Stourport hockey

The men's veterans booked their place in the last four of the EH Veterans Cup with a 7-0 win over Isca, while the boys under-18s beat Reading on penalties in the HA Cup.

David Knott was in scoring mood as he found the net four times with Imran Sherwani, Neil Thomas and Andy Watson also on target for Roy Woster's experienced side.

But it was defender Godfrey Lamb who was the man of the match , with keeper Kevin Hughes also in good form as Stourport weathered an early storm.

"We were pinned inside our own half for hte first 15 minutes and I don't think I've ever seen Godfrey play better than that," said Woster.

"But once we'd soaked up the presssure, Knotty was in fine form at the other end and we killed them off.

"It's a great achievement for us to get into the last four."

They will travel to Yorkshire for their semi-final against Kingston Upon Hull on Sunday, April 2.

The boys will be looking to complete a memorable double having won the under-15 plate with the same set of lads three years ago.

Reading are one of the biggest clubs in the country and their juniors boasted eight international players in their starting line-up.

But Stourport held their own with keeper Lewis Bevan in excellent form and Marc Edwards opening hte scoring from a short corner after good play by Rob Allen.

Despite defending strongly, Stourport were powerless to prevent Reading equalising from a short corner after Ben Everitt-Li was sinbinned for apointless foul.

Stourport were in no mood to roll over, however, and after taking the game to penalties they kept calm to clinch a nail-biting 4-2 win.

Edwards, Luke Carless, Ashley Jones and Everitt-Li all converted their penalties with man-of-the-match Bevan making some brilliant saves to deny Reading.

Stourport now travel to Canterbury on Saturday, April 29, where they will face Cannock, Canterbury and Bowdon in the final stages.

Jones said it was a just reward for their superb team-spirit, adding: "This is another major achievement for Stourport, who have one of the strongest junior hockey sections in the country."

Stourport Ladies firsts can seal the Midland Conference title by beating nearest rivals North Notts on Saturday after putting thermselves in the driving seat last weekend.

While Stourport were beating Northampton Lions 1-0, North Notts could only manage a 0-0 draw with Matlock Baileans, leaving the Wyre Forest side four points clear at the top.

Stourport have home advantage at the Kingsway pitches on Saturday, with the action getting under-way at 2.30pm.

Melissa Kennedy's winning goal against Northampton moved them a step closer to being crowned champions.

The breakthrough came after 20 minutes when Kennedy tocuehd the ball under the diving keeper after being set up by Fran Moss.

Although it was an evenly-matched contest, Stourport keeper Isobel Rosie had little to do as her defence played well.

And depsite several tactical switches leading to a number of short corners, skipper Holly Lashford's girls failed to add to their lead.

The ladies veterans could not keep the success story rolling, however, despite giving a good account of themselves in the Worcestershire County Championships they hosted last weekend.

They drew 1-1 with Harborne thanks to a Kathy Doyle strike and drubbed Droitwich 8-0 with four goals from Kate Bailey, a Wilma Martin hat-trick and a single goal from Julia Hopkins.

But they came unstuck with a 4-0 defeat to eventual winners Old Silhillians, who now go on to represent the county in the Midland Championship.

There was also disappointment for the men's firsts whose outside chances of promotion from National North Division have been ended.

They suffered a crushing 8-4 defeat at home to second-place Bournville on Saturday despite an Imran Yousaf hat-trick from short corners and a strike from skipper Phil Lashford.

And it got worse when they lost 7-0 at high-flying Doncaster on Sunday after being forced to field a weakened line-up.

Stourport asked for special dispensation from English Hockey to reschedule the match with half a dozen of their players involved in the triumphant under-18s squad.

But despite Doncaster also wishing to postpone the match because of a pitch problem, the powers that be insisted the match must go on in order to get the season to finish on time.

"It's written off our chances of promotion now and it's frustrating because English Hockey made no attempt whatsoever to help our situation," said Lashford.

"Having said that, we haven't been consistent enough over the course of the season to deserve to go up anyway."