Victories for Melton Hockey Club's men's and ladies' teams

Melton's Hockey Club's Men's side beat previously undefeated Northampton Saints Seconds 2-1 at home, extending their 100 per cent start to the season.

A highly-organised Saints team proved a tough nut to crack for the league leaders.

The game started in an even fashion, Melton were beginning to ramp up the pressure with a number of penalty corners.

The Saints keeper made several good saves from Sam Pollard, before finally being beaten, only for Dan Kendall’s effort to come back off the post.

At the other end, John Morgan in goal was making important saves for the home side.

And when he was finally beaten by a goal-bound flick, Freddie Welch was there to produce a superb goal line save high above his head.

It was a crucial moment in the game, followed by another shortly after.

James Hewitt’s good work down there right earned the Reds another penalty corner.

This time captain Leo Guy chose to drag flick, dispatching the ball high into the Saints’ net.

Halftime was called moments later with the game still in the balance.

However, Melton started to control the game in the second half, gaining more possession and territory.

Chances continued to come, but Dan Kendall failed to make the most of them up front.

It took another well worked penalty corner to finally double the home side’s lead.

A cleverly worked move from Rich Randall to Leo Guy allowed Guy to shuffle the ball to Andy Sibun to deflect home the second goal, and the eventual winner as it turned out.

Melton found themselves under pressure as Saints started to push to get back into the game.

The visitors grabbed one back, leaving Melton to hold on for the final few minutes.

The defence put in the work, refusing to offer up easy chances. And, as the time ticked away, the Reds started to get hold of the ball and keep possession to take the sting out of the match.

Frustration boiled over for the visitors, with several players sin-binned for desperate fouls as they just could not get the ball back.

Melton earned a hard fought victory to stay top of the table.

They travel to third placed Leicester this weekend.

Melton HC's Ladies returned from Half Century with a 3-1 win.

They were met with a sandy pitch which presented its own challenge.

Traditionally this is a close fixture which can go either way and this contest began in that way.

Both sides adopted a game plan of short sharp passing which created chances at both ends.

Melton opened the scoring with an attack down the right wing, Gemma Fare collecting the ball as her pass found Georgie Hewitt who, unable to turn, laid the ball off to Lisa Hewitt who finished.

Half Century scored a well-taken goal on the stroke of half time to level the score.

With the game there for the taking for either side Melton began to increase the pressure.

Emily Morgan, playing her first game in goal for the ladies, showed no nerves and confidently directed things from the back, making several good saves.

Youngsters Charlotte Collins, Bec Cramphorn and Zoe Howling linked well with the forwards, creating more scoring opportunities for the team.

Melton's second goal came when Hewitt's pass found Fare in the D and she directed her shot away from the keeper and into the goal.

Quick thinking from Charlotte Collins led to the third goal as she was the first to react when Melton were awarded a free hit and her pass found Zoe Howling, who was able to pick out Hewitt, who placed her shot into the bottom corner.