Whitchurch Mens 2s 2 Llandudno Mens 2s 2
Whitchurch 2s entertained Llandudno 2s looking to bounce back from the disappointment of being unable to fulfil last week’s fixture and the subsequent deduction of 3 points. Despite the rain and very wet pitch, Whitchurch started the match well and dominated possession and territory in the first 10 minutes of the game. The team created a number of good chances and Richard Leigh was very unfortunate to divert an excellent through ball from Simon Valiente-Briceno just wide of the post.
However Llandudno managed to get a grip of the game and pressed Whitchurch harder and faster in midfield. The Whitchurch passes started to go astray and Llandudno were able to maintain possession of their own. Llandudno pushed more players forward and created a number of good chances.
The defence of Iain Bones, Mark Sugden and Doug Buckeridge found themselves outnumbered on a number of occasions. The Whitchurch goal led a charmed life, but largely thanks to some excellent goalkeeping from Neil Jones, Llandudno struggled to apply the final touch to open the scoring.
Ultimately, after a succession of short corners, Llandudno opened the scoring with a powerful strike form the edge of the D just before halftime.
Whitchurch switched to a 4-man defence for the second half, with Ryan Murtagh moving to left back. With Alex Fry patrolling in front of the defence Whitchurch were able to nullify a lot of the Llandudno attacks before they reached the Whitchurch D. Aaron Shackleton and Richard Leigh were able to get forward in the wide areas and provide support to Josh Parry and Simon Valiente-Briceno up front.
Eventually good Whitchurch play led to a cross from the right which was missed by everyone except Ben Fry who controlled the ball and drilled a shot past the Llandudno keeper for the equaliser.
Buoyed by this Whitchurch continued to push forward, but were undone by a swift counter attack from Llandudno. Their tactic of leaving a player high up the pitch paid dividends as they were able to by-pass the Whitchurch defence and midfield with one long pass and put their attacker clean through on goal. Neil Jones made an excellent save, but the Llandudno attacker was able to divert the ball goal ward at the second attempt and, despite a valiant effort to get back and clear off the line by Ryan Murtagh, Llandudno retook the lead.
Whitchurch were undeterred and pushed Llandudno further back and Alex Fry caused the Welsh defenders constant problems with his dribbling around their D. Whitchurch forced a number of short corners and eventually a shot for the edge of the D was deflected to Ben Fry to slam the ball into the goal to make the score 2-2.
Both teams pushed for a winning goal in the last moments of the game. But neither team could find a breakthrough, although Phil Tranter was unlucky to have a good effort well blocked by a Llandudno defender.
Whitchurch 2s battled well to come from behind twice in this game. The change in formation for the second half contained the Llandudno attacks and allowed Whitchurch to get more control in the midfield areas. Whitchurch carried the greater attacking threat in the second half, but ultimately the draw against a talented and youthful Llandudno side was probably a fair result for both sides.
The draw leaves Whitchurch 2s in 7th place in the league, ahead of Chester 6s on goal difference, but 4 points behind Llandudno.
The 2s are away to Lymm 4s next weekend.
Winnington Park Park Mens 4s 1 Whitchurch Mens 1s 10
It was a dominant performance over the second place team from start to finish for the Mens 1s securing promotion with four games left to play.
Within minutes of the start Whitchurch took the lead with Joe Nicholson firing in from close range. Whitchurch failed to respect the Winnington team and paid the price as Winnington took full advantage of lax marking to equalise.
This woke up the Whitchurch team and they stepped up a gear and soon raced into a lead with two goals from Steve Lloyd and two blistering shots from Tom Leonard to give Whitchurch a comfortable lead at the interval.
The second half was more the same way and despite all the efforts of Winnington Park they couldn’t break free of the strangle hold Whitchurch had on the game.
Whitchurch continued as they finished the first half with goals from Tom Leonard and Steve Lloyd before Joe Nicholson bagged a brace, the second another breathtaking shot from near the baseline. Whitchurch finished the game as Ben Lea was rewarded for his efforts in the game with the final goal.
Whitchurch 1s entertain Mossley Hill 1s at home next week.
Whitchurch ladies 2s 1 Bowdon Ladies 6ths 0
Due to the heavy rain in the morning water lay in patches on the Whitchurch pitch delaying the start of the game, as the clouds cleared and the pitch dried the game started.
Whitchurch 2s over a number of weeks have been growing in confidence and from the off they took the game to the Bowdon team. As always Whitchurch rode their luck and some excellent saves from goalkeeper Shola Bailey and key tackles from the defensive line-up of Wendy Cooper, Sally Pearce, Mel Reid, Emma Clarke, Jess Kimberley and Martha Teggin kept Whitchurch in the game. On the break of halftime a swift interchange of passing between Kate Goodwin and Ashleigh Heath picked out Charlotte Lawder on the edge of the dee to scramble home and give Whitchurch the lead at the break.
Captain Julia Neale led the way into the second half encouraging the team to keep up their efforts and secure the much deserved three points. Becky Brookfield commanded the midfield cutting out the Bowdon attacks and setting off the team on the attack enabling the wings to attack at pace down the right and left side through Emily Veron and Hayleigh Busby. Whitchurch were unlucky not to score again when Busby’s shot was cleared off the line.
Bowdon fought back but the Whitchurch team were in no mood to let their precious lead slip and fought to the end to secure a much deserved and valuable win.
Whitchurch ladies travel away to Golborne 2s next week.
Wrexham ladies 2s 3 Whitchurch ladies 1s 1
Whitchurch Ladies 1s came back down to earth with a bump after going top of the table last week with a disappointingly 3-1 loss to Wrexham.
Wrexham were the more energetic of the two teams playing at speed throughout, whereas the usually excellent Whitchurch team failed to come out flying as usual. Wrexham went ahead early via a short corner set piece move; play then ebbed and flowed with Whitchurch failing to convert opportunities created during the rest of the first half, despite the efforts of wingers Ellie Windsor and Laura Workman.
Whitchurch then equalised via their own set piece penalty corner with Jane Williamson striking home with laser like accuracy. However, Wrexham were awarded a dubious penalty flick, which was converted allowing the Welsh team to take the lead, before a further goal put the game beyond the reach of the valiant but seemingly heavy legged Whitchurch team.
Whitchurch Ladies 1s will look towards next week and the visit of ladies Lymm 4s to put this behind them.