Lymm Ladies 3s 3 Whitchurch Ladies 1s 1

Whitchurch pushed hard in the first half with most of the possession but Lymm made the most of their opportunities scoring from two lucky breaks. Despite some great saves from goalkeeper Maddy Sugden Lymm had a run of shorts from which they managed to score a third. Whitchurch kept their heads held high and continued to pressure the Lymm defence but could not make it count until a great dribble into the dee from Lisa Sullivan and a small pass to Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty to tap past the Lymm keeper.

After a good half time team talk the 2nd half was looking good for Whitchurch, they settled down and had a string of shorts but unfortunately Lymm’s defence was very strong. There was some great midfield work by Lisa Sullivan, Helen Machin and Ellie Windsor and supported by some skilful runs from Emily Hilton and Ellie Windsor. The Whitchurch defence Clare Fitzgerald and Catherine Reece-Gresty did a fantastic job not allowing Lymm another goal, but time ran out for Whitchurch to leave the final score 3-1 to Lymm.

 

Whitchurch Mens 1s 7 – Bebington Mens 4s 6

Whitchurch Mens 1s travelled to Bebington this week to play a team whose league position belies their strength and ability. A very high scoring game followed, ebbing and flowing as each team scored and then were beaten on the counter attack. Whitchurch scored first, with Ben Kimberley picking up an aerial clearance from James Partington that got past all the Bebington players, taking it into the dee and right round the keeper for a fine goal; the first of his brace. A minute later, and Whitchurch had scored again and assumed that that had set the tone for the afternoon, only for Bebington to counter strongly and score a quick goal. One more from Whitchurch led to two more from Bebington, and the pressure showed as Whitchurch started to miss passes and the defence let Bebington through far too easily. Much of the rest of the first half was spent on the back foot as Whitchurch struggled to get the basics right, and they went into the half-time break a goal down.

As is becoming the pattern for Whitchurch this season, the half-time talk from Captain Alex Fry was key to identifying where the game was slipping away and what needed improving, and the last five minutes were again critical. The second half started much as the first had finished, with end-to-end play: Whitchurch put some good moves together and were able to score, but Bebington put numbers forward as well as getting back en masse and were able to pressure Whitchurch into making mistakes, and then taking the subsequent free hits quickly and with numbers.

With five minutes to go, at 6-5 down, Whitchurch once again had to dig deep to get something out of the game. Tom Leonard, was able to score his fourth to bring the game level, and then with just over two minutes to go, Jack Barnes was able to get a shot away to give Whitchurch a fortunate win against a very capable team.

Whitchurch play at home next week against Deeside Ramblers 6s.

 

Whitchurch Mens 2s 0 Chester Mens 6s 4

The Men’s 2s returned to action against Chester after a two-week lay off. The score didn’t reflect the game but more that Chester took their chances where Whitchurch didn’t.

The first half saw both teams creating chances but struggling to make them complete as they got back into playing after the break in games. It was not until the last minute of the half that Chester scrambled home the ball to give them a lead at the break.

Whitchurch were happy with the way they were playing and encouraged to carry on with the same efforts in the second half. It says much of Whitchurch’s current run of form that when Chester got touches in the dee they created chances and Whitchurch shots fell into space or to the Chester defence.

Chester neatly converted a penalty flick awarded as the ball bounced around the dee and hit the Whitchurch defender on the line and finished the game with two well-worked penalty corner routines to secure the points.

Whitchurch have another free weekend next week before a run of games up to the end of the year where they hope to find some winning form.