Whitchurch ladies 1s 2 Lymm ladies 3s 2
Whitchurch went out strong, dominating the first 10 minutes, but unfortunately were unable to get a goal. Lymm 3s got a lucky break and made it through the Whitchurch players to score past Gwyn Thomas-Rees . Whitchurch were not impressed but were beginning to tire. A few good plays got the ball up to the Lymm dee with centre mid Catherine Winter-Gresty getting the ball to the edge of the Dee, passed in to Grace Berry, who slapped it into the goal, hitting the net and evening up the score.
This cheered the spirits of Whitchurch, and with some great Ariel plays, Whitchurch continued to fight but couldn’t quite get a goal. A spectacular play saw the ball passed to striker Sue Read, who stretched out but couldn’t quite reach it.
Whitchurch went out fighting again, eager for the win. They battled valiantly but to no avail. Finally, Whitchurch earn’t a short corner. This was injected by Laura Workman, received by Grace Berry, who passed to Becks Morrissey, who struck at goal, causing the Lymm keeper to make a save. Grace Berry caught the rebound and smashed the ball into the roof of the net, putting Whitchurch deservingly in the lead for the first time in the game. Both teams kept their heads up and continue to play some good hockey, although tough at times. Lymm responded with a scrappy goal, following several saves ten minutes before the end. Just two minutes before the end, Catherine Reese-Gresty got a green card leaving Whitchurch with ten players with minutes left they had to hold on for the whistle. Final score was 2-2. Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty received player of the match.
Whitchurch will regroup and go out fighting again next Saturday, away against Buckley 1s.
Whitchurch Mens 2s 1 Deeside Ramblers Mens 7s 0
Whitchurch took on local rivals in this closely fought contest. Whitchurch started the quicker of the two teams and took an early lead with a blistering shot from Craig Hockenhull into the bottom corner of the Deeside goal. Whitchurch failed to take advantage of their chances and but brought the best out of the Deeside keeper who pulled of a great save from a Fred Edgerton shot and just before the end of the half Josh Parry deflected just wide of the post.
The second half saw much of the same with both teams evenly matched, Deeside continued to pressure the Whitchurch defence with same excellent passing between their younger players but the back line of Danny Foulkes, Richard Leigh and Ian Bones quickly broke up their attacks.
At the end of the match both teams were exhausted but Whitchurch claimed their first win of the season and a valuable three points.
Whitchurch travel away to play Wrexham Mens 2s next weekend.
Whitchurch Mens 1s 0 – Bangor University Mens 2s 5
Whitchurch travelled to Bangor for a late-pushback game this week against a young and well-trained team, and suffered their first significant loss in a long while.
The first half started well, and Whitchurch had the majority of the play. Several chances were set up well, with Ben Kimberley’s crosses into the dee from the right wing passing just inches from the tap-ins that would have given the Reds at least two goals. Airan Jones, stepping up from the 2s well, had an excellent game on the left wing, making runs and getting behind the Bangor defence.
At the other end of the pitch, the defence were hard-pushed by a strong Bangor attack, who were able to get a goal from a scramble in the dee. The Reds reset, and held out for the rest of the half, with Alex Fry stepping up in the central midfield role, and Steve Kay taking his place as sweeper, and they were able to control the centre of the pitch and get the ball out wide to Ben Fry and Jake Wood. They had very strong games and impressed with their strong runs down the wings, and they consistently pressured the Bangor players, fought for every ball and got through to the dee and released Tom Leonard to attack with his usual mix of top-of-the-dee strikes and movement through the defenders but, despite the pressure and getting a number of short corners, the final hits evaded them and the goals refused to come. Sturge in goal kept out a number of strikes including a diving save which involved a Bangor forward trying to get the ball over him, until James Partington was able to tap the ball onto the attacker’s foot.
The second half started with immense pressure from the Bangor team, who played with fluency and took control of the centre of the pitch more, passing the ball more freely amongst themselves and cheered on by some passionate supporters. The pressure took its toll on the Whitchurch defence who let their marking slip, and Bangor were able to score a couple of quick goals. Ryan Murtagh and Matt Brooks were worked hard at left and right back to keep a stream of attacks out, but eventually the pressure told and two more goals went in.
The game ended with Bangor deserved winners, but Whitchurch know the areas they need to improve on before they play Liverpool Sefton 3s next week at home – a known threat, as a team who came up with them last season – pushing back at 2pm at SJT.
Whitchurch ladies 3s 0 Wilmslow ladies 4s 8
Whitchurch Ladies 3s played Wilmslow Ladies 4s yesterday, with increasing bravery and determination! You can see the confidence growing in our younger, less experienced members of the team, match by match. Captain Kate Goodwin tried out her players in different positions this match, to try and find out where people are suited best to playing. Evie Whatmough did very well striding her way up front, as centre forward, ably supported by Izzy Huxley, Caitlin Shaw, Milly Carruthers and Amelie Morris. However, sadly Wilmslow were just too strong and despite our good defensive play scored two goals very quickly.
Maddy Sugden made some excellent saves, but this succession of goal scoring continued throughout the first half. Our defence team did work very hard trying to keep them out of our Dee, with Edina Jones, Mel Reid and Molly Goodwin demonstrating some brilliant defensive stick work. Unfortunately Wilmslow were 6 – 0 up at half time.
This yet again did not dampen spirits however and after a very inspirational team talk at half time, Whitchurch went back on the pitch in a very positive mood. After a change of players and positions, this was reflected in our play in the second half. What a turnaround! Nobody gave up and appeared to play a far stronger game. Ellie McEvoy making some great moves up the pitch, with Victoria Corlett, Emily Lister and Annie Buckeridge really battling on.
Some very impressive and determined play by Kate Buckeridge, helping to keep the ball up at the Wilmslow end more, meant we had far more of a chance of scoring in the second half. Sadly, we had a goal disallowed but as a result of our improved playing.
Wilmslow only managed to get two goals past us in this half. What a great improvement by all players! The final score was 8 – 0 to Wilmslow, with Maddy Sugden, our formidable goalkeeper yet again getting Man of the Match! Next week we play away at Sandbach.
Macclesfield ladies 4s 0 Whitchurch ladies 2s 3
This week Whitchurch travelled away to Macclesfield ladies 4s. Whitchurch started the stronger of the two teams with Tracy Tolhurst scoring the first goal within 15 minutes.
Whitchurch pushed hard to increase their lead and were rewarded with Hayleigh Busby scoring the second goal off an attacking short corner. One final attempt in the first half saw need passing between forward Amy Fry, Hayleigh Busby and Tracy Tolhurst to setup Emily Vernon who slapped the ball past the Macclesfield keeper giving Whitchurch a 3-0 lead at the break.
The second half began with Macclesfield mounting strong attacks, the game for Whitchurch changed with Whitchurch defending their goal. Goalkeeper Shola Bailey produced some amazing saves to frustrate the Macclesfield forwards.
With their strong defence, Emma Clarke, Wendy Cooper and Martha Teggin and numerous saves from goal keeper Shola Bailey, Macclesfield were not able to gain an advantage and Whitchurch defended several short corners which were stopped by Hebe Dixon and Jess Kimberley.
Macclesfield voted Hebe Dixon player of the match