Ben Rhydding 6 Rotherham 1

Ben Rhydding climbed to the top of the Men's Northern Premier Hockey League with an emphatic 6-1 victory against Rotherham.

On a mild Autumn afternoon they soon put behind them the disappointment of only drawing the previous week and successfully resumed their quest for National League status.

Ben Foster opened the scoring spree after linking well with Taylor but the advantage was soon lost after the faintest of deflections beat Weaver at the other end.

Ben Rhydding responded well and it was not long before Kiwi Patel showed great individual skill, picking out the ball at inside left and beating three players over 25 yards before scoring from close range.

With growing confidence, the lead was extended with the best goal of the game. Counter attacking down the left Danny Foster found his namesake Ben, who met the cross with a superb reverse stick shot on the move to stun the keeper.

Parkes, Bell and Winspear continued to cause trouble for the Rotherham defence but it was the ageless Cutter who rolled back the years scoring Ben Rhydding's fourth with a well-taken goal.

After the interval the dominance continued. Man-of-the-Match Neil Sugden gave an industrious performance, commanding the midfield, whilst SP Getty showed good dribbling skills. Craig Smith and Richard O'Day combined well but it was Ben Foster who stole the headlines by completing his hat-trick, remembering to get his feet round the ball before scoring from a narrow angle on the left. Patel completed the 6-1 scoreline with a penalty flick.

This Saturday Ben Rhydding travel to Durham University hoping to consolidate their league position, before returning home on Sunday to play Preston in the third Round of the National HA Cup at Ben Rhydding Sports Club starting at noon.

If they can reproduce their home form away then, come the Spring, Ben Rhydding's men have every chance of joining the women in the higher echelons of National League.