Aldershot & Farnham (A&F) Hockey Club’s men’s first team twice came back from two goals down to earn a share of the spoils at home to Romsey in South Central Division One South on Saturday.

A&F had the first clear chance as Jonny Groves fed to James Huggins but with him caught in two minds between shooting and playing a cross to the far post, Romsey’s goalkeeper intercepted.

Unforced errors again plagued A&F, with an ill-directed square pass from the left by Josh Frost setting Romsey clear on a break that Martin Gough scored from, although A&F were aggrieved that a lifted ball that Stu Morhall had to sway out of the way from was let go.

Poor marking left makeshift goalkeeper Chris Edwards helpless as Romsey exposed space down the left flank with an aerial ball and as the ball came across to the middle it was an easy second goal for Gough.

Having moved round Romsey goalkeeper Nick Welby, Ian Metcalfe should have found the net but having his trailing leg caught by a Romsey defender afforded him another attempt to score from the resultant penalty stroke, which he duly did.

Max Long, normally a wide player, was moved to a central midfield role in this game, and he scored with a screaming strike that whistled in just below the bar to level the scores not long before half-time.

A&F knew they needed to tighten up and improve in the second half. Some poor passing had been letting them down on some otherwise promising attacking play, with Morhall particularly menacing on the right and Groves winning good ball back for A&F up front.

However, Romsey restored their two-goal lead with a double strike from Ellison Brailey. First, they took advantage of Alan Coote losing possession on the halfway and their second goal was well worked with a finish at the far post.

A&F stuck at it though and from a short corner that was saved, Coote collected the ball and a lifted ball at hip height was volleyed home by Metcalfe.

With five minutes to go Metcalfe completed a hat-trick to tie things up at 4-4, nudging the ball in after Rory Cameron’s reverse stick ball into the D somehow found its way through.

A goal from captain Andrew Chadwick wasn’t enough for A&F’s men’s second team as late goals by Winchester’s third team saw them defeated 5-2, while A&F’s men’s third team suffered a heavy defeat at Alton.

Missing a few key players, A&F’s ladies’ second team had to re-jig their formation and a below-par performance saw them overpowered by Southampton University’s second team.

A&F’s ladies’ third team fought back from being 3-0 down and then 4-1 down to lose 4-3 at Chichester Centurions. Emma Skelding scored the first goal, Michaela Mulvey the second with a short-corner strike, while Skelding turned provider as Erin Carter tapped in the third. Despite finishing strongly, A&F ran out of time for the equaliser.

A&F’s ladies’ fourth team beat Winchester’s sixth team 4-3. A&F struggled for cohesive play in the first half and were 3-2 down before turning the game around. A&F’s goals were scored by Frances Kemp (2), Amber Cross and Evie Quinn.