Panthers pounce on Rebels thanks to Spencer's magic
Dave Horan opened the scoring for Panthers with an open-play goal in the 15th minute of play.
He was soon followed by Jonathan Whitefield and then Spencer put his first away in first half to take Panthers to the break with a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Spencer was back in the 45th minute, nabbing his second goal after Panthers were awarded a penalty stroke.
Justin Barritt kept up the scoring drive before Spencer made space for a third goal to seal the match.
The win boosts Panthers standings lead over second-place Chameleons — who did not play over the weekend — to five points.
Also on Sunday, Upstarts collected a more modest victory over Polecats, 3-2.
Captain Gary Tavares was all over the match, nabbing the only goal of the first half in the 18th minute of play — before slotting away two others in the second half for his own hat-trick.
Kian Wookey and Nigel Deane each scored one to keep Polecats in the match but it was not enough for win.
Panthers have 24 points, Chameleons 19, Polecats and Upstarts are tied at 13 and Rebels trail with seven.
In women’s play, Swallows collected another goal-heavy victory, defeating Canaries 5-1. Lauren Bissett put away a goal in the early minutes to give Canaries an oh-so-brief lead but Ellen Collery slotted away an equaliser on a short corner routine just four minutes later.
Joann Wilson and Hannah Ellison then each added a goal before the close of the first half to take the scoreline to 3-1.
Ellison found the touch on a short corner early in the second half for her second of the day and captain Lucy Daynes closed the scoring just before the end of play.
In the other A match, Swifts found their first win of the season with a 2-0 defeat of Wildcats.
Keishae Robinson scored both the goals for Swifts inaugural win.
Swifts also collected a win in the B league, taking out Cardinals 1-0. Jasmine Patterson scored the lone goal.
Canaries defeated Swallows 2-0 in their Sunday match with Georgie Drover and Aline Harris driving home the goals. Ravens B and Bluebirds B mired at a 1-1 draw with late, second-half goals from Anna Heard for Ravens and Eva Dillas for Bluebirds essentially cancelling each other out.
And Wildcats B and Cardinals B played to a scoreless draw on Saturday.
