Witham Hockey Club's mens first team grabbed a vital victory in Division Two South after an entertaining game against a resilient East London team. Witham had been on a three game losing streak and, if they wanted to have any chance of promotion, needed to start 2012 as they started the first part of the season.

It was an extremely cold day and the game was only given the go ahead 30 minutes before push back. Witham started the game very brightly and it was immediately evident that Witham were playing with the extra man in midfield could control possession and move the ball up the pitch with fluidity. Witham broke the deadlock when James Belsham launched an aerial ball that put the opposition under pressure and, with a mix up between their defence and the goalie, it meant Paul Bellehewe could nip in and slot the ball into an empty net. However the lead only lasted five minutes as East London capitalized on a rare mistake within the Witham defence and tapped in from close range to leave both teams sharing the spoils at half time.

After the break Witham started to take control of the game and scored a trademark counter attack goal. Andrew Holms picked the ball up from defence and fed it to Marshall, who quickly moved the ball on to the ever-dangerous Newland. Newland fed it to Bellehewe who beat the last man and slotted the ball in the far corner to put Witham back in front, unfortunately Bellehewe pulled up with a muscle problem and, due to lack of players, Witham were unable to replace him so he continued to play a bit part role. This meant East London had an extra man and were able to push forward and produce some chances of their own, which inevitably led to the equalizer. Witham however were still looking dangerous themselves and were hitting East London with some great chances. Pidgeon's reverse shot was pushed over the bar by the goalie and the resulting flurry of short corners ultimately led to the final and winning. Marshall broke down the right to the byline and drew the opposition defender into a foul. The short corner was won and Pidgeon drag flicked an unstoppable shot into the top left corner, a goal worthy of winning any match.

The game still wasn't over as Tom Wilsher was sin binned, meaning that Witham were down to nine fully fit players, but with some fantastic defensive work from Tyson, Belsham and Hicks, along with Hadcraft in goal, Witham held on to grab a vital three points. Man of the match Jack Tyson was very pleased with the win saying "This game is a great stepping stone for the second half of the season, we have a local derby against Brentwood in which we can walk into the game full of confidence knowing a similar performance will mean we will take the points."