Whitchurch ladies 1s 1 Chester ladies 4s 1
Whitchurch ladies started the stronger of the two teams and pressed from the start. Some good attacking play down the right hand side between Phoebe Jones and Emily Hilton saw Nicola Workman causing problems for the Chester defence.
After ten minutes Chester scored against the run of play with a fabulous goal that struck the underside of the crossbar leaving the Whitchurch defence with no opportunity.
Whitchurch were unphased by the setback and continued with the same game plan which had worked so effectively and were rewarded when Nicola Workman defected home an equaliser to make it all level at the break.
After a good team talk Whitchurch came back stronger having a lot more control over the play. Defenders Catherine Reece-Gresty and Gayle Ladd constantly pushing up the ball to Ellie Windsor and Laura Workman to give Whitchurch plenty of chances but Sue Read and captain Catherine Winter-Gresty just couldn’t make them count.
Whitchurch frustration started to show as they pushed more players forward aiming for the win and they were lucky not to lose when the Chester centre forward was picked out unmarked in the Whitchurch dee and only an excellent save by keeper Gwyneth Thomas-Rees saved the day.
At the final whistle a draw was the correct result. Whitchurch captain Catherine Winter-Gresty got player of the match
Whitchurch ladies 1s travel away next week to play Lymm ladies 5s.
Brooklands Poynton ladies 4s 4 Whitchurch ladies 2s 3
Whitchurch travelled to play against Brooklyn 4s on Saturday in freezing conditions. As with so many of the games in recent weeks Whitchurch pressured from the start but were unable to convert their opportunities.
Brooklyn’s managed to break free and scored from the top of the dee with a shot that skimmed past the Whitchurch keeper Maddy Sugden. The Whitchurch defence of Wendy Cooper, Mel Reed and Becky Brookfield and the returning Helen Apperley continued to stand firm saving loads of passes into the dee.
Whitchurch managed to equalise when Hebe Dixon drove down the right hand side picked out Charlotte Lawder who then past the ball to Emily Vernon who slotted it into the back of the goal.
Whitchurch then took the lead as Hebe Dixon scored her first for the club but it was only short lived as Brooklands equalised just before the break.
From the break Brooklands came back fighting and scored a further two but Whitchurch were determined that they were going to fight back and a run from Masie Owen free on the left saw her pick out to Dixon for her second.
Despite the cold conditions Whitchurch kept up their efforts to the final whistle but couldn’t manage to get the equalising goals. Charlotte Lawder was awarded player of the match.
Next week Whitchurch will be entertaining Golborne 2s at home next week at 12:30.
Whitchurch Mens 1s 4 Denbigh Mens 2s 0
Whitchurch Mens 1s kept their hunt for promotion continued with another win over Denbigh 2s. Goals from captain Joel Leese, Ben Lea, Martin Beecher and Steve Lloyd scored another three points to keep them top of the league.
Chester Mens 6s 1 Whitchurch Mens 2s 6
Whitchurch 2s travelled to Chester 6s with the teams only separated in the table by goal difference.
For only the second time this season Whitchurch 2s travelled with a full team AND substitutes and immediately took control of the game. Most of the first half was spent camped in Chester’s half and the interplay and movement of Jack Barnes, Simon Valiente-Briceno and Craig Hockenhull caused Chester no end of problems.
Whitchurch’s dominance was rewarded with Craig Hockenhull’s excellent first half hat-trick. Two solo efforts were capped with a fine passing move involving Alex Fry, Simon Valiente-Briceno and Craig himself.
Despite Whitchurch’s dominance Chester always posed a threat on the counter-attack and despite excellent defending from Mark Sugden and Iain Bones and good goalkeeping from Neil Jones, Chester got a lucky break to pull a goal back from close range to make the score 3-1 at the break.
Whitchurch continued to dominate and control the second half and added three further goals without reply in the second half. An excellent passing move was rounded off at the far post by Aaron Shackleton, Ben Fry showed some nifty close control in the D to add the 5th goal and Craig Hockenhull rounded off an all-action display with the sixth goal of the afternoon.
The 6-1 win leaves Whitchurch in 7th place in the table after 10 games.
Whitchurch 2s played some excellent, controlled hockey in this match. Alex Fry marshalled the team from central midfield and with good use of rolling substitutions all 13 members of the squad made significant contributions to the team performance.