IT was a Super Saturday at Ben Rhydding Hockey Club last weekend featuring both first teams in action.

The women were up first playing a strong Buckingham side who included former Rhydding player and GB Olympian, Jo Ellis.

Rhydding were first on the scoreboard with Beth Cordukes driving down the line to cross to young Alice Midgley who was able to hit the target.

It was a well fought game with 3rd placed Buckingham having more chances and possession than 5th placed Ben Rhydding, but the visitors were only able to convert one of their 15 penalty corners into a goal just before half time, with stout defending from goalkeeper Charlotte Smith and her defenders keeping the rest out.

The second half saw an end-to-end game unfold, and Rhydding could have nicked the result with Rachel Doherty showing some great skills before going just wide with a lob over the Buckingham keeper.

In the end the visitors left home disappointed to lose two points as this makes their promotion push more challenging to achieve.

As for the men’s side, they hosted Sheffield in a six-goal thriller.

The visitors won this fixture at the start of the season by a scoreline of 2-1, so Ben Rhydding were eager inflict revenge on their opponents.

The large crowd in attendance would not be left disappointed, as Will Musgrave continued on his hot streak in front of goal by scoring from the first penalty corner with a precise strike into the corner of the net after just nine minutes.

Sheffield equalised just before the end of the first quarter, but it was Ben Rhydding who, by scoring a goal in each quarter, emerged victorious.

Musgrave was on target again in the second quarter before Oli Yates scored a great goal in the first minute of the third quarter. Ross McMillan slipped the ball down the sideline to Jez Notay who found Yates after a perfect baseline lead.

Yates then took on the defender along the backline before sitting the keeper down and lofting the ball over him. 3-1 to Rhydding.

Just three minutes later Rhydding let Sheffield pull one back. This led to a tense period for the crowd, even when Musgrave sealed his hat-trick with another well struck penalty corner strike with 14 minutes to go to take the score to 4-2.

Both teams worked hard for this game, but in the end, it was the home side that emerged with the well-deserved three points, putting them in 7th place in the league and just ahead of Sheffield on goal difference.

In his first season at Ben Rhydding, coach Chris Simcock was: “Excited to see the team getting their just reward after a few weeks where they have not quite got the right result.”

Captain, Rob Ramsden said: “We’re pleased to be going into the winter break with a solid win under our belts, though we might have wished for another game next week to build on the team spirit.

“However, with a couple of key players missing due to injury we are hoping that they may be fit and back when the season restarts in February.”

With the long winter break for the first teams the attention can now turn to the second teams who are both in action against Lindum (Lincoln) this weekend. The women travel to Lincolnshire while the men will be at home at 3pm.