HOCKEY

Ford 3
Waltham Forest 2

(NE14HOCKEY East Div 3S) WALTHAM Forest men visited runaway league leaders Ford with only ten men and pushed them all the way.

A last-minute drop out saw them travel a man short and it proved to be too much as they let a two-goal lead slip in the dying moments to lose the match 3-2.

But it was a particularly creditable performance from Forest. After 15 minutes of close play, a fine move between Rob French and Matt Tanswell saw the latter open the scoring.

Heroic defending was then followed by a second goal ten minutes later when French again combined well with Tanswell to slot past the keeper.

However, tiredness inevitably crept into Forest's play in the second half, leaving Ford to finally breaching the barrier.

A second goal came from a short corner ten minutes from time and, with seconds to spare, another short corner provided their winner.

Forest host Upminster in the final-day fixture on Saturday.