Oxton Hockey Club

Oxton 3 – 4 Formby

The tricky start to Oxton hockey club men’s first team season in the Northern Counties Premier League continued with a tough home fixture against Formby, who had managed to beat Oxton both home and away last season.

Oxton started strongly, taking an early lead when Ali McKenzie was on hand to score on the rebound off a short corner. The home side were dominant for large periods of the half, creating some gilt edged chances which weren’t converted and Formby were quick to take advantage of any lapse in concentration to mount their own attacks - following a goal mouth scramble, a Formby forward fired the ball high into Oxton’s goal to make the score 1-1. The Wirral side reacted well to this setback and their endeavour was rewarded by McKenzie’s second goal of the game to leave the score 2-1 at half time.

Oxton were confident that if they could replicate their first half performance they had every chance of winning the game. However, the second half proved to be a different story with the home side’s attacks breaking down on Formby’s defence, rarely troubling the Formby goalkeeper. In almost trying too hard, Oxton were also leaving themselves vulnerable in defence and Formby used this to their advantage, scoring 2 goals to put them in the lead 2-3. Oxton had lost their earlier cohesion but continued to press for an equaliser, and Ali Parkes was able to score from close range after a chaotic period of play in Formby’s area.

Oxton thought they had done enough to secure their first point of the season, but it wasn’t to be as Formby converted a late short corner, and the 3-4 defeat leaves a disconsolate Oxton at the foot of the table. Oxton now need to work hard in training to kick start their season next week against Timperley, with the comforting knowledge that they have already beaten the Mancunian team in the Cheshire Cup this season.

Oxton would like to thank Heatons Complete Office Solutions for their generous sponsorship over the past few seasons.