The introduction of Matt Brown and a change of shape to 3-5-3 was a revelation. Supplying the link between the solidity of Kevin Richardson and Russ Seaton and the youthful forwards Brown rattled Wisbech's defence with mazy runs and telling passes. He lobbed home a reverse-stick shot right at the start of the second half and the floodgates opened. Deeping played scintillating hockey for the next fifteen minutes and even a soft goal through an over-relaxed defence couldn't stem the flow.

Several youngsters grew in stature as the game went on. The prodigious Jack Seaton not only completed a calm hat-trick but unselfishly set up Tom Allam for two well-taken goals. Veteran centre-back Kevin Richardson had already scored two, including an immaculately placed short-corner, when he finished his hat-trick in a fashion more like a top centre-forward than a middle-aged midfielder. Brown added a second after he was set-up by Russ Seaton who couldn't add to his first half goal.

Deeping couldn't ask for a better start to their season not because of the score but because of the way they played for long periods, which really should instill self-belief.