Hockey: Winnington Park scrape draw with Northern (From Northwich Guardian)

Hockey: Winnington Park scrape draw with Northern

3:08pm Thursday 8th December 2011 in Other sport

WINNINGTON Park held on to their mid-table berth in the North Division Two after scraping a 1-1 draw with sixth-placed Northern.

Despite missing both their captain Adam Kueres and vice captain Karl Kueres, Winnington should have held on for a hard-fought win after Matt Barber had given them the lead early in the second half.

It had been a defensive battle until that point, with Park holding out the limited Northern attack in a quiet opening period.

But Barber’s goal, created by good work from Mike Dodd, Connor Miller and Joe Booth, wasn’t enough to earn all the points and a late goal from the hosts handed them a share of the spoils.

Park’s seconds crafted a superb comeback to rescue all three points against Oxton’s third string, defying a two-goal half time deficit to win 3-2.

Their win will have done little to help them move up the North Division Four, but it does keep them two points away from the relegation zone.

The lively visitors had them penned in at half time, taking advantage of some slack defending to score two quick goals to put them in the ascendency.

But half time seemed to bring a complete change in fortunes for the hosts, who burst into life at the restart and had Oxton on the back foot.

Lark Leigh’s neat flick handed them a lifeline, which then became a rousing fightback as Leigh grabbed a second from a corner to drag Park level.

Sensing blood the hosts pushed for a winner, which came when Kenny Rogers’ strong forward drive was converted by Robin Bowdon to hand them all the points.

The third team fell to a 1-0 loss to Oxton, but Winnington’s fourth string managed to salvage a point when holding Crewe Vagrants to a 2-2 draw.

John Lavin’s goal helped the home side restore parity after a defensive error, only for a potent Crewe counter attack to leave them trailing heading into the final exchanges.

But once again Lavin rushed in to the rescue, his powerful short drive into the corner helping Park to grab a point in their North Division 11 campaign.