Alderley Edge Men’s 4s 2 Whitchurch Men’s 1s 6

Whitchurch put together two halves of great hockey this week away to a strong Alderley Edge team, finally bringing together all of the positive points of the recent second halves into one game to bring back all three points from a tough encounter.

Alderley Edge were strong in the previous fixture, so the Reds knew they had to play well to win and captain Jack Barnes re-employed the three-at-the-back formation that had worked well in the previous game, and it was again a solid base for the whole game. Along with 2s keeper Neil Jones in goal covering for Sturge, it could have been a weakness with less familiarity, but instead of was a strength as Jones was on fine form making multiple critical saves, and Sam Conway controlled the centre of defence, with Will Snaith on the right and James Partington on the left. Between them, they had significant periods with the ball, just transferring it left and right, taking time to choose a good ball out rather than rushing.

That then let the midfield, with Barnes supported by Jon Gilbert, Joe Coburn and Phil Handley, have time to get into good positions which then meant the balls out were effective and productive, and that gave Martin Beecher up front, with Tom Forster and Ethan Gresty on the wings time to go on runs that put the Alderley Edge players under pressure. With Tom Edwards and Joe Chesters continuing to do great work stepping up to the 1s, the team had energy, confidence and control on a good pitch which let their talents shine.

The first Reds goal came from a short corner where the ball was switched back to Forster who’d injected it, and he was able to put it through the keeper’s legs. Another short corner had the wide drag out go to Gilbert who squared it to Barnes who put it away confidently, and let the Reds go in to half time two-nil up. The half-time talk this week was just “more of the same, please!”, and so it was to be: Forster, clearly going for Goal of the Season, scored a blinder in the top left roof of the goal from the right-hand side of the dee, completing a move that started at the back from Conway passing to Gilbert who fired it to Coburn who drove the line before crossing to Forster. Forster scored again, with a far less showy, far more bouncy shot a few minutes later to have Alderley Edge reeling at four down.

However, this Alderley Edge team was good: skilful players who worked well as a team and had been unlucky on several occasions not to complete moves or score. Rather than let their heads drop, they started putting two men high to pressure the Whitchurch defence, and it proved effective as they picked up two goals from short corners in quick succession. They could have had a couple more, with an overload failing with the last touch as Jones rushed out to pressurise the attacker, and more short corners which the Reds did well to keep out.

Whitchurch regrouped and looked to find the confident control and passing from earlier in the game and it worked, with a short corner being put away by Barnes with a shot from the right deflecting off a defender’s stick, before Forster scooped up his fourth of the day with Edwards firing a ball across the goal for him to slap in.

The Reds could have had more – Beecher was unlucky with a couple of shots which would also have been in the mix for season awards had they been a few inches the other way – but the game ended 6-2 to Whitchurch which was a great reflection of the quality effort put in by the whole team. They have a bye week next week but will look to repeat the whole-game quality going into their remaining games of the season.

Alderley Edge Ladies 5s 0 Whitchurch Ladies 1s 6

Whitchurch Ladies 1 travelled away to play a very young Alderley Edge 5s team.

Five minutes in and Whitchurch had taken strong possession with several attacks on goal for them to win a penalty corner. A straight strike from Captain Cath Gresty was deflected from an Edge player up over the keeper, into the net.

Spirits high, the play was smooth from Whitchurch, passing up the middle from Lisa Sullivan, Molly Fry and Mollie Bell, waiting in the dee was Valerie Fabery to receive for a reverse shot into the net.

2-0 up for Whitchurch and they calmed the play, allowing Edge to move up the pitch but defence Hayleigh Busby and Jasmin Williams fought off their attacks passing out wide to Tilly James and Poppy Huxley. It wasn’t long before the midfield players again picked out Georgia Munro in the dee to slip to Gresty to push past the keeper.

A run of penalty corners came for Whitchurch, Edge held Whitchurch off for a few, but then Fabery got the ball to make it 4-0 at half time.

A quick turnaround as it was cold and Whitchurch wanted to get back to the game. As at the start Whitchurch passed around well but Alderley Edge were putting plenty of pressure on and looked keen to get on the match sheet, a couple of penalty corners for Edge but were defended strongly with keeper Holly Edwards clearing the ball out wide.

Whitchurch picked up the pace again and Sullivan picked out Gresty alone in the dee to strike onto the back board.

Lovely play up the wing from Bell and Munro found Valerie Fabery waiting on the edge of the dee to make a beautiful reverse shot to make it 6-0. All the play seemed to be in the Edge half now, Whitchurch hungry to make the next goal as it would be their 100th of the season, but time wasn’t on their side and whistle went.

Another good 6-0 result for Whitchurch, playing at home to see who can score first next week!

Winnington Park Ladies 2s Whitchurch Ladies 2s 1

Whitchurch entertained a strong Winnington Team looking for promotion. Despite the efforts of the ladies Winnington continued to score as the game went on and took a deserved victory. Whitchurch scored a consolation goal in the final minutes from a Poppy Gilbert strike.

Golborne ladies 2s 0 Whitchurch ladies 2s 7

Due to traffic, Whitchurch Ladies 2s had only 10 minutes to warm up for their rearranged game away at Golborne. Running on the pitch, the side were met with a well organised opposition, however the team got off to a great start and dominated play with clear and accurate passing between centre forward Hayley Kellet and the rest of the attackers, Sophie Jones, Jas Williams, Lydia Jones, and Poppy Gilbert.

It wasn’t long before the goals started coming as Heidi ‘hat trick’ Groom arrived, (who’d also been stuck in traffic) to lead the attack, allowing Hayley to drop back and strengthen the mid field, alongside Bella Morris, Holly Edwards and Maisie Bennett.

There were also several short corners which allowed Whitchurch 2s to practice their set pieces, Lydia Jones pushed out to the top of the dee to either Kellet or Morris, who then looked for the slip and quick hit on goal.

Long corners taken by Bella Morris were quickly taken with support from Sophie Jones on the right wing, who between them battled their way skilfully into the dee.

The first half saw four goals scored by Whitchurch, with the half time talk focusing on ‘more of the same’ and ‘let’s try switching it to be left.’ Leaving mistakes to be made by an increasingly frustrated opposition.

The 2nd half, Golborne started to bring their attack back to Whitchurch, increasing the pressure on the defensive team of Hermione Ball and Catherine Reece Gresty, who battled tirelessly to clear the ball to Holly Edwards, who was absolutely solid in both defence and building the attack back up with Edwards, Kellet, Jones and Morris distributing the ball to the forward lines through Poppy Gilbert.

More goals came for Whitchurch, whilst the defence had to contend with five consecutive short corners for Golborne who seemed determined to get a goal of their own but were stopped every time, including when they broke through the defensive line and Whitchurch keeper Megan Nicholson had to contend with a one-on-one attack from a Golborne player. Megan calmly ran out of goal to kick the ball out and away from the attacker, giving the Whitchurch defence time to run back and behind to block off any chance of Golborne scoring. Maisie Bennett was also in excellent in defence, making her debut for the 2s, and was solid, accurately picking up balls and distributing back up to the attackers.

But no matter as Whitchurch 2s won 7-0 with goals from:

Heidi Groom-3 Jas Williams -1 Hayley Kellet -1 Sophie Jones-1 Lydia Jones-1

A great team effort.

Alderley Edge Men’s 6s 6 Whitchurch Men’s 6s 3

Whitchurch travelled to Alderley Edge for a re-arranged fixture. Both Whitchurch and Alderley fielded teams with many of their up-and-coming younger players.

The game started at a frantic pace with both teams pushing for an early goal and from the start the Whitchurch defence of Lucas Hill, Charlie Edwards, Sam Conway and Thomas Wyndam-Lewis knew they were in far a hard match as a well-trained forward line pulled them around their dee. Alderley took the lead but Whitchurch were soon back in the match as a well worked penalty corner hit the defenders foot on the line and Sam Conway stepped up to convert the penalty flick.

Whitchurch lost Wyndam-Lewis too injury and Oliver Edwards dropped back into a defensive role and played his game of the season in an unfamiliar position making countless tackles in both halves.

Alderley took the lead again with two quick goals before Whitchurch pulled a goal back as Craig Hockenhull threw an aerial ball over the Alderley defence and Airan Jones took the ball down and fed Joe Chester’s who calmly beat the outcoming keeper.

Whitchurch continued to push as they got on top of the game for the first time Tom Edwards tirelessly running in midfield caused problems for Alderley throughout the game and from his pass Will Edwards brought Whitchurch level.

The team talk at half time revolved mainly around how the defensive unit was to mark the Alderley attackers and throughout the second half for large periods they kept them quiet.

It was unforced errors that ultimately cost Whitchurch a misplaced pass from the re-start saw Alderley pounce on the ball and take the lead within a minute. Alderley then scored another minutes later after a fine initial save by keeper Neil Jones saw the ball drop and role towards the Whitchurch goal line and despite the efforts of a diving Charlie Edwards it made it into the Whitchurch goal.

Despite the frustrations Whitchurch never stopped working and creating chances and Alfie Edwards and Oliver Hayward worked tirelessly upfront chasing down both attacking chances and pressuring Alderley defenders.

The final goal came as the Alderley defender broke into the Whitchurch dee and finished with a reverse strike that left Neil Jones no opportunity.

The final score was a fair result and Whitchurch although disappointed took a lot of pride from their performance and effort against a good Alderley team.

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 1 Deeside Ramblers Men’s 4s 1

Whitchurch had a decent game this week against a solid Deeside team, and in a match where either side could have grabbed the win, a one-all result was a fair reflection of the contest.

Both teams had opportunities in the game, with Paul “Sturge” Leigh being called on several times in both halves to clean up after Deeside had broken through the defence, but the Reds started well and for the first 10-15 minutes had some good control and passages of play. The concentration dropped a little towards the middle of the first half, with passes being hopeful rather than strong, and players running into trouble rather than recycling to go again, and it was in this period that Deeside got their goal. A breakdown in play in the middle of the pitch gave the ball to the Ramblers and they overloaded the Whitchurch defence to pick up their goal, and it reflected their dominance of the game at that time.

Another reset at half-time, and a slight change in formation gave the Reds a different structure for the second half, and it afforded them more time and control in the middle of the pitch. It also lessened the impact of the Deeside pivot man, and that meant the balance of power shifted back towards the Reds and a good run up the pitch had Phil Handley fire a ball hard past the keeper, only for it to bounce off the right-hand post and ping straight back to Tom Forster on the follow-up, who slotted it away.

The rest of the half was evenly balanced. Tom Edwards and Joe Chester’s, stepping up from the 2s, had solid games. Dale Seymour and Jon Gilbert made some excellent interceptions and tackles to cut out the Deeside attacks. Captain Jack Barnes held the centre, and kept the team focused throughout, with everyone putting in a decent shift. The result was critically dictated by the two goalkeepers, with Sturge making a leaping save, and the Deeside keeper having a fantastic game to block some well-worked attacks.

All in all, a fair result and a good game played in a decent spirit. Whitchurch have a couple of weeks until their next game but will work on the lessons from the last two games which have had some moments of excellence, which bodes well for the rest of the season.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 3 Crewe ladies 3s 1

Whitchurch ladies 2s took on Crewe 3s at home today, for a second time this season and after a defeat in the last match, Whitchurch were ready to get their win.
Whitchurch lost the toss, so Crewe had the first pushback.  Crewe started strong but Whitchurch intercepted the ball and kept it in Crewe’s half. Whitchurch were able to gain many short corners which got them their first goal executed by a very determined Hayley Kellet.
Crewe restarted but it was quickly recovered by Heidi Groom who moved it to Sophie Jones who ran up the line passing back to Heidi Groom who ran rings round all Crewe’s defenders then confused keeper finishing it off in the goal.

A strong defence from Emma Stubbs and Catherine Reece-Gresty and clean interceptions from Eleanor Beecher, Lydia Jones and Bella Morris meant they were able to stop Crewe from scoring.

The second half started off pretty much the same. Lucy Chadwick drove the ball up the line finding a pass to Freya Gresty who was able to switch the ball across the pitch to Lucy Hearn who found Bella Morris who slipped the ball in past the Crewe keeper.

With previous great saves from Megan Nicholson unfortunately Crewe managed to score off a short corner ending the match in a 3:1 finish.

Players player went to a very well-deserved Hayley Kellett. Whitchurch play their rearranged game away next week against Golborne.

Whitchurch Ladies 1s 1 Golborne ladies 1s 1

Whitchurch ladies 1s travelled away to Golborne for a top of the table clash and without all of their usual team.

From the start Whitchurch had majority of the possession, with Golborne occasionally making a break but the defence of Chloe Lloyd and Hayleigh Busby swept up and started the ball up the pitch through Tilly James and Hermione Ball.

Pressure from Sarah Kay and Poppy Gilbert kept the play in the Golborne twenty-five. A short corner for Whitchurch and Captain Cath Gresty took a straight strike from top dee and was first on the score sheet.

Whitchurch on a high played strong and used the width well using Jasmin Williams and Mollie Bell to tire out Golborne.

Half time and 1-0 up, Whitchurch started the second half as the first.

Lots of running as the game was back and to, keeper Caroline Wynn made several fantastic sliding saves.

Whitchurch had many more shots on goal, Gresty picking out Beth Wright, but Golborne packed out their defence and repelled every attempt away.

Unfortunately for Whitchurch a short corner for Golborne allowed them to equalise in the last quarter and time ran out for Whitchurch to continue their run of wins.

First draw of the season for the Whitchurch ladies 1s but they will be back after a week off next week.

Crewe Men’s 3s 3 Whitchurch Men’s 2s 1

Whitchurch travelled to Crewe for an early start expecting a hard game following their home fixture earlier in the season.

Whitchurch took the game to Crewe from the start and thought they should have had a penalty stoke in the first few minutes as Joe Chester’s flew past the last defender and into the dee only to bundled to the ground. From the resulting penalty corner Whitchurch got away a shot which was saved by the Crewe keeper, and this set the tone for the game.

Whitchurch had large amounts of possession throughout the first half and despite some excellent opportunities Crewe were resilient in defence and along with some excellent keeping kept Whitchurch at bay. Shots from Pip Jones off a penalty corner and free flowing movement from Oliver Edwards and Airan Jones down the left created chances Whitchurch came and went.

Whitchurch were guilty of pushing too high in the chase for a goal and Crewe exploited the space left with some excellent runs down the wings from some very skilful younger players drawing the Whitchurch defence out of position and resulting in winning penalty corners. Whitchurch defended a number of these with some excellent saves from keeper Neil Jones before Crewe finally took the lead.

Whitchurch continued to battle, and the defence of Danny Foulkes, Lucas Hill, Richard Leigh and Liam Pallet made tackle after tackle to frustrate the Crewe attackers.

The second half saw Whitchurch sit back and not commit players as far forward and this gave them more balance but again Crewe won a penalty and converted. Within minutes Whitchurch pulled one back as Will Edwards picked up the ball and drove past the advancing keeper to bring Whitchurch back into the game.

Minutes later a rare mishit pass from Crewe was picked up by Craig Hockenhull in the midfield who drove into the Crewe dee picking out Will Edwards who hit the post.

Whitchurch continued to push forward for the equaliser with some excellent linking play from Alfie Edwards but again Crewe capitalised on the space and won another penalty corner which they converted.

Whitchurch felt they played well against a team which had severely beaten them earlier in the season and with a bit more composure in the dee it would have been a much tighter game.

Neither men’s team had games on Saturday due to teams withdrawing from their respective leagues.

Sunday games were re-arranged fixtures when games where called off due to frozen and snow covered pitches in January.

Saturday games

Whitchurch ladies 1s 7 Alderley Edge ladies 4s 1

Whitchurch ladies 1s sat back and let the very young Alderley Edge team take control of the early stages of the game letting them move around the ball well but without really troubling the Whitchurch defence of Chloe Lloyd and Gayle Ladd.

Whitchurch started to settle and assert themselves and some solid play from Whitchurch picked out Valerie Fabery De Jonge to score.

Alderley Edge fought back and equalised from a quick run up the middle. Whitchurch continued to stretch Edge with wide play from Holly Edwards and Mollie Bell resulting in another reverse shot goal from Fabery De Jonge before half time.

A strong waking up from the coach’s team talk and Whitchurch took much more control and a well-rehearsed penalty corner saw Molly Fry passing to Captain Cath Gresty to slot home. Soon after Georgia Munro cut through the Edge defence and round the keeper to score a fourth.

Whitchurch were working well together now but Alderley Edge kept up the pressure and closed them down quickly, this made Whitchurch speed up their play and Lisa Sullivan picked out Gresty to score another. Alderley edge continued to create chances but Caz Wynne made some great saves when called upon to stifle the Edge attacks.

Whitchurch continued to apply pressure looking to capitalise on any opportunity and Fabery De Jonge scored another reverse shot to give her a hattrick.  With time nearly up Munro ran up the pitch and picked out Gresty on the post to make her a hattrick and a 7-1 win for Whitchurch.

Sandbach ladies 1s 4 Whitchurch ladies 2s 3

Whitchurch ladies 2 team were expecting a tough match facing top of the league, unbeaten Sandbach.
With a strong start from both sides Sandbach found themselves with a goal giving them the front foot. This inspired Whitchurch to work even harder and after receiving a short corner, took full advantage of the situation using Hayley Killnett to slip a pass back to injector Sophie Jones who slapped the ball through the keeper’s legs securing Whitchurch’s well fought goal. Poppy Huxley then found a pass to Bella Morris who was able to make a quick drive down the line, finding another pass to Poppy Gilbert who was able to fire a cross across the dee allowing Heidi Groom to score an Ariel goal.
As a Sandbach player entered the Dee with the ball goalkeeper Megan Nicholson attempted the save but unfortunately miss timed and tripped the player over leading to a yellow card. Without a goalkeeper for 5 minutes Lydia Jones volunteered to go in goal and saved the resulting penalty flick. However, due to the lack of goalkeeper Sandbach were able to level the scores.

With the score as 2-2, the half time talk consisted of compliments given to the team for their hard work during the first half and to keep it up in the second half. And that is what Whitchurch continued to do. With captain Emma Stubbs standing her ground in defence and skilful possession from Heidi Carr, Whitchurch stayed optimistic. Jasmine Williams found wide passes allowing multiple runs into the dee leading to attempts on goal. Another short corner gave Whitchurch the advantage using Hayley Kellett to strike a goal changing the score to 3-3. With 10 minutes to go despite Whitchurch’s strong defending from Hermione Ball, super saves from Megan Nicholson and clinical interceptions from the whole team, Sandbach were able to secure themselves a win with a final goal. Hayley Kellett was awarded a much deserved player of the match.

Sunday games

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 3 – Manchester Men’s 1s 2

Whitchurch played a Sunday catch-up game against Manchester 1s this week in what was a hotly anticipated match on both sides. Whitchurch were unable to field a team for the away game earlier in the season, so this was the first time the two sides had met since a tough and heated game last season when the Reds could and should have won, but unfortunately came away losing by a goal in the last minute.

This, then, was to be a rematch with added interest – and the Reds had the advantage of playing at home with a full complement of strong players, and not having had to play the day before as their opposition had pulled out of the league. The game started well enough, and Whitchurch scored first with captain Jack Barnes drawing first blood with a fine shot from a short corner. However, second blood was to come from Barnes’ own face – after some strong work by Manchester to get a goal back, taking advantage of some indecision at a short corner by the Reds’ defence, they won a second short corner and the follow-through from the strike accidentally caught Barnes in the face, and that was his game over as he went to get medical treatment.

Going in at 2-1 at half-time didn’t really tell the story of the half, as Whitchurch were lucky not to have had Manchester score several more. Paul “Sturge” Leigh in goal was solid as ever, and blocked a number of shots and was unlucky with a deflection on the second goal, and the Reds’ defence dug in and made some last minute tackles. However, the wider story was one of poor discipline and pass-selection, not keeping hold of the ball well (which immediately put the Reds on the back foot as Manchester surged forward on the break while the Reds were still in the opposition’s half) and then being less than supportive of team mates who’d perhaps not done their finest work. It was dragging the standards down, and Manchester are too good a team to play against and have that happen.

The half-time team talk included Sturge finding the words to say to remind Whitchurch that that isn’t the team they are, and it is not the game they play. Alex Fry and Danny Foulkes helped focus the team and point the way forward and, as has happened a few times before for the Reds, it was the key to unlock the real team in the second half. It’s hard to imagine that the two halves were from the same team in the same game. Suddenly, Whitchurch found lots of time on the ball, and switched it from left to right to left again, possibly going all the way back to go forward. They had time on the ball; they stopped giving it away cheaply; they stopped trying to run through players; their passes found their targets and there were some passages of play that would stand out on a highlights reel for the season. As the Reds’ confidence grew, Manchester found themselves struggling to have the time on the ball they were used to in the first half, and they were getting more desperate in their challenges and appeals. Some cards were shown, which were deserved but raised some tensions even more.

Whitchurch, though, found balance and calm and continued to move the ball well, and won a short-corner which Martin Beecher put away with a smashed first-strike low and hard to the left. As the game built to a conclusion, another short-corner was initially blocked by the keeper and the ball went out wide but was fired back across the goal and Beecher got his second and the Reds’ third with smart strike. Whitchurch held on until the final whistle to take the game 3-2, at which point frustrations boiled over and some calming was required. It was a shame for the game to end on a slightly sour note, but overall Manchester had been excellent like last year, showing great individual skill and ball-carrying control and completely over-ran Whitchurch in the first half, but it was the manner of the recovery and the effort put in in the second half to recover and take the game that was the real takeaway for the Reds. Much to consider from both halves, but the guts and determination shown to take the win against such strong opposition is something the team can be deservedly proud of.

Whitchurch ladies 1s 4 Cheshire Blues ladies 1

After a tiring Saturday game, both teams put in all their effort to play this match. Whitchurch had first pushback where centre forward Hayley Kellet passed to Lisa Sullivan who drove down the pitch towards the oppositions dee. However, Cheshire blues defence was strong and cleared the ball up the pitch. They gained a short corner where their goal was fortunately disallowed.

Chloe Lloyd and Hermione Ball fought hard in defence and passed the ball up the line to Poppy Huxley on the wing where Lisa Sullivan and Molly Fry continued to get into the dee and gained a short corner but couldn’t convert. However, Whitchurch continued to hassle in the opponents dee and gained multiple shorts from which they unfortunately didn’t score from. Tilly James passed to Cath Gresty who drove the base line into the dee and attempted to score but got deflected by the goalie.

Whitchurch went to the half time break level but having dominated large parts of the game and created many chances carried on as they finished the first half.

Whitchurch took the lead as Molly Fry worked her way through the defence and did an amazing hit from top of the dee into the corner of the Cheshire goal.

Cheshire Blues were soon level as the ball deflected around the midfield and fell the their centre forward who beat the Whitchurch keeper with a diving shot.

Undeterred Whitchurch came back stronger as Mollie Bell made many runs up the pitch into the opponents dee. Sarah Kay ran tirelessly upfront and but for some excellent keeping and defending would have converted.

Chloe Lloyd took a 16 and passed to Tilly James who drove up the line and transferred it to Lisa Sullivan, She passed the ball into the dee to Poppy Huxley who was unmarked on the back post.

Blues then had the opportunity to draw level and goalie Phoebe Gregory made an amazing save tipping the ball around the post from a penalty corner strike. Here

Despite Whitchurch’s attempt to pass into the dee, Blues kept hitting the ball up the pitch and clearing the Whitchurch advances.

Even though Blues hits were strong, Whitchurch made many interceptions and from one of these Mollie Bell intercepted the opponents pass and drove down the pitch slipping it to Poppy Huxley in the dee who deflected into the goal

Whitchurch didn’t stop fighting and from a short corner Cath Gresty hit the ball at top dee which saw Lisa Sullivan get the deftest of touches deflected in Whitchurch’s final goal.