City of Peterborough Hockey Club beaten in Bowden ahead of a huge relegation battle at Bretton Gate, ladies push the champions all the way

A win for rock-bottom City could lift them out of the relegation zone as long as Deeside Ramblers are beaten at an out-of-sorts Cambridge City.

But failing to win their penultimate match of the season would probably condemn City to the drop.

City are currently a point behind Sheffield and two points behind Deeside, positions that remained unaltered yesterday (March 20) as all three teams were defeated.

A poor start to the game at Bowden cost City dear as they slipped to a 6-3 defeat. They were 3-0 down after the first quarter, 4-1 down at half-time, but they entered the final quarter just a goal behind before the home side raced away again in the final stages as City were caught pushing for an equaliser.

Nick Beattie, Nathan Foad and skipper Joe Finding scored the City goals who finish the season at mid-table University of Birmingham on April 2.

City manager Graham Finding said: “We gave it a good go after a poor start when Bowdon probably thought it was game over. “But we steadied the ship in the second quarter and we were in the ascendency in the third quarter meaning we went into the final quarter with a chance of a result.

“We had to go for it, and in pushing high to try and force an equaliser created opportunities for Bowdon. “Sadly it was they who got the all important next goal, and a further late strike for them resulted in a scoreline that didn’t reflect how close and competitive a match it had been.”

**City of Peterborough Ladies pushed East Premier Division champions Bishop’s Stortford all the way before accepting a 3-2 defeat at Bretton Gate on Saturday. Captain Tierney Augustine and Jemima Dodds scored the goals for City who are sixth ahead of their final game of the campaign at third-placed Harleston seconds on Saturday.

Laura Thompson-Wright scored twice as City seconds went down 5-3 at North Norfolk in Division One and Kirsten Hackett also scored twice as the thirds beat Pelicans 2-0 in Division Two.