Whitchurch ladies 1s 0 Sale 2s 8
First league game of the season for the Ladies 1s who entertained Sale 2s at home this weekend. Whitchurch knew it was going to be a hard match as Sale 2s dropped from the division above last season.
Whitchurch didn’t get going and too many unforced errors and Sale’s pace and experience really put Whitchurch to work from the whistle putting a lot of pressure on the defence. Sale scored four goals in the first half leaving Whitchurch to have a change of positions in the second and could have been worse but for some outstanding saves by Gwyneth Thomas-Rees in goal.
Whitchurch reshaped for the second half and started to put together passes and create some pressure and a few chances at a goal but when their best opportunity hit the post and bounced clear it was not their day.
Sale proved too strong on the day and despite Whitchurch best efforts Sale proved clinical in front of goal and scored another four goals leaving Whitchurch deflated and a final score of 8-0 to Sale.
Whitchurch 1s entertain Neston at home again next week.
Sale ladies 3s 3 Whitchurch ladies 2s 6
Whitchurch Ladies 2s played their first league match in division 5. Following the success of last season, the 2s had point to be made to prove their worth in the higher division. The 2s were also well aware Sale had a point to be made as they had been relegated from division 4 the previous season.
Sale started fast, pushing the ball straight into the path of the defensive line of Emma Clarke and Hebe Dixon, who dealt with it effectively and cleanly sent the ball straight back into Sales half where it stayed for most of the next ten minutes.
Whitchurch’s mid field created a formidable barrier across the field and any breaks Sale tried to make were counter attacked by Wendy Cooper, Helen Hocknell and Hayleigh Busby (who stepped up and played out of position in CH), who pushed the ball straight back at our strong forward line. It took 15 minutes for Whitchurch to get the much-anticipated first goal through a lovely pass from Amy Fry to Tracy Tolhurst on the post.
Although Sale continued to try and make a break, placing 2 forwards high on the Whitchurch Defensive line, they were not successful as Whitchurch held fast marking well and not giving up the fight for the ball. When they did break through Shola Bailey was out of her goals like a shot, closing the ball down and kicking Whitchurch out of trouble. Whitchurch effort was rewarded in the first half with two further goals, one from Amy Fry and one from Phoebe Jones, following some fantastic stick work and cross field play from Beth Sykes linking up with her wing Phoebe Jones and Amy Fry in the centre.
Sales half time team talk obviously introduced new tactics and they launched themselves at the Whitchurch defence, with some skilful play splitting the Whitchurch back 5 players, but Shola Bailey in goal was a forced to be reckoned with and saved shot after shot. However, the inevitable happened, within 10 minutes of the second half whistle going Sale had scored their first goal. Whitchurch 2s response to this was to get straight back into their half and score our 4th goal of the match, Amy Fry’s 2nd of the day.
As we entered the 4th quarter of the match, Whitchurch suffered two major injuries, Wendy Coopers ankle being mistaken for the ball and Hebe Dixon leaving the pitch after being hit by the ball.
Whitchurch became flustered and Sale took the opportunity scoring two goals in quick succession. With Hebe Dixon back on the pitch, after being patched up, Whitchurch 2s put their frustration into the game, proving no matter what happens around them, good team play will always win, in the dying minutes of the match Tracy Tolhurst again sitting on the post, popped in a lovely pass from Emily Vernon and then to finish her hattrick scoring from a short corner.
Whitchurch Ladies travel to Runcorn next week for their second league match of the season. Player of the match Shola Bailey.
Whitchurch ladies 3s 1 Triton ladies 3s 0
Excitement mounted at Whitchurch hockey club in anticipation of the first match for the newly formed ladies 3’s team. They were due to play Triton 3’s and were looking forward to the challenge! A mixture of juniors, who have worked their way up through the academy and more experienced players made up the team.
The opponents had first push back. Straightaway, the Whitchurch players started their attack. Both sides were playing hard and both older and younger players put in some excellent play. New senior team members; Izzy Huxley, Amelie Morris and Evie Whatmough making some excellent runs, pushing forward.
The Whitchurch defence also did an amazing job of keeping the ball out of their goal, resulting in our young goalkeeper Maddy Sugden, gaining the Best Player of the match! Then, Whitchurch had their scoring chance. Kate Goodwin executed the short corner, for Jess Kimberley to smash into our goal. Fantastic shot! That was the only, hence winning goal of the match. What a great performance from our new team in their first game.