Whitchurch Mens 1s 0 – Liverpool Sefton 3s 0

It isn’t often that a 0-0 draw can claim to be a thrilling game, but this match was an excellent performance by two very evenly matched teams. With Sefton one point behind (bar a game in hand), Whitchurch were keen to get a win to ensure the league title could still be theirs.

Both teams started briskly, and with good movement and good passes, and both defences were very strong from the start, with Ben Fry having another good game on the right, clearing well and making runs. Felix Jeffries caused Sefton trouble from a number of positions as the Reds were able to rotate their subs to maximum effect. Ryan Murtagh and James Partington were strong in the middle, clearing quickly with aerial balls working well, and Paul ‘Sturge’ Leigh was impressive in goal again, keeping out a number of Sefton strikes.

In the centre, Dale Seymour and Joel Leese controlled the midfield, creating movement and width, and Jack Barnes, Peter Scales and Steve Lloyd moved the ball around quickly, creating chances as well as closing down Sefton attacks quickly. Up front, Martin Beecher and Tom Leonard caused the Sefton defence all sorts of trouble and Ben Kimberley was unlucky to score with some good creativity in the dee.

The second half was a repeat of the first, with a number of chances at both ends, but ultimately the match ended all square as neither team could find the break to claim the win. Tight marking, good control, movement and passing from both teams meant that the final whistle ensured that both could feel that it was a fair result from a game played in good spirit. Whitchurch maintain their one point advantage, with a game next week against Deeside (and a missed game to play), still looking to claim their second league title in two seasons.

 

Whitchurch ladies 1s 3 Wilmslow ladies 2s 3

Whitchurch 1s travelled to Wilmslow to play top team of the league. Whitchurch and started the game very brightly and the first goal came quickly for Whitchurch after some brilliant play on the right wing by Ellie Windsor and Grace Berry resulted in a short corner for the visitors. The short corner was worked well by Emma Harper finding space to play the ball across for Emily Hilton to slot away, leaving the hosts shocked. The momentum remained as midfielders Catherine Winter-Gresty and Lucy Ratcliffe caused havoc for their forwards to get past. The second goal was forced through fantastic pressing by Grace Berry who caught the Wilmslow defence off guard, slipped the ball through to Laura Workman who calmly slotted against the backboard.

Wilmslow fought back and settled their first from a well-practiced short corner. Wilmslow were fighting hard now pushing to equalize and making the defence of Helen Machin, Catherine Reece-Gresty and keeper Gwyn Thomas-Rees battle hard. Gwyn had a rush of amazing saves just before the whistle blew for half time.

Whitchurch caught their breath during the break and came out with as much attack and pressure as they started the first half. Charlotte Lawder and Phoebe Jones made some great passes up the left side causing Wilmslow’s defence to panic. Wilmslow kept pushing and won several shorts from which the equalised.

Whitchurch wanted this win and pushed back up to the Wilmslow dee to allow a skilful piece of play from Ellie Windsor to take the lead again. With five minutes left Wilmslow were playing fast and they had another run of penalty shorts that allowed them to equalize again. The final whistle saw a 3-3 result and Whitchurch walked away happy to have broken Wilmslow’s clean sheet of wins.

1s play at home next week for their last game of the season.

 

Runcorn Mens 3s 2 Whitchurch Mens 2s 0

Whitchurch 2s travelled to Runcorn 3s with an eclectic mix of young and old, including two juniors who had already played a morning of under 14s hockey.

Whitchurch started brightly and by keeping a disciplined, compact formation the team were able to stifle the experienced Runcorn players, whilst using the speed of youth further forward to be an early threat on the counter-attack.

From one of their early attacks, Whitchurch forced a short corner that lead to Craig Hockenhull firing a shot against the foot of the right-hand post. Great work from Fred Egerton on the right saw him drill the ball across the face of the Runcorn goal without a Whitchurch player being able to get a stick to the ball and good play down the left side from Lockie Price and Jake Wood saw the ball fall to Airon Jones in the dee, but his shot flashed wide of the post. Danny Foulkes swept home a well-worked short corner routine, but the goal was ruled out as the ball was deemed to have been lifted.

As the first half wore on, Whitchurch became more cavalier in their efforts to attack the Runcorn goal and capitalise on the chances being created. Bigger gaps started to appear in midfield, and as Runcorn used their subs to bring fresh legs into the game, they started to get chances of their own.

With Danny Foulkes stepping forward to intercept long balls forward, Runcorn resorted to quick, short passes to make progress into the Whitchurch dee. Matt Brookes and Mark Sugden were on hand to clear danger and on the rare occasions that Runcorn got shots at goal, keeper Neil Jones was there to make the saves.

Despite their good half, Whitchurch were undone with the final play of the half when a Runcorn forward picked up a long ball into the dee and with a scuffed shot that bounced over Jones’ dive scored the opening goal of the game.

Buoyed by their goal, Runcorn started the second half on the front foot and pressed Whitchurch back towards their own goal. Although chances were scarce due to the defending of Foulkes, Brookes, Sugden and Doug Buckeridge, eventually Runcorn doubled their lead following an excellent save from Jones when a bouncing ball was bundled in at the far post, with just a hint of a Runcorn foot.

Whitchurch redoubled their efforts and continued to attack the Runcorn goal. Deft dribbling skills in the dee led to Craig Hockenhull firing wide and the same player struck shots from short corners wide of the goal. Some excellent dribbling skills from Lockie Price led to a flick towards goal that was parried by the keeper and Fred Egerton was just unable to sweep the ball into the goal despite, although he almost injured himself by banging his head on the post in his efforts. Defenders crowded out Aaron Shackleton after he neatly flicked the ball past the on-rushing Runcorn keeper, but despite their efforts, Whitchurch were unable to score the goal they deserved.

This game followed a similar pattern to a number of Whitchurch’s games this season. Despite playing some good hockey, they were unable to score the goals that their play warranted. Whilst at the other end, solid defending and excellent goalkeeping were punished by momentary lapses in concentration or by a little bit of bad luck. Once again all 12 of the Whitchurch players put in 100% and can be proud of their application. Like last week the performances of Lockie Price and Fred Egerton were a massive plus for the side and are a credit to the work Alex Fry puts in with the academy and juniors on Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings.

Whitchurch 2s play their final game of the season next week, away to Chester University.

 

Wilmslow ladies 4s 1 Whitchurch ladies 2s 4

As the seasons coming to an end Whitchurch ladies 2s travelled to their last away match at Wilmslow. Whitchurch started off the stronger of the two teams by picking out players in the top of the Dee. Whitchurch started off the scoring within the first 10 minutes of the match as captain Tracy Tolhurst and Katie Goodwin picked out Amy Fry who slotted the ball past the Wilmslow keeper.

Whitchurch were not stopping there solid defending from Jess Kimberley, Hebe Dixon, Martha Teggin and Mel Reid stopped the Wilmslow team in their tracks as they were travelling towards goal keeper Shola Bailey. A free hit from Kimberley who found Fry on the top of the Dee who then slotted the ball past the advancing keeper.

Whitchurch had a momentary lapse in concentration and Wilmslow found the space to make the score 2-1. Emily Vernon and Beth Skyes linked well down the left and again found Fry who shot just wide.

In the second half Whitchurch had switched on their A game and were creating space and passing the ball between debutant Vicky Price and Wendy Cooper, Hayleigh Busby picked out Fry unmarked in the Dee who then completed her hattrick as she sweeped the ball home. Whitchurch continued to apply pressure with many short corners and eventually Busby sweeped the ball home and bringing the score up to 4-1.

Whitchurch will be finishing the season at home against Macclesfield ladies 4s. Amy Fry received player of the match.

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 3 – Wrexham Glyndwr Men’s 3s 2

Having achieved their second promotion in two seasons Whitchurch travelled to Wrexham knowing they needed to pick up three points from this game to ensure that next week’s top-of-the-table clash wasn’t critical to winning the league. Wrexham came out fighting with a team that was stronger than their league position suggests. Wrexham started strongly and provided width and depth, with a formation that pressured the Whitchurch defence from the start.

Whether it was a change in personnel, or the bouncier water-based pitch, Whitchurch struggled to find their form and spent large parts of the game chasing the play. When things worked well, passing moves got the ball up the pitch, but breakdowns in play – from poor passes, or strong defence, meant it wasn’t until half way through the first half before Ben Kimberley managed to go one-on-one round the last defender and slot it past the keeper. This spurred Wrexham on, and the pressure paid off as James Partington’s last-man attempted block looped up and landed right in front of the Wrexham striker who fired it past keeper Aaron Swain to finish the half all square.

The second half was more of the same, with both sides very even until the deadlock was broken by Jack Barnes getting the ball in after a goalmouth scramble when Ben Fry’s cross came in from the right wing. Again, this gave Wrexham the fire to come back and they scored from a short corner. At 2-2 with an unlikely win on the cards, Wrexham put everything into the game which including extra enthusiasm into their tackles which lost them a player to a card.

Wrexham continued to look for the win and managed to get a long ball up the centre of the pitch where they had a three-on-two overload and looked likely to score but for Ryan Murtagh’s brilliant last-second stretched tackle took the ball away from the Wrexham strikers, saving the game.

With three minutes on the clock and three important points at stake, Whitchurch got a short corner from a foul in the dee. The injection was slipped to Dale Seymour who picked out Joel Leese who slotted it away to give the Reds the goal.

Whitchurch took the three points and the top slot in the league going into next week’s crunch match at home against Liverpool Sefton 3s.

 

Alderley Edge ladies 4s 2 Whitchurch ladies 1s 4

Whitchurch played away at Alderley Edge, Whitchurch started strong and kept the ball well despite pressure from a youthful Alderley Edge side.

Sue Read opened the Whitchurch scoring shortly into the game and was soon followed by after an amazing piece of skill from Charlotte Lawder beating the defender and picking out Ellie Windsor for Whitchurch’s second and a two goal lead into the break.

The second half started with strong play down the left hand side from Lucy Ratcliffe, Millie Edwards and Phoebe Jones. Alderley Edge pushed forward and started to create chances but the defence held strong. Whitchurch counterattacked and Emma Harper set up Grace Berry for a well-worked goal.

Alderley continued to fight for ball and managed to pull back a goal. Whitchurch were then awarded a short corner which Emma Harper duely converted. Alderly edge kept up the pace and scored the final goal of the game but Whitchurch secured another well-deserved three points. Lucy Ratcliffe was awarded player of the match.

 

Whitchurch ladies 2s 2 Sandbach ladies 1s 1

Whitchurch entertained league leaders Sandbach requiring a point to secure promotion and three points to take them back to the top of the league.

Whitchurch were ready for the physical presence of the Sandbach team after their loss earlier in the season and from the start took the game to them. Although Whitchurch had long periods of possession Sandbach tackled hard and frustrated Whitchurch chances to a minimum against the run of play goalkeeper Shola Bailey pulled of a brilliant one on one save to keep Whitchurch in the match.

The half time talk focused on maintaining the Whitchurch strategy and not getting dragged into physical battle and also not to attack to much as a point was enough.

Whitchurch started the second half much the same as the first finished but it was not until midway through the half that Whitchurch were awarded a penalty corner and Lisa Sullivan slammed home the shot.

Sandbach threw everything into the attack and soon got the equalizer. Within minutes Whitchurch hearts sank as the Sandbach forward rounded the Whitchurch keeper and struck only for Mel Reid to calmly stop the shot on the line beat the oncoming attacker and clear the ball.

Whitchurch then got their break as Hebe Dixon drove forward and picked out Ashleigh Heath to turn home the winning goal.

Whitchurch took the three points secured promotion and returned to the top of the table with two games remaining.

Both the ladies 1s and ladies 2s travel away to Wilmslow for their fixtures next week.

Whitchurch Mens 2s 0 Deeside Ramblers Mens 7s 0

In their final home game of the season, Whitchurch 2s played out an entertaining 0-0 draw with Deeside 7s on a chilly, damp afternoon at SJT. Whitchurch welcomed Craig Hockenhull back into midfield, for his first game of 2017, and offered debuts to two academy graduates, Lockie Price and Fred Egerton.

Deeside started the game on the front foot, taking the game to Whitchurch. Despite having more possession and territory in the opening stages, Deeside struggled to make inroads into the Whitchurch dee and as they committed more men forward Whitchurch were able to play on the counter-attack, but were unable to create any chances to shoot on goal.

As the first half wore on, the Whitchurch midfield of Hockenhull, Matt Brookes and Pete Scales gained more control of control in the centre of the pitch and the game became much more even. Both sides were susceptible to counter-attacks and on a few occasions Whitchurch keeper Neil Jones was called on to clear the danger or make good saves when Deeside’s lone forward was found free in the dee.

At the other end of the pitch Lockie Price, Tom Forster and Fred Egerton were combining well with the Whitchurch midfield, but were still struggling to create shots on goal from open play. A few short corners were won and Hockenhull fired narrowly wide from one well worked routine, but the Deeside keeper still hadn’t made a save when Fred Egerton brilliantly swept home a cross into the dee from Pete Scales. Sadly the goal was chalked off as the ball hadn’t travelled five metres before Scales fired into the dee.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with possession and territory evenly split between the two teams. The Whitchurch midfield cut the supply line to the lone Deeside forward and the Deeside attacks came through more sustained hockey in the Whitchurch half of the pitch. Other than one shot which hit the post midway through the half, keeper Jones was well protected by the Whitchurch defence of Matt Brookes, Iain Bones, Danny Foulkes and Richard Leigh.

Whitchurch offered more threat to the Deeside goal in the second half. A well worked short corner routine led to Tom Forster striking the Deeside post and neat skills from Craig Hockenhull saw him dribble into the dee and fire another shot narrowly wide. Airon Jones was unable to get his stick down to turn in a cross at the far post.

This was an entertaining game of hockey between two equally matched sides. Whitchurch were disciplined in both attack and defence and played some good controlled hockey for large parts of the game. All of the players worked hard and supported team mates at both ends of the pitch. But the highlight was undoubtedly the debuts of the two junior players, both of whom played excellent hockey against some experienced and skilled opponents.

Next weekend the 2s travel to Runcorn for their penultimate game of the season.

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 3 – Mossley Hill Men’s 3s 0

With the season heading to a close, Whitchurch 1s played a much-improved Mossley Hill 3s in their fight to stay top of the league. The earlier away fixture had finished 5-1 to the Reds, but it was obvious from the start that this wasn’t going to be a walkover.

Mossley Hill began very strongly, with composure on the ball, and pressed hard. Ryan Murtagh, Ben Fry and Tom Forster in defence put in very strong games to ensure that all the Mossley men were constantly well marked and James Partington, returning from injury, was able to cut out a number of baseline attacks by the Mossley forwards. Alex Fry and Joel Leese held the centre and cut out many attacks, whilst providing width to Ben Kimberley on the right wing, and Jack Barnes on the left. This width pulled the Mossley players out wide, giving Peter Scales and Simon Briceno space and time to drive through the middle.

With Whitchurch controlling the game, more space opened up, and a clearance from defence was driven up the pitch via Barnes who slipped it to Tom Leonard who drilled a reverse-stick screamer into the goal. In the Whitchurch goal, Aaron Swain had an outstanding game a fantastic double save maintaining the Whitchurch lead.

The Mossley Hill players fought ever harder to level the scores, but were trying too hard and picked up a green and a yellow card with some overly-enthusiastic tackles which gave Whitchurch numerical superiority – but they were unable to break down the solid Mossley defence, with the keeper making some good saves. Just before the end of the half, a ball flicked up off a Mossley stick and caught Leonard in the eye, requiring treatment, and the half ended 1-0.

The second half was a much calmer affair as each side concentrated on keeping the ball and avoiding trouble, and Mossley were able to make more of their clearances, with a few of their long-ball passes making it to their forwards, but Murtagh and Fry were able to keep them out, and the entire Whitchurch team stuck to their marking and ensured that every pass was hard for Mossley.

With their players pushing harder and higher, a clearance from the Whitchurch 23 quickly got up the pitch to Barnes, who drew in two defenders before slipping to Leonard who took advantage of the open goal to get his second. As Mossley Hill legs tired, and with less than two minutes to play, Barnes again was the play-maker and slipped it through to Kimberley who put it through the keeper’s legs to make it 3-0 and to keep Whitchurch top of the table by one point, but with a game in hand.

Whitchurch play away at Wrexham Glyndwr 2s next week.

Whitchurch ladies 1s 3 Runcorn ladies 1s 2

Whitchurch entertained Runcorn ladies sitting second in the league and looking for promotion.

Whitchurch started slowly and failed to adapt to the early Runcorn pressure that saw them storm into an early two goal lead. Whitchurch then decided they needed to up their work rate and compete with Runcorn. Emma Harper pulled a goal back for the home team with a blistering strike. Whitchurch came close with Lucy Ratcliffe shots missing the back post and another saved by the Runcorn keeper.

Some harsh words at half time saw Whitchurch come out and compete for tackle for tackle with the Runcorn team. The defence held solid frustrating the Runcorn attacks and creating time for the Whitchurch midfield to maintain possession.  Eventually Grace Berry was picked out in the dee to even the scores. As Whitchurch heads came up Runcorn’s seemed to drop and tire, Whitchurch continued to charge forward. Charlotte Lawder charging down the right wing experienced several physical challenges resulting in a green card for the Runcorn player upgraded to a yellow after a verbal lashing of the umpire. Whitchurch took full advantage and a shot from Lucy Ratcliffe from the top of the dee was tipped home by Sue Read. The final ten minutes saw a lot of frustration from Runcorn but Whitchurch held out to claim the points.

Whitchurch ladies 1s travel away for a late game at Alderley Edge next week.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 3 Crewe Ladies 3/4s 5

Whitchurch entertained their local rivals in what turned out to be a game of two halves. Crewe brought a mixture of experience and youth and throughout the first half tore through the Whitchurch team with a series of goals giving them a five goal lead at the interval.

Half time gave Whitchurch chance to review and re-group and in the second half they took the game to opposition. Laura Workman in the middle of the Whitchurch team showed her pace and skill creating time and space so missing in the first half.

This allowed the rest of the team to maintain possession and begin to play the ball around. Captain Hayleigh Busby picked out Hebe Dixon at the top of the dee to sweep home Whitchurch’s first goal. Dixon then turned provider picking out Amy Fry to deflect past the keeper.

Whitchurch gained confidence and as they pushed forward through Phoebe Jones and Tracy Tolhurst down the left hand side they again found Fry who beating the last defender then rounded the keeper and scored her second.

Whitchurch continued to push forward but despite a number of opportunities failed to convert.

Whitchurch entertain Sandbach ladies 1s next week at home in a 1^st and 2^nd clash starting at 12.30.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 12 Neston Ladies 5s 0

Whitchurch Ladies 2s played their rearranged match against Neston South Wirral Ladies 5s at home. With a number of key players missing due to injury, Whitchurch looked for support from two new players, who had not played a league hockey before.

Neston had arrived with a young team who looked as though they would be fast and agile.

Hayleigh Busby standing in as captain for the injured Emma Clarke drove the team forward from the whistle and it took 10 minutes before Hebe Dixon put the first goal into the back of the net. The next goal was scored soon after by debutant Victoria Corlett scooping the ball in the Neston D to slide it past the keeper.

As Neston attacked the Whitchurch midfield players, Hebe Dixon, Kate Goodwin and Helen Apperley, kept the them at bay, with a lovely drive up the centre of the pitch from Hebe Dixon and Emily Vernon they found Ashleigh Heath at the top of the dee to pop away her first of 7 goals.

The first half finished with further goal for Ashleigh Heath and one for Olivia Edgerton, putting the score at 5-0.

Neston broke quickly in the second half driving through the centre of a disorganised Whitchurch team but were quickly met by defender Gayle Ladd who easily picked up the ball and drove it forward to the stick of Amy Fry who found Tracy Tolhurst for a shot which bounced off the keepers pads for Olivia Edgerton to sweep in her second of the day.

Not to be knocked Neston drove forward again, this time securing a short corner for their hard work.  This was the only action Goal Keeper Shola Bailey saw during the whole match. Molly Goodwin stood on the defensive line to be part of her first ever short corner, which Jess Kimberley disrupted and knocked away from danger.

With the Whitchurch team now highly motivated and Neston tiring, twice Tracey Tolhurst found little difficulty running up the wing to find Ashleigh Heath for her 3^rd and 4^th goals.  Amy Fry was unlucky not to get on the score board with a number of quick drives and skill play around the Neston defence, but managed to find the stick of Ashleigh Heath for more back of the net action.

However, this just gave Whitchurch greater drive and Tracy Tolhurst scored her first and only goal of the day. With the final play of the game Ashleigh Heath deflected home number seven from a penalty corner shot.

The Final score 12-0 to Whitchurch a strong result securing their second place with only 3 more games to play.  Hebe Dixon was awarded Man of the Match.

Next Saturday Whitchurch Ladies 2s will be playing a friendly against Crewe in preparation for their head to head with the division leaders Sandbach on 4^th March.

 

Buckley ladies 1s 0  Whitchurch ladies1s 3

Whitchurch ladies 1s travelled to Buckley this Saturday for a re-arranged league match. The opposition started strong blocking all Whitchurch’s attempts to break through their defence. With their goalie being the eventual man of the match it was a strong defence to penetrate. Whitchurch had the bulk of the play in the first half, with Buckley managing just a few breaks. Gwyn Thomas-Rees pulled off some strong saves in goal supported by Catherine Reece-Gresty and Claire Fitzgerald. Towards the end of the first half Whitchurch made a run down the right hand side with Ellie Windsor pushing the ball past the keeper for Whitchurch’s first goal.

The second half saw Whitchurch continuing strong with some great play in the centre by Aisla Cairns and Emma Harper. Phoebe Jones made a run and picked out Lucy Ratcliffe just in the dee who passed to Sue Read for Whitchurch’s second goal. Towards the end of the game Buckley tired and Whitchurch took advantage with some near misses from Catherine Winter-Gresty and Grace Berry. Another strong attack from Grace Berry saw her fire home the third goal. Player of the match went to Lucy Ratcliffe.

1s play at home next week against top of the league Runcorn 1s.

 

Neston Men’s 6s 1 Whitchurch Men’s 1s 1

Whitchurch Men’s 1s travelled away to Neston 6s, but only managed to wrestle a single point from a hard-fought and tense fixture.

A surprisingly strong Neston side started brightly and subjected Whitchurch to some sustained pressure for the first 20 minutes, forcing a number of short corners and several chances from open play.  Whitchurch struggled to settle or adjust to the pitch in this time, but managed to prevent Neston scoring with some stubborn defending from Ryan Murtagh and Tom Forster, and a number of good saves from Paul Leigh in goal.

Against this run of play, Whitchurch broke quickly from within their 23 metre area to set Martin Beecher free down the left hand side, drawing in several Neston defenders before playing the ball square to find Tom Leonard free at the top of the circle to strike home in typical style.  This was followed by a much more settled period which took the Reds through to half-time ahead, though not deservedly so.

The second half was almost a reverse of the first.  For 15 minutes, Whitchurch applied steady pressure to Neston’s defence despite the temporary loss of two players to cards, but failed to make the most of the chances and short corners gained.  Neston then rallied and this time were able to convert a short corner and level the game, leaving the last 10 minutes as a nail-biting, end-to-end affair with chances to win the game missed by both sides.

A fair result, which sees Whitchurch a point clear at the top of the table, with a game in hand.