Men’s East Hockey League

Premier A

A gritty performance from Chelmsford saw them walk away with three points against high flying Havering.

In a scrappy first half neither side were able to take a stranglehold on the game. Both sides were limited to chances from short corners but both sets of defences held firm. Chelmsford suffered a blow when their player coach Owen Thom was sin-binned for kicking the ball away but Havering lacked the spark to take advantage.

In the second half the home side started to show their frustrations with a number of poor tackles and continual dissent towards the umpires, but it was Chelmsford who seemingly took the punishment when Dale Becker was shown a yellow card for a late tackle. This time Havering nearly made the most of their numerical advantage but the post came to Chelmsford’s rescue after a frantic goal mouth scramble.

Midway through the second half and back to their full complement of players, Chelmsford broke the deadlock from their fifth penalty corner. An exciting series of rapid strokes from Ian Belchamber was followed up with a composed finish from Will Hales at the near post.

With 10 minutes remaining, Chelmsford were again down to 10 men when Andy Fox was harshly judged to have stick tackled a Havering forward, but Chelmsford still dominated possession. The scoreline was completed in the closing minutes when Jack Strange’s cross from the right picked out Adam Hunter who turned and blasted the ball through the legs of the Havering keeper.

The win guarantees Chelmsford a creditable sixth place in the league in their first season since relegation from the EHL.

Next week they complete their season when they host West Herts at 2pm at Chelmer Park.