Trojans III 2, Alton 11

Alton followed a key win seven days earlier with an 11-2 thumping of struggling Trojans thirds in men’s Hampshire 2 on Saturday.

The visitors looked the stronger from the start, with several early chances narrowly missing the target. But it wasn’t long before constant pressure saw Alton’s Sam Steel pick up the visitors’ first goal of the game with a drag flick from a penalty corner.

With the wind in their sails Alton didn’t let up and pushed forward sensing that the home side, who have won only two games all season, were already feeling the strain.

The Trojans players were putting everything they had behind the ball but Alton’s intensity soon saw them increase their lead, first through Richard Spicer who nailed the ball into the bottom right corner from a wide angle closely followed by a goal from Sam Juncker, who picked up a rebound off the Trojans goalkeeper.

And just before half time rampant Alton piled on more pressure and won a string of penalty corners, the last of which saw Tom Singleton pick up the ball off the goalkeeper’s pads and hammer the ball home to put the visitors 4-0 up going into the break.

The second half began in the same vein, with Alton well on top. Barely five minutes into the second half Steel picked up his second of the game, putting the final touch on a ball through from Alton skipper Nigel Downing to make it five for the visitors.

Despite the ominous scoreline, Trojans tried to apply some pressure on Alton and were rewarded with a goal from a low drag flick from a penalty to corner. But it was an all-too-brief respite as the visitors went back on the attack and Steel completed his hat-trick with a tap-in, which was shortly followed by Tom Green who used a reverse stick to guide the ball over the oncoming goalkeeper as Alton’s lead became 7-1.

And it got worse for Trojans with Luke Bottomley scoring a penalty stroke, awarded after he was stick tackled in front of goal as he went to shoot, and Green picking up his second from a well-worked penalty corner.

Battling Trojans clawed another goal back against the run of play, making it 9-2 after a breakaway caused confusion in the Alton defence, but by then it was far too late for a comeback and Alton hammered the final nail in the coffin with two goals in the last five minutes – one from Singleton, who nutmegged the goalkeeper, and another from Bottomley, who finished with a neat deflection at the near post.

The win moves Alton up to sixth place in Hampshire 2 ahead of two league games in as many days – against the Isle of Wight on Saturday and then a recheduled game against Chichester on Sunday.