Long trip for North Devon Hockey Club's Duchy draw

North Devon 1st XI completed a 200 mile round trip to Duchy HC on Saturday with a share of the spoils, taking a point from the league leaders, which was, on reflection, a fair result, writes David Orr.

It was the home side who started well, shifting the ball from side to side and dominating possession. However, there wasn't much penetration from the Duchy side, with the back line of North Devon being well marshalled by Jay Corden and Gerrie de Beer, and keeper Sam Wormington.

After weathering a bit of a storm, the men in red started to get a foothold in the match, taking the ball higher into the Duchy half, and it was from one of these breaks that North Devon earned a penalty corner, which was emphatically finished by Sam Kirkness. Duchy were stung, and equalised close to the end of the half from their own penalty corner, with Guy Cockcroft unlucky to see the ball deflect in from his stick.

After the break, it took a moment of real quality for North Devon to take the lead, Cockcroft sending an aerial ball over the Duchy backline, for Joe Taylor Richards to take one touch and flick a delightful lob over the advancing keeper.

The game deserved to be won with such a moment of quality, but unfortunately for the visiting team there was time for Duchy to win a final penalty corner, which was well placed to finish the game 2-2.

Captain Ash Thorne said: "It was probably a fair result, but I think on the balance of play we had the better chances on goal. Considering Duchy were playing in the league above last season, it shows that we are capable of competing in all our games this season."

On a day more fitting for October than the unusually warm Saturday prior, the fully-stocked North Devon 2s continued their strong start to the campaign with an efficient display to brush past Torbay 2nd XI with a fine 3-1 win.