Whitchurch Men’s 1s 1 Deeside Ramblers Men’s 4s 1

Whitchurch had a decent game this week against a solid Deeside team, and in a match where either side could have grabbed the win, a one-all result was a fair reflection of the contest.

Both teams had opportunities in the game, with Paul “Sturge” Leigh being called on several times in both halves to clean up after Deeside had broken through the defence, but the Reds started well and for the first 10-15 minutes had some good control and passages of play. The concentration dropped a little towards the middle of the first half, with passes being hopeful rather than strong, and players running into trouble rather than recycling to go again, and it was in this period that Deeside got their goal. A breakdown in play in the middle of the pitch gave the ball to the Ramblers and they overloaded the Whitchurch defence to pick up their goal, and it reflected their dominance of the game at that time.

Another reset at half-time, and a slight change in formation gave the Reds a different structure for the second half, and it afforded them more time and control in the middle of the pitch. It also lessened the impact of the Deeside pivot man, and that meant the balance of power shifted back towards the Reds and a good run up the pitch had Phil Handley fire a ball hard past the keeper, only for it to bounce off the right-hand post and ping straight back to Tom Forster on the follow-up, who slotted it away.

The rest of the half was evenly balanced. Tom Edwards and Joe Chester’s, stepping up from the 2s, had solid games. Dale Seymour and Jon Gilbert made some excellent interceptions and tackles to cut out the Deeside attacks. Captain Jack Barnes held the centre, and kept the team focused throughout, with everyone putting in a decent shift. The result was critically dictated by the two goalkeepers, with Sturge making a leaping save, and the Deeside keeper having a fantastic game to block some well-worked attacks.

All in all, a fair result and a good game played in a decent spirit. Whitchurch have a couple of weeks until their next game but will work on the lessons from the last two games which have had some moments of excellence, which bodes well for the rest of the season.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 3 Crewe ladies 3s 1

Whitchurch ladies 2s took on Crewe 3s at home today, for a second time this season and after a defeat in the last match, Whitchurch were ready to get their win.
Whitchurch lost the toss, so Crewe had the first pushback.  Crewe started strong but Whitchurch intercepted the ball and kept it in Crewe’s half. Whitchurch were able to gain many short corners which got them their first goal executed by a very determined Hayley Kellet.
Crewe restarted but it was quickly recovered by Heidi Groom who moved it to Sophie Jones who ran up the line passing back to Heidi Groom who ran rings round all Crewe’s defenders then confused keeper finishing it off in the goal.

A strong defence from Emma Stubbs and Catherine Reece-Gresty and clean interceptions from Eleanor Beecher, Lydia Jones and Bella Morris meant they were able to stop Crewe from scoring.

The second half started off pretty much the same. Lucy Chadwick drove the ball up the line finding a pass to Freya Gresty who was able to switch the ball across the pitch to Lucy Hearn who found Bella Morris who slipped the ball in past the Crewe keeper.

With previous great saves from Megan Nicholson unfortunately Crewe managed to score off a short corner ending the match in a 3:1 finish.

Players player went to a very well-deserved Hayley Kellett. Whitchurch play their rearranged game away next week against Golborne.

Whitchurch Ladies 1s 1 Golborne ladies 1s 1

Whitchurch ladies 1s travelled away to Golborne for a top of the table clash and without all of their usual team.

From the start Whitchurch had majority of the possession, with Golborne occasionally making a break but the defence of Chloe Lloyd and Hayleigh Busby swept up and started the ball up the pitch through Tilly James and Hermione Ball.

Pressure from Sarah Kay and Poppy Gilbert kept the play in the Golborne twenty-five. A short corner for Whitchurch and Captain Cath Gresty took a straight strike from top dee and was first on the score sheet.

Whitchurch on a high played strong and used the width well using Jasmin Williams and Mollie Bell to tire out Golborne.

Half time and 1-0 up, Whitchurch started the second half as the first.

Lots of running as the game was back and to, keeper Caroline Wynn made several fantastic sliding saves.

Whitchurch had many more shots on goal, Gresty picking out Beth Wright, but Golborne packed out their defence and repelled every attempt away.

Unfortunately for Whitchurch a short corner for Golborne allowed them to equalise in the last quarter and time ran out for Whitchurch to continue their run of wins.

First draw of the season for the Whitchurch ladies 1s but they will be back after a week off next week.

Crewe Men’s 3s 3 Whitchurch Men’s 2s 1

Whitchurch travelled to Crewe for an early start expecting a hard game following their home fixture earlier in the season.

Whitchurch took the game to Crewe from the start and thought they should have had a penalty stoke in the first few minutes as Joe Chester’s flew past the last defender and into the dee only to bundled to the ground. From the resulting penalty corner Whitchurch got away a shot which was saved by the Crewe keeper, and this set the tone for the game.

Whitchurch had large amounts of possession throughout the first half and despite some excellent opportunities Crewe were resilient in defence and along with some excellent keeping kept Whitchurch at bay. Shots from Pip Jones off a penalty corner and free flowing movement from Oliver Edwards and Airan Jones down the left created chances Whitchurch came and went.

Whitchurch were guilty of pushing too high in the chase for a goal and Crewe exploited the space left with some excellent runs down the wings from some very skilful younger players drawing the Whitchurch defence out of position and resulting in winning penalty corners. Whitchurch defended a number of these with some excellent saves from keeper Neil Jones before Crewe finally took the lead.

Whitchurch continued to battle, and the defence of Danny Foulkes, Lucas Hill, Richard Leigh and Liam Pallet made tackle after tackle to frustrate the Crewe attackers.

The second half saw Whitchurch sit back and not commit players as far forward and this gave them more balance but again Crewe won a penalty and converted. Within minutes Whitchurch pulled one back as Will Edwards picked up the ball and drove past the advancing keeper to bring Whitchurch back into the game.

Minutes later a rare mishit pass from Crewe was picked up by Craig Hockenhull in the midfield who drove into the Crewe dee picking out Will Edwards who hit the post.

Whitchurch continued to push forward for the equaliser with some excellent linking play from Alfie Edwards but again Crewe capitalised on the space and won another penalty corner which they converted.

Whitchurch felt they played well against a team which had severely beaten them earlier in the season and with a bit more composure in the dee it would have been a much tighter game.