SALISBURY Hockey men's firsts returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 5-2 victory over Haslemere to consolidate third spot in Hampshire Division 1.

Captain Andy Renshaw hit the opener with a low drag flick that arrowed into the corner of the goal.

With the midfield pairing of Renshaw and Jagjit Marwaha finding it easy to cut through the Haslemere defence, Salisbury made it 2-0 inside 10 minutes. Akram Ghauri tapped home after another good run and cross from Renshaw.

A well-controlled finish from Henry Smith made it 3-0 before John Powell finished neatly from a tight angle.

Haslemere managed to pull a goal back just before half-time after a mix up in the Salisbury defence.

But the visitors hit back as Renshaw nutmegged the keeper after his initial effort from a penalty corner was saved for a fifth.

The hosts grabbed a late consolation to end the goal fest.

Renshaw told JournalSport: "We started really well and took the game straight to them which was the plan, and for the first 25 minutes we looked like we were going to score with every attack."

"To get an early goal in the second half was important, but we got a bit complacent at times which cost us a clean sheet."

Elsewhere, Salisbury Ladies recorded a comfortable 4-1 victory over Cheltenham in West Clubs Women's Hockey Premier Division 2A.

A well-worked short corner followed up by Josie Steinson gave the home side an early lead.

And two more excellent corners saw the women lead 3-0 at half time. The first corner was a perfectly timed pass between Ellen Trott and Lisa Lovatt with Ellen slotting the ball perfectly in the corner. Trott was in-form again for the next corner with a solid strike that was deflected into the net by Kerry Jackson.

Lisa Lovatt added a fourth after the restart.

Cheltenham managed to pull one back but it wasn’t enough.