The ladies 1s entertained Neston 3s at home on a sunny Saturday.  Whitchurch stared the quicker of the two teams and took the ball to Neston with a lot of the possession down the right with Ellie Windsor and Jessica Carruthers creating a number of early chances that forced the best out of the Neston keeper.

The midfield of Lisa Sullivan, Hebe Dixon and Catherine Winter-Gresty dropped deeper to support the defence as Neston fought back and opened the scoring from a short corner. Whitchurch’s team without subs started to tire against Neston’s young squad of 15 in the heat.  Some assertive runs up the right by Sophie Ward and Winter-Gresty created a run of short corners for Whitchurch but Neston defended well. Whitchurch continued to pressure and were rewarded as Lisa Sullivan and Captain Winter-Gresty drove down the centre of the pitch and picked out Jessica Carruthers on the post to equalise. Neston came back and were awarded a run of shorts and from which they scored a second. Whitchurch w ere soon back on equal terms as Hebe Dixon picked out Carruthers for her second.

Defenders Emma Harper and Catherine Reece-Gresty kept frustrating the Neston attack but Neston had fresh feet and as Whitchurch tired they scored a third goal. Whitchurch kept going to the final whistle but just couldn’t capitalise on their pressure. Hebe Dixon was named as player’s player.

Bowden Ladies 6s 0 Whitchurch Ladies 2s 3

Whitchurch ladies 2s travelled away to Bowden with a strong attacking team.

The game started in the ideal fashion as Whitchurch took the lead straight from the push back as Sue Read passed to Molly Fry then to Becky Brookfield and her cross was turned in at the back post by Jess Kimberley. Bowden rallied and the defence of Captain Emma Clarke, Ellie McEvoy and Chloe Lloyd held firm ably supported by some jaw dropping saves from keeper Beth Wright.
Great passing and some wonderful tactical short corners all contributed to a second goal from Sue Read latching onto the end of a strike from Nicola Forster. Whitchurch battled on creating some great long corners opportunities led by Molly Fry and Amelie Morris through to the half time break.
The second half started slower leaving Whitchurch open to the Bowden attack but this was handled beautifully by the Whitchurch defence.
Runs from Emily Vernon and Hayley Busby led to a goal mouth scrabble in the Bowden dee and a fantastic slap straight into the goal from Sue Read to secure Whitchurch a valued three points.
Whitchurch finally ended a frustrating run of form and look forward to recommencing the final part of the season after a break next week.

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 1 Birkenhead Men’s 1s 1

Whitchurch went into the game against the run away league leaders following on from some mixed performances and results in previous weeks.

Birkenhead took the game to Whitchurch from the start with quick passing and strong tackling trying to assert an early dominance over Whitchurch. Whitchurch rode their luck in the early stages as the defence of Fred Egerton, Danny Foulkes, James Partington and Airon Jones ably supported by goalkeeper Paul ‘Sturge’ Leigh were forced into last chance tackles and saves but despite all their pressure Birkenhead failed to take their opportunities.

Whitchurch started to settle and gain more of the ball; this allowed Alex Fry to have an outstanding game in the centre of the pitch controlling everything good that Whitchurch did. The midfield of Sam Conway, David Brunyard and Jack Barnes worked continuously; rotating to keep up the intensity in the midfield and with the pace of Tom Forster and Ben Kimberley on the wings Whitchurch always looked capable of catching Birkenhead on the break.

As Birkenhead failed to capitalise on their chances frustration grew and a number of poor tackles and verbal exchanges saw the umpire’s patience run out and a number of cards shown. This seemed to affect the Birkenhead side more than it affected the Whitchurch team and as a physical and tactical battle continued both teams cancelled each other out at the break.

The second half saw much of the same until Birkenhead until broke the deadlock with a penalty corner that came off Surge’s helmet looped onto the post and past the stranded defender.

Whitchurch continued to battle hard and won a number of penalty corners and were unlucky as Craig Hockenhull deflected narrowly wide of the goal. Marcus Conway took the game to the Birkenhead defence and blazed a shot from the edge of the dee just over the crossbar.

Whitchurch finally were rewarded for their efforts as again they won a penalty corner and Jack Barnes drag flicked a blistering shot into the top corner.

Again the game got heated and the umpires kept control with cards for both sides and at the end Whitchurch earned a valuable point against a team that has only dropped three points in the last three seasons.