GWENT men’s first team picked up their first point of the Davis Wood Hockey League season with a hard-fought draw away to Whitchurch C.

A tense first half saw both teams create chances, but wasteful finishing and a couple of timely interventions from Gwent goalie Roger Bailey kept the scores blank.

Nick Streeton put in a strong shift in midfield winning lots of ball and re-launching the Gwent attack, where Jamie Robinson was a real handful down the left.

After the break, Gwent were the first to break the deadlock. Having fired just over the bar from two previous short corners, Matthew Stollery finally convert one which dribbled past the keeper after taking a deflection. But the hosts roared back with a short corner goal of their own just minutes later.

The final ten minutes saw the pressure turned up as both sides were temporarily reduced to ten men, but a score draw was a fair result.

The men’s second team kept up their winning ways with a 3-1 win over Whitchurch F. Poor finishing meant the scoreline failed to reflect Gwent’s dominance. Steve Boden scored twice, Martin Price got the other one.

The third team’s lack of goal-scoring power was again their undoing; they lost 2-0 to Neath A.

No such goal-scoring problems for Newport Gwent Ladies, whose teams are undefeated in the South Wales Women’s League.

The ladies’ firsts dispatched UWIC 5-1 with goals from Becki Watkins, Bethany Poulter, Kathryn Dunn, Nia Morrison and Stevie-Marie Jones’ impre-ssive reverse stick strike.

They didn’t even let UWIC claim a consolation, with Gwent captain Karen Silver claiming the last minute own goal.

Newport Gwent Ladies seconds went on the rampage in their derby match at Abergavenny scoring 12 goals without reply. Rachel Hillier led the way with five goals, Vicky Fear notched four. Ayse Lauren, Bethan Doughty and Lauren Dunn also found the net. Ceri Kingston kept a clean sheet in goal despite being outnumbered three against one during the first half.