This weekend, Salisbury Hockey Club women’s teams put on a solid performance across the South Central leagues, securing four of five wins across the weekend.

All eyes were the women’s third XI this week, as they fight their way up through South Central’s Forest I division.

Coming back from a tough first half of the season, the Salisbury team are currently flying high and remain undefeated since the new year.

Saturday’s game secured a further win despite a tough match against New Forest. The Salisbury side found themselves under pressure early on, with New Forest looking dangerous on the attack.

Salisbury were soon into their stride, starting to create opportunities up front and working more of the possession through the first half.

A short corner penalty found the break needed, with Louisa Harris securing the ball over the line.

Just two minutes later, capitalising on the momentum, Glenda King set up a confident strike for Lara Woodhouse to make the final move and secure the second goal.

2-0 up at half time, the defence found themselves under plenty of pressure from an experienced New Forest team. However the score was held through to the final whistle, cementing another important win that pushes Salisbury up the table.

The third XI is Salisbury’s Academy team, fielding mostly youth players (under 18), and is supported by a smaller number of more experienced adults who bring structure to the squad.

With the club’s sharpening focus on developing their talent pathway, an Academy approach can really support youth players to accelerate their skills as they transition from junior to adult league competitive hockey.

Miranda MacTaggart, England Masters player and SHC coach for the Academy side, said: “We’ll need to focus hard on our structure and unit play over the coming weeks to take on a number of our opponents sitting higher in the table, and I know we’ll step up to the challenge. It’s exciting to watch the growth of the team, as we challenge experienced sides across the league.”

Natalie Cameron, 3rd XI captain, said: “We’re now fifth in the table, and feeling confident about taking on the teams ahead of us. The squad is really finding its stride and our younger players grow in confidence week on week.”

Across the club, next weekend Salisbury HC have a host of games on at home at Salisbury & South Wilts Sportsclub.

Making good use of the bar, the sidelines will no doubt be full with spectators cheering on the local teams. Every Saturday, the clubhouse is open to all members and non-members - games start at 10am and run through the day:

Saturday, February 10 home games: Salisbury Women’s 4s vs Trojans, 10am; Salisbury Women’s 2s vs Alton, 11.30am; Salisbury Women’s 3s vs Southampton Uni, 1pm; Salisbury Men’s 1s vs Haslemere, 2.30pm; Salisbury Men’s Striders vs Bournemouth O40s, 4pm.