Two goals in the first seven minutes set Bingley Bees’ men on course for a 7-0 win against City of York sevenths in Division Five North of the Yorkshire League.

Immediate pressure saw skipper Ben Clough put the Bees ahead and Stephen Booth quickly doubled the score.

Bingley kept up the pressure throughout the first half but could not increase their lead until the last minute when Michael Crawshaw forced the ball home.

The second half proved much the same and a swift move nine minutes in ended with a well-placed pass from Joe Manning finding Booth to put away his second goal.

Clough added his second nine minutes later and Chris Silberberg then fired in his first of the season, before Clough completed his hat-trick when pouncing on a loose ball to beat the keeper with a reverse-stick shot.

The Bees have now triumphed in their first three games but on Saturday travel to leaders Driffield seconds, who have won four out of four, and then on Sunday face York University thirds, with victories in their opening two matches, in two difficult games.

Meanwhile, the Bees women’s team won for the first time in their opening four Premier Division games as they returned from Thirsk with a 3-0 success.

Bingley began strongly and a Mel Burgess strike was saved too high by a Thirsk defender, leaving Burgess to open the scoring with the penalty flick.

The second half saw Bingley start with no substitutes following an injury to Nicole Dermot but, undeterred, their first penalty corner saw Gail Day put away a clean strike to make it 2-0.

The final goal came after a tackle from consistent defender Steph Robertshaw which led to Burgess claiming her second of the game.

Rachel Holdsworth was voted player of the match.

The third-placed Bees women’s second team hit back from two goals behind at half-time to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Kingston-upon-Hull thirds in Division Four.

Bingley pulled one back after a great ball in from Maddy Silberberg, who recently graduated to the seconds after years of training as a junior at the club, with new player Ciara Hynds applying the final touch.

The equaliser came with 20 minutes to go when player of the match Jenny Bone struck out a penalty corner and then fired home the rebound for her first goal of the season after an initial shot had been saved.

The Bees were now pressing for a winning goal but the visitors then called for an early finish after a second player slipped on the greasy pitch.

The umpires agreed the surface had become dangerous and blew the final whistle a few minutes ahead of schedule, although the result stood.

Stand-in keeper Michelle Clarke-McCullough played a blinder to earn the player of the match award.