With the Men’s 1s having no game and the 2s postponed due to COVID travel restrictions it was left to the ladies this weekend.

Warrington ladies 1s 3 Whitchurch ladies 1s 4

The ladies 1s travelled away to play Warrington 1s this Saturday in what turned out to be an equal sided game.  Whitchurch started play with great control and passing around the Warrington players having majority of the play. Any possession was quickly intercepted by Anna Latham and Sophie Ward. The reds quickly won a short corner, Hebe Dixon and Sarah Field passing accurately to each other several times for Field to score.

Warrington fought back with a goal from a short corner too. Then it was back to Whitchurch with Kezzie Hutchings and Chloe Lloyd pushing hard up the pitch for captain Catherine Winter-Gresty to drive the base line and fire into Sarah Field who calmly slot past the keeper. Warrington before the half time whistle scored again from a well-practiced short corner.

Half time 2-2, a quick rest a team talk and Whitchurch set up as the start, Izzy Huxley and Stephanie Stanton collecting passes high up the pitch, keeping plenty of play in the Warrington half, Hayleigh Busby received the ball from Dixon and picked out Field for their third. Keeper Maddy Sugden had her work cut out saving many shots as again Warrington pushed forward and scored a third goal from open play.

Whitchurch needed this win and continued to have some great movement up the pitch, a last push for Whitchurch as Millie Edwards passed down the pitch to Sophie Ward who scored their winning goal.

A relief for Whitchurch as the whistle went for a 4-3 win.

Timperley ladies 6s 5 Whitchurch ladies 3s 0

Whitchurch travelled to Altrincham to face a newly formed Timperley team who are currently undefeated and top of the table. They had some very experienced players but Whitchurch held their own with some driving attacks led by centre forward Annie Buckeridge and Amelie Morris at right inner. Kate Buckeridge struggled at left inner to get the ball to Sasha Preece running down the left wing due to the superb pressure from the Timperley defence but the Whitchurch halves, Eryn Cookson on the left, Jan Teggin on the right and Nicky Barber in the centre proved equal to the task firing the ball back into the attacking dee for the forwards to run onto.

In defence, Tabitha Leonard on the right and Emily Lister on the left did a sterling job clearing the Timperley attacks and were backed up by the superb keeping skills of Louise Cottrell who denied some hard strikes of the ball in the Whitchurch dee with both stick and feet. Bella Morris and Heidi Carr linked up well holding the ball on the right supported by some superb tackling and passes from Teggin but after 15 minutes the pressure proved too great and Timperley eventually broke free and scored a good unstoppable goal tight on the left post.

Undeterred by going a goal down, Barber and Cookson tackled hard and prevented many more attacks feeding Buckeridge’s and Morris’s alike through the middle. Unfortunately, Timperley broke free after 10 minutes and scored another scrappy goal despite the sprawling attempts of Cottrell to save it. So stretched was she that she literally fell apart and it took a few minutes and some help to be put back together. This 2^nd goal gave Timperley confidence and they went on to score another well-orchestrated hard hit goal shortly before half time, leaving the score 3 – 0.

The second half saw equal possession between the two teams and Whitchurch won a few short corners spurred on from the rousing cheering from the travelling ‘Leonard support team’. Timperley proved very experienced in their defence and tackling skills denying Whitchurch several shots on goal. Barber and Cookson were relentless in their tackles and determination to be first to the ball in midfield allowing Whitchurch to drive through the middle and giving Morris a fine hit right on the edge of the dee into the Timperley goal. This caused debate between umpires whether it was touched by a Whitchurch player inside the dee but unfortunately the goal was ruled out. An injury to a Timperley player unsettled the Whitchurch attack and they drove through the middle to gain a 4^th goal against the run of play.

At the final pushback, Annie Buckeridge showed excellent stick skills turning and running forward through the tight Timperley defence linking with both Morris sisters before running into the Timperley dee. Once one on one with the keeper she narrowly missed a link up pass to the right to Bella Morris. Carr showed great tenacity on the left getting ahead of the Timperley players and linking up passes with Morris and Cookson but Timperley drove forward and Kate Buckeridge unluckily conceded a short corner with a kick on the edge of the dee resulting in a fifth goal for Timperley. The last 10 minutes of the game saw most of the possession with Whitchurch and it was felt that a goal would come in time but for the final whistle preventing further play. A valiant effort by all players and making their captain Teggin very proud.

Player’s player was Amelie Morris.

 

Whitchurch ladies 2s 3 Alderley Edge ladies 7s 4

Buoyed on by their success travelling to Macclesfield last week, Whitchurch ladies 2s were looking forward to taking on newly demoted Alderley Edge. With an extremely depleted team, Whitchurch took to the pitch with no keeper and no subs, what we did have was a team who were willing to pull together and support each other.

Head Coach Alex Fry was on hand to advise player positions, lining the team up in a strong attacking formation. Defenders Emma Clarke and Catherine Reece-Gresty pushed forward squashing the Alderley Edge players into their half, with Jess Kimberley sweeping any balls which made it through. Whitchurch started strong, with three short corners in the first 5 minutes and were unlucky not to convert them.

Whitchurch kept up constant pressure in Alderley Edge with Molly Fry in middle playing the ball through to her sister Amy Fry who interacted with Ellie Pearson all showing their skills and precision passing. When Alderley Edge were able to make a break against play, they were stopped by halves Holly Gilbert and Ellie Windsor, but managed to secure a short corner. Whitchurch have a good reputation for defending short corners, but without a keeper Alderley Edge were able to slot the ball through the Whitchurch players feet and score their first goal.

Whitchurch did not let their heads go down, keeping the pressure up using the left side of the pitch with Tracey Pearson and Amelie Morris playing confidently in their regular positions working well with Nicola Forster up front. Alderley Edge made sure Whitchurch’s defence were put under pressure constantly, but the ball was kept well away from Whitchurch’s dee. Unfortunately the youthful legs of Alderley Edge proved too much for Whitchurch and they scored their second on a speedy break against play. Again Whitchurch refused to lie down. And it wasn’t long until they were finally rewarded for their efforts, Tracey Tolhurst reversed the ball to Ellie Pearson on the post and she put it in.

The second goal came shortly before the half time whistle from a short corner, scored by Nicola Forster which was slipped left from the top of the dee.
Our half time talk was supported by coach Alex, who helped with our technique. The whole team was exhausted but believed we could still win.

Unfortunately, the second half proved too much for Whitchurch, with Alderley Edge having three subs and a keeper we were under constant pressure. The team worked hard keeping the ball in the Alderley Edge half as much as possible but they knew the Whitchurch team were flagging and time took its toll, with two more goals being score by Alderley Edge early in the second half.

But there was no way Whitchurch was going to roll over, 5 minutes before the end of the match Molly Fry lead another break down the centre of the pitch, passing to Nicola Forster who swept past the keeper and slotted Whitchurch’s third goal of the match.

Even though we were exhausted Whitchurch pushed back at Alderley Edge chasing the draw, unfortunately it was not to be. The final whistle went and Whitchurch lost 3-4 to Alderley Edge.
Next week the ladies 2s travel to Sale.