Jenny’s flying start – Portsmouth Hockey Club women’s South Central League round-up

Stung by the previous week’s poor performance, they took a second minute lead - Jenny Turvey-Warnes combining with Lauren Stewart to carve open the defence with a slick one- two that saw Turvey smash the ball home.

Strangely, this only served to gee-up Salisbury who immediately pushed up their work rate and took control of the game. They broke Portsmouth’s rhythm and short inter passing game with fierce tackling and direct play and were rewarded by a quick equaliser. This gave them a further boost and they capitalised on defensive indecision to take the lead just before the interval.

Portsmouth levelled a few minutes after the restart, forcing a short corner from which skipper Nadz Moore swept home off a defender’s foot.

This quick response gave the hosts confidence to keep the ball moving quickly and soon after Katie Spooner worked herself some space in the circle to slam a fine reverse stick strike past a surprised Salisbury keeper.

From this moment on, Portsmouth never looked back and dominated proceedings.

Portsmouth 2nds also took an early lead against Salisbury 2nds in South Central Division 2 South - only to lose 2-1.

Lucy Dunning and Hannah Howard set up Louisa McKay for the quick opener, but Salisbury levelled before half-time.

The second half again showed moments of excellence from Portsmouth with Georgia Clist working the left well and fantastic work rate on the right by player of the match Hayley Chivers and Emily Dunkason with her overlapping runs and balls down the line.

Despite a strong defensive performance, Portsmouth conceded the winning goal from a short corner towards the end.

Nicky Puckett slotted Portsmouth 3rds into the lead in their South Central Division 1 Solent game against Fareham 3rds.

Impressive tackles from player of the match Isabel Slack and Leah Riddy resulted in effective distribution from Carol Rutter in the centre of the field to the awaiting forward line.

Portsmouth pounced upon one of these breakaway attacks, resulting in a reverse stick strike from Becky Clay that was finished off by Puckett.

That was as good as it got, though, with Fareham hitting back to lead 2-1 at half-time and going on to add three more goals.

Portsmouth 4ths took time to settle against West Meon in South Central Division 2 Solent with several players out of their normal positions.

As they improved, excellent runs from Hayley Lawton, Andrea Barnes, Olivia Harridine, Maddie Kimber and Jane Noble saw Portsmouth launch numerous attacks.

Following several penalty corners, Harradine struck from a rebounded short corner strike for what proved the only goal.

Lizzie Mason was superb in the second half, fearlessly running out first on defending penalty corners, while Amy Durnford, Emma Japes and Harridine produced goal line clearances. Keeper Helen Perriam also produced one excellent save.