TAVISTOCK Puma?s mixed hockey team recently played their penultimate match against Hele?s.

The game opened with Tavistock heavily on the attack as the opposition had only 10 players. Thomas Honey and Matt Way worked well together and fed the ball to a running Jo Gaspar who crossed some great balls into the ?D?.

New player to the team, James Barratt, had an excellent game and hassled the opposition with determination. Laura Stapleton and Fiona Dunn pushed up through midfield and fed the ball to John Barratt and Susannah Boulle who were both good at creating space. Unfortunately, Tavistock lost their players and a quick ball was slipped past goalkeeper Martin Ozbourne.

Tavistock Pumas picked up the pace in order to turn the game around in their favour. Thomas Honey scored the first goal for the Pumas and equalised the score at 1-1.

Way and Barratt (senior) continued to support the forward play of Laura Armstrong and Gaspar which resulted in Armstrong scoring the second goal.

The Barratt duo continued to play a good game of ?pass and move? and this allowed the ball to be slipped to Honey who scored yet again.

At 3-1, Tavistock Pumas were definitely the stronger team and a few seconds later Gaspar crossed an excellent ball and Way took a good strike on it to lift it past the keeper. The odd time that the opposition looked as if they were going to have a break, Kevin Lethbridge prevented them from entering the ?D? due to his strong block tackles.

The Pumas kept working hard and Honey scored his hat trick to leave the final score 5-1 to Tavistock Pumas.

Tavistock: Martin Ozbourne, Fiona Dunn, Laura Stapleton, Kevin Lethbridge, Susannah Boulle, Matt Way, John Barratt, James Barratt, Jo Gaspar, Laura Armstrong, Thomas Honey.

TAVISTOCK Puma?s mixed hockey team played their last match against OPM ? a critical game for the Puma?s as it would determine where they would finish in the league.

Tavistock opened with strong attacking play. Matt Way and James Barratt were strong in the midfield and did a good role supporting the forward play of Jo Gaspar and Laura Armstrong.

The defence of Tavistock were not put under too much pressure as Fiona Dunn and Laura Stapleton were quick to backtrack and mark out the opposition.

With good early calls from the keeper James Pitts, Tavistock were able to pick up key players and prevent them from becoming a threat.

Numerous short corners were awarded to Tavistock Pumas and it was through one of these that their first goal was scored.

Way fed a good ball out to Gaspar who was able to take a strike at the keeper. The defence were not quick enough and the ball slipped easily past the opposition.

The second half saw a strong Tavistock team with Kevin Lethbridge, Dunn and Stapleton working hard in defence to pick up key players.

A short corner was awarded against the Pumas and Barratt (senior) was the first out to deflect the strike.

The player took the ball past Barratt but Dunn tackled and fed the ball to a running Armstrong up the wing.

The second goal came from Way who took a hefty strike which the keeper had little chance of saving. The rest of the match saw Tavistock Pumas as the dominant team and the final score was a well deserved 2-0 victory to Tavistock Pumas.

This win resulted in the Pumas finishing in joint second position in the league as a result of goal difference.

Tavistock: James Pitts, Kevin Lethbridge, Fiona Dunn, Laura Stapleton, Susannah Boulle, James Barratt, Matt Way, John Barratt, Nick Boot-Handford, Justin Manley, Laura Armstrong, Jo Gaspar.

Anyone wishing to join the club should contact Fiona Dunn on 01822 616484.

Training starts on Thursday, August 26 at Kelly College Astro-Turf. All existing and new players welcome.