WOKING 3, HASLEMERE 2

Woking, the joint Hants/Surrey Regional 1 leaders, made it three wins out of three, but were given a scare by Haslemere who led 2-1 at one stage before succumbing to their first defeat of the season.

Woking were rewarded for a bright start when Chris Way won the ball inside his own half and combined with Andy Pike, who turned the keeper and buried his shot in the bottom corner.

But the lead was short-lived. Haslemere broke away from defending a short corner and won a penalty stroke as keeper Max Deeley took out his man and Andy Powell coolly dispatched the flick into the top right corner.

And Woking were undone by another slick Haslemere passing move, finished off with a diving deflection from Jacob Hall to put the visitors in front.

Haslemere’s young side grew in confidence and they just failed to put the finish touch to a number of chances.

But they also frequently infringed inside the circle and were punished at a penalty corner as Way’s drag-flick found the bottom corner to level the scores at 2-2 going into half-time.

The Blues, with a slight change of formation, began the second half strongly and only an amazing save by Deeley denied them the lead. Finn Robertson’s sharp reverse shot hit the keeper clean on the helmet and ricocheted wide of the goal.

Woking then played with better control, with Matt Cockerham winning turn-over ball in midfield.

The home side’s hard work paid off when Way fired in another penalty corner, taking his tally to five for the season.

Pike could have had a fourth, but the umpire blew his whistle as the ball crossed the line and play was brought back for a free-hit.

Woking clung onto their narrow lead against a spirited Haslemere, with Jake Tufts, Tom Leggett and Tom Parke all putting in crucial blocks. The leaders were down to ten men for the final minutes, with Tom Wood in the sin-bin, but Haslemere could not find an equaliser.

Epsom Vagabonds 1, Haslemere Vets 3 (Wessex Super Vets Alliance). Haslemere Veterans settled well on a new astro pitch in Cobham. Jonny Roberts put them ahead from a short corner and Iain Lynch made it 2-0 with a skilful overhead interception and stunning shot.

Jonathan Roy added a third goal and although Epsom reduced the deficit in the second half, Brent Bottoms, Paul Kirkham and Phil Jackson held firm in defence. The Vets share the lead with this win.