The Men’s 1s had a week off as they had no league game.

 

Neston ladies 3s 1 Whitchurch ladies 1s 0

Whitchurch ladies 1s travelled away to play Neston 3’s this week.

Whitchurch seemed to have a slow start not expecting Neston to come out with so much pressure. The game sped up as Neston pushed up to the Whitchurch goal and managed to take the lead pushing the ball through the keeper’s legs.

Whitchurch woke up and with rolling subs at the front started to play with much more speed. They had plenty of chances but the Neston defence kept picking up every ball. Grace Berry and Holy Jepson had great runs passing the ball up to Laura Workman and Ellie Windsor, with Sue Read waiting at the top but couldn’t find the goal to equalise before half time.

A strong team talk and Whitchurch came back stronger in the second half having some great runs and passes. Neston kept defence Catherine Reece-Gresty and Gayle Ladd on their guard as they had a couple of young fast players ready to take them on. Keeper Shola Bailey had a great save from a lifted ball into the left top corner.

Whitchurch kept the pressure on as Hebe Dixon and Helen Machin pushed up to help over run Neston, but time was running out for Whitchurch and had to settle for a 1-0 loss.

Ladies 1s play their last home game next week before the Christmas break against Triton.

Denbigh Men’s 2s 3 Whitchurch Men’s 2’s 1

Whitchurch Men’s 2s travelled to a damp, grey North Wales for an early start against Denbigh 2s. With half-a-dozen teams all within a few points of each other in mid-table, this was an opportunity for Whitchurch to move up the table and Denbigh to pull away from the teams below them.

The Welsh side started brightly, moving the back quickly and accurately, and Whitchurch struggled to get a foothold in the game. When the ball was won, the forward passes struggled to find team mates and the ball immediately came back towards the Whitchurch goal.

The Whitchurch defence stood firm with Airan Jones and Doug Buckeridge restricting the wide player’s, Ryan Murtagh sweeping in front of the dee, and Matt Brooks (who had an excellent game) clearing anything that came into the Whitchurch dee.

Ultimately however, the half followed a familiar pattern for Whitchurch. Their inability to clear their lines and retain possession higher up the pitch, and the constant pressure from the opposition could only be withstood for so long. As in other games this season, midway through the half their opponents scored two quick goals.

On both occasions, balls played into the dee were swept clear by Whitchurch, but Denbigh players were quick to pick up the loose balls and drive straight back into the dee and get shots away. The first goal came from a clever flick right in front of keeper Neil Jones from a well struck shot from the edge of the dee. The second goal was a bit of a soft, bobbley effort, which everyone should have done better with.

In familiar fashion, conceding two quick goals seemed to galvanise the Whitchurch side. They started to get more of a grip in midfield and started to get the ball into the Denbigh dee. Iain Bones playing in an unfamiliar centre forward position fashioned a good chance which was saved at point-blank range by the on-rushing Denbigh keeper. Fred Egerton, Tom Forster and Craig Hockenhull also had chances, but Whitchurch were unable to find a goal before half-time.

Following a few home truths at half time, Whitchurch started the second half with much more purpose. Euan Morris and Joe Coburn saw more possession on the Whitchurch right and continually opened up space near to the Denbigh dee. Craig Hockenhull, Wyn Morris and Tom Forster became much more of a threat from midfield and Fred Egerton and Joe Faithful combined well on the left.

After a number of short corners were well defended by Denbigh, the Welsh side misjudged a long punt up field which rather than going dead hit the post and stayed in play. The follow up from Iain Bones and Fred Egerton was kept out of the goal by the bodies of the Denbigh defenders and a penalty flick was duly awarded and dispatched by Craig Hockenhull.

Denbigh were always a threat on the counter attack but the Whitchurch defence played well to limit the threats to their goal. From a short corner Neil Jones made an excellent stop and, later, did really well to narrow the angle and make the save when a Denbigh forward escaped the defence and found himself alone in the Whitchurch dee.

Whitchurch continued to attack and thought they’d equalised when Craig Hockenhull flicked the ball goal-ward and the ball deflected off a Welsh stick into the goal. After initially being awarded, the umpires consulted and decided the shot had originated from outside of the dee and a long corner was the result.

Minutes after that disappointment Whitchurch were caught out on the counter and a Denbigh player danced into the dee and struck a hard, low shot into the far corner to restore Denbigh’s two-goal lead.

Whitchurch continued to attack, but even a flurry of short corners after the final whistle couldn’t yield a goal.

The 3-1 score line was probably a fair reflection of the game. Once again Whitchurch were slow to start and allowed their opponents to take the lead, which was then compounded by conceding a swift second goal. Although they played well in the second half, again they left themselves too much to do.

Next Saturday the 2s entertain Golborne 3s.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 0 Runcorn ladies 2s 0

Whitchurch ladies 2s entertained Runcorn ladies 2s at home this weekend to start of the return games. Whitchurch knew this was going to be a tough game. Whitchurch started off strong off with runs from Stephanie Stanton, Emily Vernon and Tracy Tolhurst but they were stopped in their tracks by the Runcorn defence and goal keeper.

Whitchurch did not want to stop there and kept on the pressure with from Becky Brookfield, Helen Hocknell and Hayleigh Busby pushing up on the right with support from Natasha Foster.

Runcorn were determined that they wanted to score some points but Maddie Sugden prevented that happening with some fantastic slides and saves which kept Whitchurch in the game. Defenders Emma Clarke, Jess Kimberley, Martha Teggin and Natasha Foster were kept very busy as Runcorn stepped up the play and began putting runs together but they were not able to convert any goals.

Whitchurch had a positive half time team talk as the score was stayed 0-0 with both sides having chances but being unable to convert. Whitchurch regrouped and started passing the ball around. Phoebe Jones had an excellent run down the right hand side with Busby on the inside and Stanton on the post ready to deflect the ball but the Runcorn defenders blocked every chance of getting the ball through, Whitchurch never gave up trying and securing a goal.

When Runcorn had a break Whitchurch were back on their heels fighting for the ball to go back into the other direction when this happened Beth Sykes stepped up and stopped the Runcorn midfielder and picked out Tolhurst unmarked in the middle who then passed to Vernon who pushed the ball just wide of the goal.

Whitchurch player’s player went to goal keeper Maddie Sugden for her fantastic saves.

 

Whitchurch ladies 3s 2 Oxton ladies 4s 4

Even with the weather against us, Whitchurch Ladies 3s were undeterred and determined to try to beat the young Oxton 4s team.  The match started off very evenly and play remained that way for the whole game.

All of the Whitchurch team worked extremely hard together to keep out some fast set play pieces by the youthful Oxton team.  Our Forwards, Victoria  Corlett, Amy Fry, Evie Whatmough and Amelie Morris making some great runs to try and break down the Oxton defence.

Maddy Sugden our outstanding young goal keeper, as usual made some fantastic agile saves, with Mel Reid, Jan Teggin, Chloe Lloyd and Emily Lister defending magnificently. However, sadly Oxton managed to score two goals in the first half. Although, Evie Whatmough in her forward position, managed to score a great consolation goal.

In the second half again, both teams came back on strongly and the ball flew furiously up and down the pitch. Midfielders and wingers, Edina Jones, Ellie McEvoy, Holly Gilbert, Kate and Molly Goodwin all working very hard to try and combat Oxton’s effective passing.

Then Whitchurch won a short corner! Kate Goodwin ejected it to Amy Fry who struck it perfectly to make it 2-2. We were so excited, as we thought we were maybe able to win or get at least a draw! Unfortunately though, despite Whitchurch’s best efforts, Oxton scored again twice, making it a final score of 4 – 2 to them. Both sides agreed it had been a great game and our player of the match went to Maddy Sugden. Our next match is next Saturday, against Bebington at home.

Whitchurch Men’s 2s 1 Winnington Park Men’s 4s 2

Following their excellent win last weekend away to Runcorn, Whitchurch Men’s 2s faced a tough challenge when entertaining Winnington Park 4s on a cold afternoon at SJT.

 

Winnington started the match on the front foot, immediately dominating possession and territory. They’re quick movement off the ball and strong running was overpowering the Whitchurch midfield and the defence struggled to clear the ball out of the Whitchurch half.

 

With Whitchurch struggling to get any ball to their forwards, the constant Winnington pressure soon brought a couple of goals. First a well worked move on the Winnington right led to a cross into the dee, where the Park forward took an early shot past keeper Neil Jones.

 

This was quickly followed by a flicked short corner that was saved by keeper Jones, but with Tom Forster blocked by the keeper, the Winnington forward reacted quickest to poke the ball in for a 2-0 lead.

 

Winnington thought they’d scored a third after another short corner. The ball was well saved by keeper Jones and got trapped under his body. With a melee of defending and attacking sticks hacking to get the ball out, eventually the ball was poked into the goal. With a very difficult decision to make, umpire Jess Kimberley called a retake of the short corner, much to Winnington’s disapproval and Whitchurch’s relief.

 

This moment seemed to derail Winnington a bit and galvanise Whitchurch. The 2s started to gain more possession of the ball in midfield through Tom Forster and Craig Hockenhull, and the ball started to find the young wide players in more advanced positions.

 

Martin Beecher started to find space in the Winnington dee, but unfortunately succumbed to injury midway through the half when trying to get in a shot.

 

Locki Price had a fine strike touched over the bar by the Winnington keeper after good work on the right by Fred Egerton and Josh Parry.

 

Despite being 2-0 down at halftime the 2s felt they were still in the game and needed to continue the good work from the end of the first half.

 

Whitchurch started the second half brilliantly and immediately took the game to Winnington. A superb driving run from the excellent Craig Hockenhull led to a cut-back to the top of the dee where Tom Forster fired home into the bottom corner of the Winnington goal.

 

Whitchurch continued to push forward looking for an equaliser. Joe Coburn and Locki Price combined well on the left and Euan Morris and Fred Egerton worked well together on the right. Josh Parry worked had in his new position of forward and did well to hold the ball up and bring teammates into play.

 

Winnington always posed a threat on the counter-attack, however. With Tom Molenaar struggling with a knee injury, James Page stepped into the right side of defence and worked hard to stop any threats on that side of the pitch.

 

Matt Brooks and Airan Jones had excellent games in the centre of defence with Matt’s tackling and Airan’s interceptions stopping most of the Winnington attacks and Doug Buckeridge worked hard to limit the threats on the Winnington right, with the help of Locki, Joe Coburn and Joe Faithfull, making his debut for the 2s.

 

On the few occasions that the Whitchurch defence was breached, keeper Jones came up with some smart saves to keep Winnington out.

 

Unfortunately Whitchurch were unable to find their equaliser, but the team can be proud of their efforts, particularly in a fine second half display against a very capable Winnington side. The slow start ultimately proved costly, but everyone in the match day squad worked very hard to get back into the game, restrict the Winnington chances and drive forward looking for goals.

 

Once again Craig Hockenhull was excellent in midfield, as was Tom Forster. Martin Beecher and Thomas Molenaar both shrugged off injury to help the second half efforts and Matt Brooks had a great game at the centre of defence. Special mentions though to Joe Faithfull making his debut with a good solid game in a multitude of positions and Airan Jones who had an excellent game alongside Matt at the heart of the Whitchurch defence.

 

Next week the 2s travel to Denbigh 2s.

 

Neston ladies 5s 4 Whitchurch ladies 3s 6

 

Whitchurch Ladies 3s had an apprehensive journey to Birkenhead on Saturday, to play Neston. The weather was abysmal and their captain Kate Goodwin was feeling anxious, as she knew they only had ten players! However, little did she know how her new team could pull together! What a match it turned out to be!

 

It was absolutely freezing cold, with wind lashing sideways across the pitch, as we took the first push-back.  We went out strong from the start, with Evie Whatmough making a fast run up front from the off, ably supported by Becky Brookfield. However, Neston fought back fiercely with some really slick set moves, slotting in two goals in quick succession. We were 2-0 down, until Annie Buckeridge, one of our new young players, scored her very first goal, from an excellent ball from Holly Gilbert. Feeling happier, we went off at half time, 2-1 to them.

 

We started off the second half very strong, all determined to make our mark on this match.  Unfortunately though, they scored another excellent goal shortly after half time.  From the next push back, Kate Goodwin made a successful run up and passed it into the Dee, for Evie Whatmough to confidently score a great goal. This encouraged us immensely.  Disappointingly, though despite some outstanding defending from Wendy Cooper and Emily Lister, Neston managed to score another two goals past our incredible keeper Maddy Sugden, who had already made some amazing saves.  Pressure began to build for Whitchurch, we had to think quickly and play hard. Then we won another short corner, which Becky Brookfield confidently put away, making it 4 – 3.  We were all so delighted, with having only 10 players, we felt we could do this!

 

Some more excellent passing took place and Holly Gilbert made a great run up the wing and Annie Buckeridge managed to score from another great pass into the Dee. We soldiered on with Kate Buckeridge, Kate Goodwin and Victoria Corlett putting in some strong tackles and runs up the pitch, culminating in Victoria Corlett scoring another goal, making it 5 – 4. to us.

Tension was mounting, as the minutes ticked away towards the final whistle. Then from nowhere Becky scored a fantastic goal on a solo mission.  After a final nerve wracking Neston short corner, which Maddy defended magnificently, Whitchurch had won 6 – 4.  We were ecstatic! What a match! We had all pushed ourselves so hard and some outstanding hockey had been played. Player of the match went to Kate Goodwin.  Everybody is now looking forward to next week’s home match against Oxton.

 

 

Alderley Edge ladies 2s 2 Whitchurch ladies 2s 4

 

Facing a strong Alderley Edge side in tough conditions, Whitchurch 2’s started the match positively with Ellie Windsor, Amy Fry and Phoebe Jones providing a strong attack. They were rewarded with a number of chances and Ellie Windsor scored two in quick succession.

Emily Vernon, Holly Jepson, Emma Clarke and Martha Teggin proved to be a strong defensive combination, preventing a number of Alderley Edge attacks from making it up the pitch.

Whitchurch begun the second half positively with Amy Fry quickly scoring another fantastic goal followed swiftly by one from Phoebe Jones.

Whitchurch begun to tire towards the end of the second half after struggling through freezing conditions for some time. This left Alderley Edge able to score two quick goals. However, this wasn’t enough to close Whitchurch’s lead and the match ended at 4-2.

Player of the match was awarded to Shola Bailey.

 

 

Whitchurch ladies 1s 3 Timperley ladies 4s 2

 

Whitchurch ladies started their pre-match warm-up sweeping the water off the pitch. The freezing conditions seemed to favour the away team and despite Whitchurch having significant amount of possession the visitors took their chances in front of goal and scored two quick goals. Whitchurch were their own worst enemies with lapses in concentration and giving away possession to easily stopping them from competing in the game.

 

The Whitchurch halftime talk was positive and the team urged to keep playing at the same pace and work rate but to make sure the passes were accurate and quick.

 

It turned out to be a game of two halves, where Whitchurch struggled to combine a string of passes the second half saw them passing the ball quickly and to their own players. Hebe Dixon led the charge forward and interchanges between Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty and Millie Edwards saw Laura Workman shoot from the top of the dee and Sue Read deflect past the stranded keeper to give Whitchurch hope.

 

Timperley pressed to get back in the game but Catherine Reece-Gresty, Gayle Ladd and Helen Machin in defence cut out any opportunities and started wave after wave of attacks. Charlotte Lawder’s pace down the right hand side caused the Timperley defence problems and created space from which Grace Berry shot high into the top corner to level the scores.

 

Whitchurch rolled their squad and Hayley Busby and Vicki Price came on to maintain the pressure and momentum. Timperley started to get frustrated as they failed to clear the ball and finally resulted in Whitchurch being awarded a penalty corner.

 

Hebe Dixon neatly slotted away the corner to give Whitchurch the lead for the first time in the match. Timperley through everything at Whitchurch in the final minutes of the game this resulted in Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty leaving the field after taking a ball in the arm. Whitchurch rode out the pressure and a number of penalty corners excellently dealt with by keeper Gwyneth Thomas-Rees to secure a well earned three points.

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 8 – Oxton Men’s 5’s 3

Whitchurch returned to winning ways with a good win against Oxton this week. Whitchurch started well, with immediate pressure on the Oxton goal, but Oxton put together an excellent counter-attack and went 1-0 up very quickly. The Reds settled, and started to put their own game plan into action, with some fluid passing ending in Tom Leonard laying the ball off to Jon Chappell who put it past the keeper. Ben Kimberley then scored a goal with a reverse flick over the keeper to go 2-1 up.

The game then settled down into a rhythm, with Oxton launching a number of attacks down both wings, and Ryan Murtagh, James Partington and Jake Wood fought hard to keep with their players. They were supported by Alex Fry and Rob Chappell in the centre, who were able to control the play and start new attacks for the Reds. The play was evenly balanced at this point, until a run through the centre by Oxton ended in a strike that Rob Chappell was unfortunate to tip past a diving Sturge in goal. Fired up by this, Whitchurch went back up the other end of the pitch and more goals from Kimberley and Jon Chappell had the score at 4-2 at half time.

The second half started brightly, and Whitchurch were putting together good flowing hockey, but several shots went just wide – including two off the posts – and the strikes from the edge of the dee weren’t finding their target so well. The Reds regrouped and started to play their passing game better, with Ben Fry doing excellent work on the right wing, and the returning Peter Scales making strong runs down the left. Better, more-aware passing and movement in the Oxton dee led to Leonard claiming his first goal of the game. Ben Fry was able to make runs directly through the midfield into the dee, and this constant pressure showed on the Oxton defence as one of several short corners led to Rob Chappell scoring from a great shot, and Jon Chappell claiming a third from more unselfish passing.

As the game neared its end, another scramble in the Oxton dee gave Leonard his second of the game, before a short corner in the Whitchurch dee was upgraded to a penalty stroke, which the Oxton striker put away well. The final score was 8-3 which showed good application from the Reds, and bodes well for their game away at Keele University next week.

 

Brooklands ladies 3s 3 Whitchurch ladies 1s 0

Whitchurch travelled away to play Brooklands 3’s this Saturday.

Both teams came out hard, eager for the win. Whitchurch came out on top early in the first half having most of the possession but not being able to score. A very close call made Brooklands pick up their game and they scored a scrappy goal midway through the first half from a short corner.

 

Brooklands heads went up and they continued to fight, taking several more shots and gaining more short corners. Whitchurch defence fought on, keeping the goals out and making some great saves.

 

Half time saw a good team talk and Whitchurch started the second half with heads up feeling positive. Brooklands continued to break through, forcing Whitchurch to drop back. There were some good runs up the pitch by the Whitchurch midfield, through to the forwards, but Whitchurch were still unable to score a goal.

 

Brooklands had a further string of short corners, which eventually resulted in a good goal from a straight strike at the top of the Dee, making the score 2-0. Whitchurch upped their game, gaining more chances but not converting. Brooklands gained a green card, putting them down to 10 players, but this did not disheartened them, and they got the ball up the pitch quickly, scoring a further goal to make the score 3-0. It was a friendly game, enjoyed by all.

Player of the match went to goalkeeper Gwyn Thomas-Rees

 

Runcorn Men’s 3s 1 Whitchurch Men’s 2s 2

Whitchurch took the game to Runcorn from the start of the match and from the first minute quick passing between Euan Morris and Martin Beecher created Whitchurch’s first opportunity.

Despite maintaining pressure Whitchurch failed to convert their chances and Runcorn took the lead as goalkeeper Neil Jones was beaten by a wicked deflection.

Whitchurch continued to move the ball quickly with Locki Price, Fred Egerton, James Page and Joseph Coburn leading the attacks and causing many problems for the Runcorn midfield this resulted in Craig Hockenhull shooting and another wicked deflection looped over the stranded Runcorn goalkeeper to leave the scores level at half time.

Whitchurch continued the second half with the same level of effort that they had put in the first. Matt Brookes, Wyn Morris and Airan Jones swept up in the Whitchurch defence giving Runcorn no opportunities to build on their lead.

As the half progressed Fred Egerton hit the post and Martin Beecher had a shot bounce of the crossbar and Whitchurch began to wonder if it was not there day. A serious of penalty corners saw Whitchurch again fail to convert.

In the final minutes of the game Whitchurch were awarded a penalty corner and Tom Forster capped a fine performance in the midfield when he fired into the bottom corner much to the relief of the Whitchurch team.

Runcorn rallied in the final minutes with a series of penalty corners but Whitchurch defended and took a valuable three points.

 

 

 

Whitchurch ladies 2s 4 Brooklands ladies 4s 2

In the first two minutes Whitchurch 2’s player Holly Jepson scored a cracking goal to start off the match. After this, players Tracy Tolhurst, Phoebe Jones and Ellie Windsor provided a strong attack that scored another goal as Stephanie Stanton sent the ball through Brooklands goal keepers legs. Mid players, Kate Goodwin, Becky Brookfield, Ellie McEvoy and Emily Vernon kept Brooklands from reaching the defence and played exceptionally throughout the game.

Towards the end of the first half Brooklands fought hard against the Whitchurch team however, a cracking defence short corner from Martha Teggin, Jessica Kimberley, Natasha Foster, Jessica Carruthers and goalkeeper Shola Bailey kept the score at 2-0 at the end of the first half.

The second half started with another goal for Holly Jepson. The team carried on fighting for more goals and soon Jess Kimberley scored another fantastic goal as she sent it soaring from a short corner. Unfortunately, Brooklands started to fight back harder this time and bagged two goals against Whitchurch.

At the end of the game the score was 4-2 to Whitchurch. Player of the match went to Stephanie Stanton concluding an amazing match.

Whitchurch ladies 1s 2  Oxton ladies 2s 3

Whitchurch started strong this week with some great passing allowing them to dominate the first 20 minutes of the game. A great move by Laura Workman crossing to Becks Morrissey in the centre narrowly missed the goal early on.

Whitchurch continued with strong passes from Jess Kimberley being picked up by Millie Edwards who was unlucky not to get a shot in.  Then captain Catherine Winter-Gresty passed to Grace Berry in the box who managed to cross it for Sue Read to tap in for a 1-0 lead.

This seemed to energise Oxton who then came back strong and Whitchurch endured 15 minutes of pressure, with Catherine Reece-Gresty, Vicky Price and Helen Machin in defence having to work hard alongside goalie Gwyn Thomas-Rees.

After half time Oxton continued to push hard and shortly after the break equalised from a short corner. Whitchurch then re-grouped and with Charlotte Lawder pushing up and passing to Sue Read in the box who got the second goal.

After that, Oxton fought back and again equalised. The play continued end to end with both sides wanting the win, unfortunately Oxton managed to grab another goal near the end. Whitchurch were unlucky not to score again in the last few minutes, but the score finished 2-3 to the visitors.

 

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 2 – Brooklands MU 6s 3

Whitchurch Men’s 1s slipped to another frustrating 3-2 defeat this season at home to the Brooklands 6s, who are outplaying their own 5s team this season and showed great skill across the board, and especially from their younger players.

 

Whitchurch started strongly, and Tom Leonard added to his tally for the season with some good passing around the dee from Ben Kimberley and Jon Chappell (on his return to the team after several years) leading to a pass to Leonard which was buried into the Brooklands goal. However, Brooklands struck back almost immediately, putting together a number of strong attacks down the wing and driving the by-line to claim a number of short corners, and a strong route-one strike snuck into the corner of the goal to level the scores. Jake Wood, Tom Forster, Ryan Murtagh and James Partington rotated around the defence, but were stretched by the quick runs and movement of the Brooklands forwards who broke their marking too easily and a second scramble in the dee with players running free let the Brooklands striker lift the ball over Sturge in goal.

 

The pressure was relentless on the Whitchurch defence, and another strike was deflected over the bar by an excellent save from Murtagh, but finally another goal frustratingly slipped through the closing feet of keeper Sturge to make the scores 3-1 at half time.

 

The second half was much stronger from Whitchurch, with the defence marking the Brooklands forwards better, making it much more difficult for them to launch attacks. The midfield of Alex Fry, Ben Fry, Rob Chappell and Jack Barnes worked the ball through the middle with more time on the ball and good runs from Kimberley and Wood spread the play out in the Brooklands 23.

 

This led to Whitchurch’s second goal, when the keeper ran out strongly to block an attack, but was then out of position as the ball was recycled it via Rob Chappell to Jon Chappell who calmly slotted away his first goal in his first game back.

 

The rest of the second half was end to end, with last ditch efforts from Murtagh, Forster and Partington, and a diving save from a one-on-one by keeper Sturge ensured no further goals were scored, and the game ended 3-2.

 

Lymm Mens 3s 3 Whitchurch Mens 2s 1

 

Whitchurch 2s travelled north on Saturday to face a Lymm 3s. With a number of senior players unavailable, the Reds were only able to field 11 players and the team were ultimately undone by their youth and inexperience.

 

Whitchurch started well and other than a dangerous Lymm attack in the first minute, they dominated the early stages of the first half. Craig Hockenhull was winning the ball in midfield and driving the play forward, Euan Morris and Locki Price were interchanging well on the right and Fred Egerton was a constant threat on the left. Josh Parry continued his good work up front and although unable to get his own shots away, his presence and hold up play created chances for his teammates.

 

Eventually, after a number of missed chances, the deadlock was broken midway through the half when Egerton broke into the D from the left and squared the ball for Morris to fire home from a tight angle.

 

Whitchurch continued to push forward looking for goals, but with a lack of substitutes available, the younger players began to tire as the half wore on. The Whitchurch defence was becoming more exposed and increasingly outnumbered as Lymm grew into the game and counterattacked more frequently.

 

After a couple of near misses from open play and short corners, Lymm finally found an equaliser. Very soon after they took the lead when again the Whitchurch defence was left badly exposed.

 

The 2s seemed shaken by the quick turnaround and with tired legs struggled to get back into the first half.

 

Lymm made some tactical adjustments in the second half and began to swamp midfield. Craig Hockenhull was denied any space and the Whitchurch wide players and Josh Parry upfront struggled to get into the game at all.

 

The defence of Doug Buckeridge, Wyn Morris, Matt Brooks and Iain Bones were constantly fending off Lymm attacks and with Craig constantly coming back to help, Whitchurch were pinned in their own half and struggled to get possession of the ball higher up the pitch.

 

The defence fought a very committed rear guard action during the second half and restricted Lymm to very few shots on goal. However they were undone when a hit from the top of their own D went wrong and they were caught on the counter attack. Keeper Neil Jones had no chance as the ball crept in off the far post.

 

Whitchurch frustrations boiled over as the second half wore on. Airan Jones was green carded for a number of miss-timed tackles and then Iain Bones was yellow carded for a clumsy challenge in midfield.

 

For the periods with 10 men the remaining defenders, assisted by Hockenhull dropping even deeper did exceptionally well to snuff out the eager Lymm attacks.

 

Ultimately Lymm thoroughly deserved their 3-1 victory.

 

Alderley Edge ladies 4’s 10  Whitchurch ladies 3’s 1

 

Whitchurch travelled over an hour to the very nice suburb of Wilmslow playing a predominantly young 4th Alderley Edge ladies hockey team. The weather was calm and sunny but the pitch felt very different to our home turf. Unusually, we started with 14 players this week which were rolled on and off very fairly by Kate Goodwin our captain.

 

Whitchurch started well but were quickly overwhelmed by the attacks led down the left wing. It was clear we were up against a much coached and well organised team and they had the better of us throughout the first half.

 

We were grateful to have Mel Reid back in defence and Maddy Sugden our goal keeper was awesome as usual, saving many short corners and frustrating Alderley’s frequent attacks. Our defence battled hard with Emily Lister, Annie Buckeridge, Edina Jones, Holly Gilbert and Ellie McEvoy tracking back well and facing some hard hit shots into the D.

 

Towards the end of the first half a well-executed wing movement by our star player Millie Caruthers resulted in a short corner which led to our one and only goal scored by the superb Becky Brookfield leaving us 1-6 down at the whistle.

In the second half, we were shooting into the sun but managed to battle hard and only let a further four goals in with Victoria Corlett, Evie Whatmough, Kate Goodwin, Kate Buckeridge and Caitlin Shaw desperately trying the break ahead to give our defence a much needed break from the onslaught.

 

Maddy Sugden was the player of the match and in one memorable moment, despite being laid out on the ground, continued the keep the ball out with her outstretched arm and stick. Without her and the valiant efforts of Ellie McEvoy who also took a good dive across the side line earlier in the match we would have been at least 30 goals down.

Despite being well beaten we all had fun and were treated to a much needed tomato and basil soup plus fries and sandwiches at the Alderley Edge hockey club afterwards.

 

Crewe ladies 4s 1 Whitchurch ladies 2s 2

This weekend, Whitchurch Ladies 2 travelled away to Crewe Ladies 4. After observing a minutes silence at the start of the match, Whitchurch started out strong. Good passing between Izzy Huxley and Holly Jepson on the right wing, created many chances in the D, but Crewe’s goalie managed to hold off all attempts. However, after a sideline hit taken by Phoebe Jones, the ball found Amy Fry in the D and she passed to Jepson on the post, who scored the first goal on her debut. Unfortunately, after a few minutes Crewe equalised to end the half 1-1.

 

The second half started much like the first, where Whitchurch had many unlucky misses. After about 15 minutes, the ball ended up in Crewe’s D, and a pass from Jones to Fry resulted in Whitchurch’s second goal. After that, Crewe came back hard, but good defending from Gayle Ladd and Martha Teggin, and more attacking play led by Hebe Dixon, held off any more goals. The match ended 2-1 to Whitchurch and Dixon was awarded player of the match.