Hat-trick hero Hayward’s eventful afternoon as Portsmouth beat Southampton in Hampshire/Surrey League hockey thriller
Peter Hayward recovered from injury to emerge as Portsmouth’s hat-trick hero in a Hampshire/Surrey Regional 2 nine-goal thriller with Southampton.
Hayward had to leave the pitch after an Adam Payne tackle resulted in the ball hitting him just above the eye.
While he was receiving treatment, Southampton stormed into a 2-0 lead at Furze Lane.
But second-placed Portsmouth hit back to lead at the interval - and eventually won 5-4.
Young Harry Hellyer started the fightback, cutting in from the right, beat three players and smashing a reverse shot hard into the far corner.
Hayward and Rob Hunt completed the recovery, before Southampton levelled from a corner.
Man of the match Hayward completed his treble with two corner strikes before Southampton scored a corner of their own with the last hit of the game.
Jacob Shucksmith struck twice in the first half for Portsmouth 2nds in their Hampshire Division 3 trip to Southampton 2nds.
The man of the match netted either side of a home reply as Portsmouth led at the interval.
But the second half was a different story with Southampton netting three times and the visitors unhappy with a green card issued to Jon Farmer.
The 4-2 loss was a difficult pill to swallow considering the team had dominated the first half.
Dan Snelling opened the scoring for mid-table Portsmouth 3rds in their Hampshire Division 5 clash with second-placed Gillingham.
But that was as good as it got as the Dorset club hit back to win 3-1.
Portsmouth’s Andy Arnell produced some strong defending, while the man of the match award went to Alex Love.
Portsmouth 4ths maintained their two-point lead at the top of Hampshire Division 8 with a 4-0 success against Yateley.
They took the lead midway through the first half when Peter Wingate deflected in a pass from Ryan Rochester.
Quinten Carkeek-Blakley doubled the lead before Portsmouth added further goals in the second from from Alan Ball and Wingate.
The man of the match award went to Tom Greer for controlling the game from midfield.
Portsmouth 5ths came from 0-2 down at half-time to draw 2-2 with Gillingham in Hampshire Division 9 (South).
Tim Schofield pulled a goal back following good build up play by industrious man of the match Will Duffy in midfield.
Cutting down to three at the back, the excellent Craig Watts, Andy Thorne and Colin Metcalfe reaped rewards and gave the midfield more control.
Marc Kendrick pounced on a loose ball from a short corner to equalise after the keeper saved Tim Schofield's shot.