Northop Hall Men’s 2s 2  Whitchurch Men’s 1s 2

Whitchurch travelled away to Northop Hall this week to play the team one place below them in the league, knowing it would be a tough game. The game started reasonably well, but Whitchurch were guilty of the same mistakes as the previous couple of weeks: poor control, weak passing and generally not being fully in the game from the start. Some of this could be in part due to a pitch that was very sandy after a recent resurfacing, but still having less bounce than a dropped jelly – but ultimately the Reds failed to compensate properly for large periods of the first half. This meant many passes drew up short and were intercepted, attempts to run with the ball ended in tackles or loose passes, and aerials from the defence rarely made it to their targets.

Despite this, it was Whitchurch who went ahead first, with one of the few good passages of play from the half; the high press from Northop Hall left them exposed at the back, and Nick Cooper received a good forward pass after some simple passing play, and was able to round the keeper and put the ball into the open net. The rest of the half was spent under pressure at the back, with Danny Foulkes, Steve Kay, James Partington and Airan Jones working hard to cut out attacks from both wings and down the centre. Paul “Sturge” Leigh was again solid in goal, making sliding tackles and powerful clearances when the attacks had made it past the defence.

In the centre of the pitch, the pressure was relieved by some good work by Jack Barnes, Rob Chappell, Craig Hockenhull and Ben Kimberley, who came back time and again to help clear the ball and to mark the opposition’s midfield, but it was still difficult to break the high press with play breaking down too often. The front line of Tom Forster, Nick Cooper, Peter Scales, supported by Fred Egerton, were kept out of the game with forward passes being cut out or the Northop defence working well to regain the ball. The pressure told, with a good forward run evading the Whitchurch defence and the striker getting the ball past a diving Sturge.

The half-time score was 1-1, which was better than it might have been, but the Reds knew they should have done better. The half-time talk, without Captain Alex Fry this week, probably represents what is so good about the team this year: other players stepped up to take responsibility, highlighting what they knew to be problems and working out plans for the team to implement. Risky play – unsafe long balls, aerials, driving into tackles – were to be replaced with more careful passing, better running, earlier offloads to accommodate the pitch and the opposition better. The second half reflected this and was far, far better. The Northop Hall defence was breached time and again, with Cooper receiving long passes on several occasions and being denied only by excellent keeping or last minute tackles. Forster went very close, and wings were used well to get passes into the dee. Whitchurch moved the ball better across the pitch, shuffling the defence to bring Chappell back to strengthen the play from deep, and passes started to reach their targets, good runs were made, tackles were avoided, and the width of the pitch was used far better. The attacks led to a number of great balls across the Northop dee, lacking only the final touch, but leading to a number of short corners. It was from one of these that Barnes scored the Reds’ second, with a well-executed routine ending in a flick at the goalkeeper who only got a slight touch to it before it hit the net.

The rest of the half was more even, and Northop Hall got a short corner of their own which was initially stopped well by Sturge, but the rebound fell nicely to the Northop striker who put it over the prone keeper. Whitchurch defended well for the rest of the half and were able to see the game out to continue a run of games where the quality hasn’t always been there, but the determination and commitment has seen them through to a good result. They stay ahead of Northop Hall, third in the league, and are away to Neston next week.

Whitchurch ladies 3s 3 Alderley Edge ladies 7s 1

Victory for the Whitchurch Ladies this weekend was a well deserved 3-1 win against Alderley Edge lead by Captain Wendy Cooper.

The start of the game didn’t’ look too promising for Whitchurch with Alderley Edge securing a number of short corners early on.  However, and as a result of the brilliant defence from Mel Reid, Emily Lister, Wendy Cooper, Jan Teggin and Gayle Ladd, who went on to earn a well-deserved player of the match, were unable to secure any goals.  Whitchurch went on to have a few short corners for themselves, a greatly structured short corner with outstanding play from the ladies allowed Becky Brookfield to convert the corner into their 1^st goal.   After some great play Whitchurch scored again but unfortunately this landed in the home goal making it 1-1.   Nina Hodges was fouled in the dee leading to Whitchurch being awarded a free flick this was taken by Gayle with an unfortunate save.  .

After some team talk the second half was filled with a lot of pressure from Whitchurch, Emily Lister, Kate Buckeridge, Fran Ball and Mia Spruce worked tirelessly on the wings helping to push the game Whitchurch’s way.   The continuous great play by Becky Brookfield, Sue Read, Annie Buckeridge and Nina Hodges down the centre of the pitch enabled the ball to stay in the oppositions half enabling Nina Hodges to slam the ball into the back boards making the score to 2-1.  Whitchurch were not out of the woods as Alderley Edge tried to get the ball through the ever strong Whitchurch defence without success and through exceptional play by all ladies the ball stayed in the oppositions half and again Nina Hodges found the back boards bringing the score to 3-1.

Well done ladies you all played brilliantly and you deserved to win.

Wilmslow ladies 3s 1 Whitchurch ladies 1s 3

Whitchurch ladies 1s travelled away to play top of the league Wilmslow 3s. From the move of the first ball Whitchurch ladies took control, passing the ball well around Wilmslow defence. Mid fielders Lisa Sullivan, Millie Edwards and Catherine Winter-Gresty held the middle strong giving forwards Stephanie Stanton, Ellie Windsor and Jessica Carruthers strength to have several attempts on goal. With a short corner awarded to Whitchurch a well practiced routine was pulled off as Ellie Windsor deflected a strong pass in from Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty into the net.

Wilmslow were in shock as Whitchurch were on fire and scored again from the same short corner routine, this time Staunton catching the rebound and slotting the ball onto the back board.

Wilmslow began to fight back and keeper Maddy Sugden was put into action and saved several shots on goal and defence Catherine Reece-Gresty and Emma Harper passed the ball back up the pitch.

Half time came and Whitchurch caught their breath to go back out with as much determination to win as the start.

Wilmslow used a different strategy moving more players into the dee and managed to score as the ball caught in the keepers pads, fell and trickled over the line. With a bit more play in the Whitchurch end Chloe Lloyd and Martha Teggin picked up Wilmslow as they started using wide balls to get around the strong centre.

With the ball moving forward Whitchurch had another run of shorts, but they scored their third and final goal by Stephanie Stanton slipping it into the far corner.

Whitchurch held a frustrated Wilmslow off until the final whistle went.

A fantastic win for Whitchurch, beating top of the league and moving them up to only one point behind the two top teams!

Player’s player was awarded to Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty.

Sale ladies 3s 3 Whitchurch ladies 2s 4

Whitchurch were away this week and ready for a strong match against Sale who were one place above them in the league.

Whitchurch started strong from the push back and quickly scored an early goal from Leanne Read which was skilfully set up by Ellie McEvoy and Emily Vernon who were the dream team up the left wing for the whole game. Sale quickly followed with a chasing goal.

Whitchurch came back with a surge of energy and Read scored another goal within a few minutes. Jess Kimberley, Helen Mellor and Gwyn Thomas-Rees kept the Sale attack at bay with some tactical defending and strong teamwork which was eventually worn down by the Sale attack, resulting in another goal for Sale.

After half time, Whitchurch came back with a new burst of energy which left them dominating the game with the majority of the possession and plenty of shots on goal. The pressure resulted in Leanne Read claiming her hattrick as the ball flew into the net following a short corner. With Sale always on chasing their tale, a goal was conceded after a strong drive from the Sale defence.

At 3-3 in the final few minutes, Whitchurch needed another surge of energy and a goal to seal a win. Seeing a window of opportunity there was a sharp attack from Leanne Read and Emily Vernon who took the ball up the pitch with Emily driving it into the net and scoring the winning goal. With Whitchurch being ahead and a few minutes left, Whitchurch shut down any attack Sale had to try and claw back a draw. With the final whistle blowing and the score being 4-3 to Whitchurch it was a well deserved win following a good game with both sides coming away pleased with their performance.

Whitchurch dominated the game from start to finish, demonstrating their skill and team work from the beginning resulting in the win they deserved. With the first win of the season in the bag, they are hopeful for the rest of the season and more wins to come.

Whitchurch Men’s 2s 0 Oxton Men’s 5s 6

Looking to bounce back from their hammering by Neston last week, Whitchurch Men’s 2s welcomed in-form Oxton 5s to SJT on Saturday afternoon. With two thumping wins in their last two fixtures, including a big win against Neston, the game against the Wirral side was always going to be tough for the Reds, especially without the experience and influence of Craig Hockenhull, who was away with the first team.

Whitchurch got off to the worst possible start, with Oxton racing into an early 2-0 lead. Although the Wirral side were also fielding a few young players, the superior hockey skills of the visitors, coupled with their pace and power had the Whitchurch players chasing shadows. Oxton were able to move the ball quickly through the Whitchurch midfield and defence, creating great chances that keeper Gareth Teggin was powerless to stop.

Whitchurch had a few brief flurries in front of goal during the first half but the closest they came to scoring was a shot from Sam Conway that flashed across the goal.

Throughout the first half, chances kept coming for the visitors. The Whitchurch defenders (Mark Sugden, Doug Buckeridge, Wyn Morris and Brendan Coburn) were under the cosh, but worked manfully to keep the score down, with a series of great tackles and clearances, and Gareth Teggin made a number of good stops to keep the score down. Despite their efforts Oxton finished the half with a 4-0 lead.

The second half followed a similar pattern, but Whitchurch worked hard to close the spaces Oxton had exploited in the first half. Sam Conway, David Brunyard and Joe Coburn dropped deeper to help out the defence, and Richard Leigh and young Will Snaith dropped into defence to help out the tiring defenders.

Oxton added a further two goals in the second half, but Whitchurch also had their chances. Ethan Gresty had an excellent game on the right wing and combined well with Euan Morris and Joe Faithfull to create some half-chances around the dee. 13-year old Jacob Buckeridge forced the Oxton keeper into a good save from a well-worked short corner routine, and Whitchurch thought they’d got their goal, late in the game, but the goal was ruled out for a stray foot following a discussion between the two umpires.

Oxton were good value for their 6-0 win, but Whitchurch shouldn’t be downhearted. Certainly the effort put in by all of the 2s players was deserving of praise, but in this game they just came up against a team superior in quality all over the pitch.

Whitchurch Men’s 2s entertain Chester 6s at SJT on Saturday 17th November in their next fixture.

Whitchurch ladies 1s 1 Deeside Ramblers ladies 3s 1

Whitchurch ladies 1s played Deeside Ramblers 3s at home this sunny Saturday. Having the same amount of points in their division Whitchurch knew it was going to be a close game.

From the start Whitchurch had control of the play, pushing into the Deeside 25 having plenty of opportunities.

Ellie Windsor, Grace Berry and Jessica Carruthers put plenty of pressure on the Deeside defence. As Whitchurch pushed higher, Deeside broke through Whitchurch defence and had a player waiting to receive and score.

Whitchurch settled back into play having a run of short corners but couldn’t seem to get through the Deeside defence.

Lisa Sullivan, Catherine Winter-Gresty and Hebe Dixon held the middle well passing the ball wide to get round the Deeside central defence. Some unnecessary stick tackles from Deeside allowed Whitchurch to keep the ball up in the Deeside half until half time.

Whitchurch ladies started the second half playing their own game, using the width and moving the ball around Deeside. Defence Emma Harper, Sophie ward and Millie Edwards worked hard to keep moving the ball wide and being there for depth. Whitchurch had plenty more shots on goal and finally Jessica Carruthers managed to get her stick on the ball to get an equalising goal. Spirits were high and time was running out as both teams wanted the win but the whistle went and Whitchurch had to settle for a draw 1-1.

Ladies 1s have a week off and return to play top of the league Wilmslow 3s away.

Whitchurch Men’s 1s  5 Brooklands Men’s 6s 2

Whitchurch Men’s first team continued their recent strengthening form with a solid 5-2 win against second-placed Brooklands on Saturday.

The visitors started strongly, using their confident and quick midfield to press Whitchurch, keeping possession for the first five minutes of the game and creating several threatening attacks.  But the home defence reacted in calm and well-disciplined fashion, setting the pattern for much of the rest of the game.  Dale Seymour and Danny Foulkes in central defence controlled the top of the dee, with Rob Chappell and Steve Kay tying up the attacking wingers.  As the Whitchurch midfield settled, counter-attacking chances started to come and the momentum switched to the home team.

The first goal came ten minutes in, from the first penalty corner of the game.  The routine saw the ball slipped left to Jack Barnes, and his shot was deflected back to Nick Cooper at the top of the dee, who calmly drove in and flicked past the keeper.

Whitchurch continued to press and were awarded two further penalty corners, Barnes putting his drag flick wide by inches from the second.  But they only had to wait another few minutes for the next goal, which came from great inter-play down the left hand side, with Fred Egerton and Joe Coburn combining to force Brooklands to clear their lines.  The resulting sideline ball came out to Alex Fry who played it square to Seymour and his first-time pass in to the Brooklands dee found Tom Forster on hand for a well-taken deflection past the goalkeeper.

A short-lived Brooklands rally then resulted in a couple of short corners at the other end of the pitch, which were well defended by the Reds under the command of goalkeeper Paul Leigh.  The resurgence was ended, just before the break, with Fry seizing an opportunity from a long corner to drive into the dee and strike cleanly past the keeper into the left hand corner for Whitchurch’s third goal.

The second half started as a repeat of the first, but this time Brooklands were able to convert their early dominance, scoring within five minutes of the start.  Again Whitchurch settled, reorganising with a number of substitutions, and once more starting to push back with Jon Chappell and Sam Conway now leading the attack, and Ben Kimberley providing linking support through the midfield.  However, it was Brooklands who scored again, against the run of play, converting a short corner from a shot deflected high into the top corner of the goal.

But Whitchurch continued to manage the game, creating most of the chances, and finally pulled away from the visitors, through two Jon Chappell strikes from open play, the last coming in the final minute from a misdirected clearance from the Brooklands keeper.

The result sees the Men’s 1s consolidate third place in the league, and looking forward to next week’s visit to Keele University.  The Men’s 2s game this week was called off by the opposition withdrawing, and they have no fixture next weekend.

Triton ladies 3s 5 Whitchurch ladies 3s 0

Whitchurch 3s played away at Triton in hot conditions this week. Within the first few minutes, Whitchurch were strong on the attack, keeping possession in the Triton half of the pitch, with Kate Buckeridge and Annie Buckeridge working hard on the left, making some promising runs up the wing. However, Triton were quick to score. After losing Victoria Corlett to a knee injury, Whitchurch were struggling and we were 3-0 down at half time.

In the second half, Caitlin Edwards and Holly Gilbert made some great attacks on goal, but unfortunately failed to score. Jan Teggin was strong in defence, fending off Triton’s strong attacks. Emily Lister stopped a goal sweeping the ball of the line, and Louise Cotterill stopped many good shots in goal. Tracy Tolhurst and Hayleigh Busby maintained Whitchurch’s attack right until the end, allowing Whitchurch some promising shots on goal. However, Triton managed to get 2 more goals in the second half, leaving the final score at 5-0 to Triton.

Tracy Tolhurst was awarded player of the match.

The Academy and Back2hockey both started at 10.00am this week and despite the wet weather were both well attended and enjoyed by all. All details can be found on the website at www.whitchurchhockeyclub.com or by contacting secretary@whitchurchhockeyclub.com

Whitchurch ladies 1s 11 – Triton ladies 2s 1

Whitchurch 1s dominated from the off in this exciting opening game at home against Triton 2s.

Millie Edwards opened the scoring with a goal from some well worked passing. Whitchurch were controlling the play nicely receiving and passing around Triton. Holly Jepson quickly followed to double up the lead. Triton then pulled one goal back from a short corner, giving Whitchurch a wake-up call not to relax yet. Goals then flew in from the reds with Grace Berry getting a hatrick and Hebe Dixon scoring 1, giving them a comfortable lead of 6-1at the half time.

Whitchurch then came out just as strong in the second half.

Triton defended well as Whitchurch had a string of short corners, goals were converted thick and fast. Millie Edwards and Hebe Dixon both scored 2 more each, giving them both hatricks. Whitchurch kept the pressure on right to the end but not before Grace Berry scored her forth. Making the final score 11-1. Player of the match was given to Hebe Dixon for her excellent play.

Whitchurch Mens 2s 0 Crewe Mens 3s 1

With the league fixtures for the men’s teams not starting for another fortnight, the Reds welcomed Crewe to a wet SJT for a friendly match, on Saturday, as part of the build-up to the new season. The team combined a few of the regular 1s, a couple of the more experienced (or at least older) 2s, and a number of the younger players from the 2s including three 13 year olds who will be playing their first full seasons of senior hockey.

Following the recent injury to regular 2s goalkeeper, Neil Jones, young Euan Morris was drafted in to fill the vacant keeper spot. This proved to be more of a challenge than it should have been due to Euan outgrowing all of the club’s goalkeeping kit. Five minutes into the game a fully assembled Euan made it onto the pitch!

Whitchurch shaded the first half possession and territory but Crewe were always a threat on the counter-attack.

Jack Barnes and Pete Scales, supported by Joe Coburn controlled the middle of the pitch and found outlets on the wings in Jacob Buckeridge and Ben Kimberley. For all of Whitchurch’s good possession, they struggled to break into the crowded Crewe dee, as the away side were happy to sit deep and play long balls forward to their attackers.

Crewe breaks were ably dealt with by Airan Jones’s interceptions with Danny Foulkes sweeping up anything that got passed Airan. With Doug Buckeridge and Will Snaith stifling the attacks from the wings, Euan Morris was having a quiet time in goal.

As the half progressed, Whitchurch made more inroads towards the Crewe goal. The visiting keeper was forced into a couple of sprawling saves and the Crewe defending became a little more desperate. Jack Barnes smashed the ball in from the right hand side of the dee, but the goal was ruled out.

Despite having no real chances, Crewe took the lead towards the end of the first half. A quickly taken free hit on the edge of the dee caught Whitchurch on their heels and a speculative drive from a tight angle beat Euan at the far post.

Whitchurch came out with renewed vigour in the second half and completely dominated the game.

They continued to drive forward through the centre of the pitch, with Tom Forster and Craig Hockenhull adding to the Whitchurch threats. Joe Faithfull provided good width and found himself with a couple of half chances in the Crewe dee, and 13-year old Ethan Gresty, playing his first senior match, had good moments on both left and right wing.

But still the goals wouldn’t come. Jack Barnes and Tom Forster both went close from short corners, and Craig Hockenhull, Ben Kimberley, Jake Wood and Pete Scales all had shots at goal blocked by Crewe defenders or saved by the visiting keeper.

Crewe continued to try and hit Whitchurch on the counter, but other than one attack that forced Euan into a couple good kicks, Crewe were unable to get the ball near the home goal.

Ultimately, Whitchurch were unable to find the goal that their domination of territory and possession warranted and Crewe ran out 1-0 winners.

Sandbach ladies 2s 3 Whitchurch ladies 3s 2

Whitchurch ladies 3s travelled to Sandbach on a wet morning with only 10 players after two late withdrawals.

Whitchurch took the game to Sandbach from the start and their direct play and hard work saw Holly Gilbert score the opener and give Whitchurch a deserved half time lead.

Whitchurch scored their second when an Annie Buckeridge shot was deflected in by the Sandbach defender.

As Whitchurch started to tire Sandbach took full advantage of the numerical advantage to take the three points by the end of the match.

Stand in keeper Molly Fry was awarded players player.

Wrexham ladies 2s 6 Whitchurch ladies 2s 0

Whitchurch travelled on a wet day to play against Wrexham who had come down from the league above this season. Whitchurch struggled from the start to cope with the speed of passing and a pitch they weren’t used to.Whitchurch had to play a mainly defensive game for long periods but there was still some bright moments with some good runs through the middle of the pitch from Becky Brookfield, Izzy Huxley and Phoebe Jones.

Whitchurch had their best chance of the half breaking down the left side of the pitch through Martha Teggin and Jones who picked out Sue Read in the dee but an excellent save from the Wrexham keeper prevented any celebration.

Jess Kimberley, Emma Clarke, Martha Teggin and Chloe Lloyd worked tirelessly in defence to keep Wrexham at bay but Wrexham finally slipped through the cracks of the Whitchurch defence and slipped the ball past the advancing Whitchurch goal keeper Gwyn Thomas-Rees and give Wrexham the lead.

Whitchurch regrouped at halftime and started to settle allowing them more possession and to slowly move the ball further up the pitch with the strengths of Edina Jones, Phoebe Jones and Ellie McEvoy picking out Read in the Wrexham dee but again the advancing goal keeper frustrated the Whitchurch attack.

Wrexham took advantage of the tiring Whitchurch side and slipped another 5 goals bringing the score up to 0-6. Whitchurch didn’t let this get to them as they kept on applying the pressure but to no reward.

Next week Whitchurch will be playing at home against Crewe Vagrants ladies 4 starting at 12.00.

• HockeyFEST – Start of season inter-club tournament for senior players (13yrs +). Old and new are invited to a 7-a-side tournament followed by food and drink / social.
• Saturday September 1st 2018 arrive 12.00 @ Whitchurch Leisure Centre. Tournament 12.30-15.00. £5 for all.
• Please bring some food with you.

Please share the link so we can get as many along as possible.