Whitchurch ladies 3s 0 Bowden ladies 7s 8

First match after the Christmas break and it was evident that the 3s had all had too many mince pies and chocolate! Also due to illness and a player being stuck on the M1, Whitchurch were without three of their regular team players but thanks to Laura Workman and Nikki Forster stepping in at the last minute Whitchurch had a full squad.

A slow start by Whitchurch allowed a very fast and fit Bowden to sneak an early goal past our substitute goalkeeper Mel Reid, who was struggling to move in kit, however considering she had never played in goal before she learnt the skills very quickly! After the goal, Whitchurch were prompted into attack with runs down the right wing from Caitlin Edwards and Phoebe Jones, winning three successive short corners which unfortunately they were unable to convert. Sue Read narrowly missed the goal and Nikki Forster had several hard strikes on target which were expertly kicked away by the Bowden goalie.

Despite some superb tackling from our halves, Wendy Cooper in the middle, Annie Leigh on the left and Phoebe Jones on the right, Bowden Ladies powered through the middle using some impressive reverse stick hits and flicks into the air. Emily Lister at right back, Sally Pearce at left back and Wendy Cooper were resilient in defence and Mel Reid stopped several fantastic shots on goal but eventually the onslaught was too much and Bowden scored three more goals to take the score line to 4-0.

After a rallying speech from the coach at half time, Whitchurch renewed their efforts and managed to make Bowden work a little harder with some runs down the left wing from Kate and Annie Buckeridge backed up by some superb tackling and passes from Annie Leigh attempting to get the ball to Sue Read waiting in the dee. Laura Workman worked hard in the middle to link up with Phoebe Jones and Caitlin Shaw on the right who all managed to get several shots into the dee but still Whitchurch were unable to convert into the goal. Bowden caught Whitchurch on the counter attack several times with some impressive runs and passing and unfortunately four more goals were scored before the final whistle.

Whitchurch ran themselves to a standstill and should be proud of their efforts against a strong Bowden team. At least Whitchurch burnt off all those calories left over from Christmas and New Year and will be much fitter for our next away match against Golborne 3’s. Emily Lister was named ‘Players player’.

Neston Ladies 3s 4 Whitchurch ladies 1s 4

Whitchurch travelled away to play Neston 3s. Despite the windy weather, the Whitchurch team had high spirits and were determined for another win.

Whitchurch started the first half strong, with Millie Edwards and Catherine Reece-Gresty stopping many Neston crosses into the dee and goalkeeper Molly Fry saving many shots from the Neston players. After a few minutes of battling to keep the ball out of the Whitchurch dee, with Helen Mellor making some great tackles, Whitchurch found a gap in the defence and Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty scored the first goal of the match pushing the ball into the right corner passed the keeper. However, it wasn’t long before Neston equalised making the score 1-1. Both sides continued to work hard and Whitchurch pushed forward with the ball as much as possible, but couldn’t get a goal leaving the score at 1-1 at half time.

After the half time break, Whitchurch came back strong and started the second half well with Jess Kimberly and Stephanie Stanton making some good runs and crosses into the Neston dee, where Hebe Dixon shot the ball from top dee making the score 2-1.

It wasn’t long before Neston found a gap in the Whitchurch defence and scored their second making it equal again. After a few minutes of strong play by both sides, with Molly Fry making some more incredible saves and Ellie Windsor receiving the ball high and making some good runs into the Neston D, Izzy Huxley got a touch on the ball deflecting it into the corner of the goal for Whitchurch’s third goal of the match.

The game swung again as Neston broke and managed to score equalising the score to 3-3. Both teams began to get tired but they didn’t give up, Helena Dannenfeldt made some amazing runs in the middle, allowing Megan Brunyard a touch to score the seventh goal of the match making it 4-3 to Whitchurch. With 30 seconds left, Whitchurch thought they had this in the bag, but Neston were awarded a short corner. The final whistle went and Neston were able to convert the short corner into a goal making the final score 4-4. Whitchurch player Hebe Dixon received player of the match.

Next week Whitchurch 1s will play Oswestry 1s at home.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 0 Bowden ladies 6s 3

Whitchurch ladies 2s returned to action after the Christmas break entertaining Bowden ladies 6s at home this weekend. The first half started quite equally matched with Whitchurch creating much of the play and only a brilliant save off the line prevented Grace Berry giving them an early lead. Much to Whitchurch s frustration Bowden took the lead with a penalty corner strike.  Whitchurch continued to attack and create chances but failed to convert. Again Bowden reacted first to a goal mouth scramble and doubled their lead at the break.

The second half saw much of the same Ellie McEvoy drove down the left side of the field picking out Berry who again had a blistering shot cleared off the line.  Whitchurch then suffered a blow as Becky Brookfield was sidelined after receiving a blow to the hand. Whitchurch had a number short corners and their frustration grew when Berry’s shot was disallowed as it crossed the goal line to high.

Some nice inter-passing between Leanne Read and Emily Vernon in the midfield picked out Berry who slipped the ball to Tracy Tolhurst who hit the post and the rebound went wide.

Bowden scored their third goal from a short corner where the initial shot was going wide and a wicked deflection saw the ball end up in the bottom corner of the Whitchurch goal. Whitchurch pushed for a consolation goal and it was truly not their day when the ball fell to Hayley Busby and her deflection shot past the post of the Bowden goal. Ellie McEvoy was player’s player.