Denbigh Mens 2s 4 Whitchurch Mens 2s 2

Whitchurch 2s were looking to build on last week’s draw when they travelled to 4^th placed Denbigh for a lunchtime pushback.

Denbigh immediately put pressure on the Whitchurch goal, forcing a couple of short corners, one of which drew an excellent low save from keeper Neil Jones. From the resulting long corner, slack marking from Whitchurch left a Denbigh player free in front of goal and he was able to control the pass into the dee and prod home past Jones.

From the resulting push-back, Whitchurch put together a neat passing move to immediately create a chance of their own which narrowly evaded Aaron Swain’s stick at the back post.

The first half continued in a similar vein with both sides taking turns to dominate possession and territory and create chances. But whilst the Whitchurch attacks floundered around the edge of the dee the Denbigh attacks were creating clearer chances, forcing the defence of James Nicholson, Iain Bones, Danny Foulkes and Mark Sugden into some last ditch tackles and blocks.

Eventually the Denbigh pressure told and midway through the first half they doubled their lead.

Whitchurch were undeterred and continued to play some controlled attacking hockey. Good work from Steve Kay and Jake Wood led to a fine strike from Dale Seymour to reduce the arrears, but as Whitchurch pushed forward for an equaliser they were caught on the counter-attack and Denbigh struck to make the score 3-1.

As half-time approached, Whitchurch were awarded a disputed short corner, which was fired towards the back post where Jake Wood brilliantly turned the waist-high ball into the Denbigh goal to make the score 3-2.

In the second half Whitchurch found a little more control in midfield and tried to restrict the opportunities for Denbigh to play on the counter-attack. Repeatedly the Denbigh attacks were thwarted by the Whitchurch defence and keeper Jones had much less work to do than in the first half.

Whitchurch’s neat hockey started to create more chances in front of the Denbigh goal and they forced a number of short corners. However over-commitment at one of these short corners allowed Denbigh to break away in numbers and score a fourth goal.

Despite their best efforts Whitchurch were unable to respond. Sam Conway was constantly involved in the good play leading to the dee, but he was unable to get any chances to shoot at goal. Steve Kay and Dale Seymour had shots fly wide and crosses into the dee seemed to find Whitchurch feet rather than sticks.

This was an entertaining game of hockey, and despite the 4-2 defeat, Whitchurch contributed significantly with some neat, controlled hockey. The team carried a sustained threat throughout the game – something that has been missing in a number of games this season. The additions of Dale Seymour, Danny Foulkes and the return of Steve Kay added some much needed experience and quality to this 2s side.

Next week the 2s entertain an unbeaten Birkenhead 1s side, who have scored 96 goals already this season.

 

Whitchurch Ladies 1s 2 Wilmslow ladies 3s 2

Whitchurch pressured the Wilmslow defence from the start and took an early lead when Laura Workman swept in at the back post. Wilmslow continued to apply pressure to the Whitchurch defence with well-hit free hits bypassing the midfield. Whitchurch chances came and went as they failed too convert their opportunities. Wilmslow equalised with a well worked penalty corner to leave the half time scores level.

The start of the second half saw Wilmslow grab an early goal much to the frustration of the Whitchurch team, again Whitchurch had many chances to equalise but couldn’t convert the chances they created. It was not until the final minutes of the match that Lucy Ratcliffe shot home to equalise and give Whitchurch a point.

Whitchurch 1s travel away to Trition 2s next week.

 

Crewe Vagrants ladies 4s 1 Whitchurch ladies 2s 3

This was a must win game against their local rivals as Whitchurch sat second and Crewe third in the league.

The game started late in the cold and dark and both teams struggled to find any early form as the ball bounced around the pitch. Whitchurch took the upper hand when Hayleigh Busby beat the advancing keeper. Crewe then responded running the ball straight through the centre of the Whitchurch midfield and defence to equalise.

This sent panic through the Whitchurch team as they struggled to cope with the pace of the Crewe side and subsequently got caught out of position but managed to get to half time with the scores level.

The second half saw Whitchurch maintain their discipline and force Crewe to play their style of hockey, tight marking by Martha Teggin and Hebe Dixon prevented the quick breaks from the Crewe forwards and allowed the Whitchurch midfield to take control.

Sue Read pounced on a miss-hit 16 yard free hit to fire past the Crewe keeper and put Whitchurch back into the lead, from then on the Whitchurch confidence rose. Goalkeeper Phoebe Jones was left as a spectator as captain Emma Clarke and sweeper Jess Kimberley swept up any chances Crewe had.

When Hayleigh Busby was picked out by Hebe Dixon just outside the dee she drove the baseline and pushed past the advancing keeper to give a much-needed three points and a gap between them in the league.

Whitchurch ladies 2s play Neston ladies 5s next Sunday in a re-arranged fixture.

 

Whitchurch Mens 1s 6 Runcorn Mens 2s 1

Whitchurch entertained Runcorn in another hard fought contest and kept up their push for promotion. Martin Beecher gave Whitchurch an early lead and then followed end-to-end hockey as neither team managed to get control of the match, from this Runcorn managed to equalise on the break.

Whitchurch then scored two almost identical goals with Tom Leonard breaking through the midfield to find Beecher who laid back the ball to Leonard to tap home.

Their then followed a break in play when defender James Partington sustained an injury to the head and treatment followed. Once play continued further goals from Ben Kimberley and a brace from Martin Beecher gave Whitchurch another well-earned three points.

Whitchurch ladies 1s 15 Bowdon ladies 5s 0

Whitchurch ladies played their first league match of 2017 against Bowdon ladies 5s. Within minutes of the start captain Catherine Winter-Gresty fired in from a penalty corner to give Whitchurch the lead.

The scoring then continued at a prolific rate with Ellie Windsor scoring from a run down the right and shot from the top of the dee, Sue Read tipped home after receiving a pass from Catherine Reece-Gresty. Millie Edwards scored with another run down the right and shot from the top of the dee, Sue Read scored her second connecting on the end of a pass from Lucy Ratcliffe and Grace Berry completed the half with a shot after a pass coming Emma Harper from a long corner.

Bowdon were limited to only one shot in the half due to the defending of Emily Hilton, Claire Fitzgerald, Charlotte Lawder and Helen Machin and Gwyneth Thomas-Rees in goal was up to the task for her one save of the game.

Whitchurch continued the second half looking for more goals, Phoebe Jones grabbed a brace poaching crosses on the back post. Grace Berry scored a second before Sue Read completed her hatrick. Lucy Ratcliffe opened her account with a fierce shot from the top of the dee and Ellie Windsor got her second. Grace Berry completed her hatrick with a shot high into the roof of the Bowden goal.

Laura Workman scored scrambling home the ball and the final goal came in the final seconds of the game as Lucy Ratcliffe ran through the Bowden defence and rounded the keeper for her second.

Whitchurch 1s travel away to Buckley next week, the ladies 2s play Neston at home at 12.30.

 

Whitchurch Mens 1s 9 – Bebington Mens 4s 1

The return to competitive games also brought Whitchurch a continuation of their winning form. The away leg against Bebington earlier in the season was a hectic affair with Whitchurch getting two goals in the last two minutes to nick a 7-6 win, so this time captain Alex Fry warned the team against assuming early goals meant an easy win. The team continued their good work from last week’s friendly, with Paul “Sturge” Leigh in goal having a mostly quiet game protected by Mark Sugden and Matt Brooks, and Ben Fry combining solid defence with darting runs down the right wing.

Martin Beecher opened the scoring after some strong pressure from Whitchurch, followed quickly by the first of Ben Kimberley’s first-half hat-trick. This time Whitchurch settled into a better rhythm of tight marking and counter-attack. Most of Bebington’s attack was down their right wing, and Steve Kay, Si Briceno, Jake Wood and Brooks combined well in rotation to cut out these attacks and recycle the ball, with Kay and Alex Fry providing accurate high-speed switch passes to move the ball to Ben Fry, Joel Leese and Tom Leonard to start attacks down their right wing before Bebington could react. Kimberley picked up his second and third with a combination of quick reactions in the dee and hard strikes, given strong support and passes by Beecher and Leese. The half ended after Leonard got a hard strike away past the very capable Bebington keeper.

The second half allowed Whitchurch to turn up the pressure and they had a number of close misses, and Briceno and Kimberley were very unlucky some of their deflections went just wide. Bebington were able to launch a few attacks as they shifted a second striker up into the Whitchurch half, and one got away and was brought down in the Whitchurch dee by keeper Leigh and a penalty stroke was awarded and converted.

Whitchurch reset and an aerial clearance from James Partington from a sixteen went up the field to Tom Leonard to let him get his second of the game: a scramble in the Bebington dee lead to the ball popping clear to Leonard on the edge of the dee and a bullet strike flew into the bottom left corner. Renewed pressure allowed Whitchurch to get another as Leese was able to perform a perfect in-dee deflection to bring the score to 8-1.

With the last play of the game, Whitchurch was awarded a short corner which came to Tom Leonard who buried it to bring the score to 9-1 and end the game. Whitchurch are away next week at Oxton to play their 6s and hopefully continue their successful season.

Whitchurch Men 1 Market Drayton Men 3

Whitchurch started off the New Year fielding a mixture of 1s and 2s in a friendly against their local rivals. From the start Drayton had the larger amount of possession but Whitchurch maintained their discipline and frustrated the Drayton attacks.

Drayton however were clinical in front of goal and took the lead from a Whitchurch error.

The second half was the same as the first but Whitchurch pushed players forward but failed to take their chances and again Drayton scored on the break.

Ben Kimberley pulled a goal back for Whitchurch but Whitchurch were guilty of pushing to many players forward searching for the equalising goal and Drayton completed their victory with a quick break and clinical finish.

Whitchurch return to league action next week at home against Bebbington 4s starting at 14.30.

 

Whitchurch ladies 2s 1 Market Drayton Ladies 6

Whitchurch entertained a team playing in a higher division as a test for the New Year. From the start the two teams were very even but as the game progressed Drayton’s experience of a higher standard became clear as they applied pressure to the Whitchurch defence.

Drayton scored two in the first half to give them a comfortable lead but Whitchurch always looked dangerous on the break.

In the second half Whitchurch just couldn’t find their pre-Christmas form as fitness came into play and passing wasn’t quite accurate enough. Jess Kimberley made the game more interesting scoring from a penalty corner

As Whitchurch tired Drayton’s experience showed as they pushed on to score a number of goals to complete their win.

Whitchurch took a lot of positives from the game and will take the lessons learnt into the remainder of their league matches.

The ladies 2s have a break next week but the ladies 1s take on Bowdon ladies 5s at home starting at 12.30.