Kelly College 1st XI 4

Exeter School A XI 1

A CRACKING second-half performance by the Kelly College 1st XI hockey team saw off a spirited Exeter last Saturday.

Kelly had passages of good play in the first half, but were too often sloppy in their ball control, giving it away too easily.

Exeter deservedly drew level on the stroke of half-time from a short corner after Dom Lovett had scored a super individual goal to give Kelly the lead.

After the break, Kelly responded well to a missed penalty stroke and Mike Nicholls hammered in a cracking goal moments later to restore the lead. Confidence flooded through the side, not least from Jon Wickstead, who ran at the Exeter defence with aggression and picked up two goals.

The Kelly 1st XI are a young side this year. The season started with a couple of draws and a couple of losses, by the odd goal, in games that the team might have won given a little more confidence.

They have trained hard and have increasingly sought to play good hockey and not resort to rushing passing.

They recently defeated Torquay Boys Grammar School 1-0. This and the good result against Exeter leaves them looking forward to the rest of the season with confidence.