GALLERY: Under-strength Ely put to the sword by March

Hockey March Town I 14 Ely City I 4

A depleted Ely City side were put to the sword by March Town, on Saturday.

Confusion surrounding whether the match would go ahead meant Ely were missing players, including a goalkeeper, when the contest finally got under way but they gamely agreed to play on, despite the disadvantage.

It didn’t take long for March get on the score sheet as James Fountain fired in to open the scoring. Ben Wright made it 2-0 soon after. Ashley Welland, who was returning to the club for the second time, made it 3-0 with a deflection. Jody Betts made it 4-0 with a trademark finish. March then conceded a penalty corner and Ely punished them to reduce the scoreline to 4-1. James Fountain got his second and March’s fifth with a good finish. Betts then added two more goals and completed his hat-trick to make it 7-1. March gave away another penalty corner due to some sloppy defending and Ely took their chance and made it 7-2. Welland got his second of the game just before half time.

March scored six more goals in a punishing second half for Ely, with Betts scoring four to add to goals from Adam Graham and Welland.

Despite their defensive woes, Ely battled hard and added another two goals of their own. Man of the match was Betts.