Whitchurch 1 Taunton Vale 4

VALE travelled to Wales for the second week in a row to face Whitchurch and the slick water-based turf promoted some fast hockey and Vale embraced this immediately.

Quick turnovers in the middle of the park allowed Vale to counter-attack the Whitchurch goal and they won a short corner which David Gibson converted to put them one up in the first few minutes.

Vale played as a real unit with their defence linking up very well with the midfield, who in turn fed excellently to their attackers and quick passes through the opposition defence led to James Linehan scoring his fourth goal of the season.

Continued fast attacking hockey finished with two more goals from man of the match David Gibson, completing his hat-trick and taking his tally to five for the season.

The second half was a much more even and Whitchurch squeezed one goal in at the near post but Vale dug in and held on for their first win of the season.

On Saturday, a late 4.30pm home start should allow for an exciting atmosphere around the cage at Taunton Vale in a match against Bath Buccaneers.

Squad: Martin Lawrence (GK) , Jonathan Lewis-Oliver (capt), Paddy Free, Dave Gibson, Ian Haley, Josh Hancock, Ross Hardwick, Martin Johnson, James Lineham, Mike Nicolson, Sam Nutt, Charlie Rutherford, Tom Stevenson, Sam Whitefield.