Whitchurch Men’s 1s 7 – Deeside Ramblers Men’s 5s 0

Whitchurch returned to competitive hockey, and to winning ways, this week playing Deeside Ramblers Men’s 5s in the newly formed, pandemic-enforced Cheshire West 2 league. After some persistent rain in the morning, the sun came out and provided a perfect setting for a resumption of the interrupted season. Whitchurch were able to field a full-strength team with the Wales-based players available again, and did so – for the first two minutes before Sam Budd picked up a game-ending injury after rolling his ankle during an early attack.

Thankfully they had a sub, and so the game began again without the option of using rested impact-players coming on from the bench, and captain Danny Foulkes reiterated the need to make the ball do the work rather than players running themselves ragged. The key was to take the good work put in before the last lockdown and repeat that – with the added need to make the most of the opportunities in the opposition dee.

Whitchurch applied themselves well, against a Deeside team that was a mixture of youth and speed up front, and experience and control at the back. The Deeside keeper had another excellent game making a number of superb saves, but today was going to be the Reds’ day, and it started with good control, keeping the ball and driving down the right time and again. Eventually a short corner was won, and was slipped left and right before it returned to the top of the dee where Jack Barnes belted it in.

This was followed shortly by another short corner, and Barnes was on hand again to receive the injection and flick it under the keeper. Deeside started to recover, and were able to make some incisive runs with high players receiving the ball well and driving to the dee, but Paul “Sturge” Leigh was again fantastic in the Whitchurch goal, sliding out to block incoming passes when the defence were still on their way back, and diving well to block the shots that Deeside could get away. Overall, the defence was solid, with Foulkes, Sam Conway and James Partington working well together to get the ball out. In front of them, Steve Kay had an impressive game holding the centre of the pitch and providing an outlet time and again before considering options and getting a good pass away up the pitch. Equally, the midfield – with Joel Leese, Barnes, Joe Coburn and Ben Kimberley – worked well going forward as a unit, but weren’t afraid to recycle it all the way back to Foulkes if that was the right option.

Up front, Tom Forster and Chris Ruscoe – in a change from his usual defensive duties – caused Deeside’s defence plenty of trouble, and it was Ruscoe who scored next, with a darting run down the right hand side of the pitch before getting into the dee and drilling it into the bottom corner of the goal.

In the second half, it was more of the same, as Kimberley and Forster worked the left-hand side of the pitch with some one-two passes, before Kimberley got his shot away in style. The game then took a turn as Conway picked up an injury and shortly after a green card took the Reds down to nine players, but Kay dropped back into defence so Foulkes could cover Conway, and Whitchurch then went into keep-ball mode, running down the clock before both players could make their way back onto the pitch. Deeside had made a number of attacks during this time, but Sturge was solid and the tackling in the defence was effective, and with eleven players finally back on the pitch the Reds could turn up the wick again.

The commitment was brilliantly shown with the next goal, as Coburn fought his way into the dee and rode six or seven stick-tackles that could each have led to a short corner, as the advantage was played well by the umpires, until he was able to flick the ball over the Deeside keeper for an excellent goal to add to his impressive tally. Ruscoe then went on another run down the right wing before getting into the dee and firing the ball into the centre of the net. The game was wrapped up with a seventh as Leese’s shot bounced off the keeper and Forster was on-hand to clean up and put the ball away.

There could have been more goals, but this was an impressive return to hockey for Whitchurch, again thanks to the depth and strength of the squad, and putting into games the routines and skills learned during training sessions. Player of the match was, again, Joe Coburn – his goal was typical of his play throughout the game, consistently working hard, never giving up and using sublime skills to beat the opposition.

Chester Men’s 6s 0 – 6 Whitchurch Men’s 2s

After lockdown, new tier regulations, a revised league structure for the rest of the season and a struggle to get enough players, the Men’s 2s returned to competitive hockey with a trip to Chester 6s.

The home side started positively but Whitchurch quickly settled into the game and assumed a control that they never relinquished. Chester found themselves penned in their own half, and anytime they did make progress into the Whitchurch half, Brendan Coburn, Wyn Morris and Gareth Teggin were quick to tidy up and set the 2s back on the attack.

Chances came and went. Good work down the right saw Fred Egerton smash a shot against the crossbar, and both Luke Beddow and Euan Morris fired wide when we’ll placed. The excellent Chester keeper made a succession of smart saves to frustrate Whitchurch, but eventually the pressure paid dividends. Midway through the first half, with Chester trying to move forward, Whitchurch won the ball in midfield and set 3 players clear of the home defence. Luke Beddow calmly rounded the onrushing keeper and swept the ball into the unguarded goal.

Despite losing Doug Buckeridge to a nasty ankle injury, Whitchurch continued to push forward and the Chester keeper made more good saves, and final passes between the Whitchurch players weren’t quite finding their intended targets, which Jake Buckeridge just unable to steer home a vicious cross from the right. But as half time approached, Euan Morris deservedly doubled the Whitchurch lead.

The 2s completely controlled the second half with keeper Neil Jones a virtual spectator. Richard Leigh orchestrated the Whitchurch play, organising the younger players from the centre of midfield.

Much of the game was now being played in and around the Chester dee and Ethan Gresty, Fred Egerton, Joe Faithfull, and Alex Leigh were all heavily involved in the action; all of them getting shots at goal, or being close to scoring. Further goals were added in the second half by Luke Beddow, Euan Morris (who completed his hat trick) and Jacob Buckeridge.

Although Whitchurch thoroughly deserved the 6-0 victory, the score line could have been much bigger. The Chester keeper had a fantastic game, making several excellent saves. But Whitchurch were incredibly wasteful in the second half. Too many players were intent on adding to their personal goal tally, taking on extravagant shots, when there were simple passes to better-placed teammates available.

A special mention for Will Snaith, who despite playing on the left side of defence, spent most of the game as a second left winger. He continually made himself available for passes forward and was an excellent support for the players in front of him, whilst never neglecting his defensive duties.

Many thanks for Chester in getting the fixture sorted out after the recent lockdown. The game was played and umpired in an excellent spirit and the Chester players were very supportive in a physical and medical capacity with Doug’s injury.

Whitchurch Men’s 2s will be playing their final game before the Christmas break at SJT on Saturday 12th December against Winnington Park 4s.

With the Men’s 1s having no game and the 2s postponed due to COVID travel restrictions it was left to the ladies this weekend.

Warrington ladies 1s 3 Whitchurch ladies 1s 4

The ladies 1s travelled away to play Warrington 1s this Saturday in what turned out to be an equal sided game.  Whitchurch started play with great control and passing around the Warrington players having majority of the play. Any possession was quickly intercepted by Anna Latham and Sophie Ward. The reds quickly won a short corner, Hebe Dixon and Sarah Field passing accurately to each other several times for Field to score.

Warrington fought back with a goal from a short corner too. Then it was back to Whitchurch with Kezzie Hutchings and Chloe Lloyd pushing hard up the pitch for captain Catherine Winter-Gresty to drive the base line and fire into Sarah Field who calmly slot past the keeper. Warrington before the half time whistle scored again from a well-practiced short corner.

Half time 2-2, a quick rest a team talk and Whitchurch set up as the start, Izzy Huxley and Stephanie Stanton collecting passes high up the pitch, keeping plenty of play in the Warrington half, Hayleigh Busby received the ball from Dixon and picked out Field for their third. Keeper Maddy Sugden had her work cut out saving many shots as again Warrington pushed forward and scored a third goal from open play.

Whitchurch needed this win and continued to have some great movement up the pitch, a last push for Whitchurch as Millie Edwards passed down the pitch to Sophie Ward who scored their winning goal.

A relief for Whitchurch as the whistle went for a 4-3 win.

Timperley ladies 6s 5 Whitchurch ladies 3s 0

Whitchurch travelled to Altrincham to face a newly formed Timperley team who are currently undefeated and top of the table. They had some very experienced players but Whitchurch held their own with some driving attacks led by centre forward Annie Buckeridge and Amelie Morris at right inner. Kate Buckeridge struggled at left inner to get the ball to Sasha Preece running down the left wing due to the superb pressure from the Timperley defence but the Whitchurch halves, Eryn Cookson on the left, Jan Teggin on the right and Nicky Barber in the centre proved equal to the task firing the ball back into the attacking dee for the forwards to run onto.

In defence, Tabitha Leonard on the right and Emily Lister on the left did a sterling job clearing the Timperley attacks and were backed up by the superb keeping skills of Louise Cottrell who denied some hard strikes of the ball in the Whitchurch dee with both stick and feet. Bella Morris and Heidi Carr linked up well holding the ball on the right supported by some superb tackling and passes from Teggin but after 15 minutes the pressure proved too great and Timperley eventually broke free and scored a good unstoppable goal tight on the left post.

Undeterred by going a goal down, Barber and Cookson tackled hard and prevented many more attacks feeding Buckeridge’s and Morris’s alike through the middle. Unfortunately, Timperley broke free after 10 minutes and scored another scrappy goal despite the sprawling attempts of Cottrell to save it. So stretched was she that she literally fell apart and it took a few minutes and some help to be put back together. This 2^nd goal gave Timperley confidence and they went on to score another well-orchestrated hard hit goal shortly before half time, leaving the score 3 – 0.

The second half saw equal possession between the two teams and Whitchurch won a few short corners spurred on from the rousing cheering from the travelling ‘Leonard support team’. Timperley proved very experienced in their defence and tackling skills denying Whitchurch several shots on goal. Barber and Cookson were relentless in their tackles and determination to be first to the ball in midfield allowing Whitchurch to drive through the middle and giving Morris a fine hit right on the edge of the dee into the Timperley goal. This caused debate between umpires whether it was touched by a Whitchurch player inside the dee but unfortunately the goal was ruled out. An injury to a Timperley player unsettled the Whitchurch attack and they drove through the middle to gain a 4^th goal against the run of play.

At the final pushback, Annie Buckeridge showed excellent stick skills turning and running forward through the tight Timperley defence linking with both Morris sisters before running into the Timperley dee. Once one on one with the keeper she narrowly missed a link up pass to the right to Bella Morris. Carr showed great tenacity on the left getting ahead of the Timperley players and linking up passes with Morris and Cookson but Timperley drove forward and Kate Buckeridge unluckily conceded a short corner with a kick on the edge of the dee resulting in a fifth goal for Timperley. The last 10 minutes of the game saw most of the possession with Whitchurch and it was felt that a goal would come in time but for the final whistle preventing further play. A valiant effort by all players and making their captain Teggin very proud.

Player’s player was Amelie Morris.

 

Whitchurch ladies 2s 3 Alderley Edge ladies 7s 4

Buoyed on by their success travelling to Macclesfield last week, Whitchurch ladies 2s were looking forward to taking on newly demoted Alderley Edge. With an extremely depleted team, Whitchurch took to the pitch with no keeper and no subs, what we did have was a team who were willing to pull together and support each other.

Head Coach Alex Fry was on hand to advise player positions, lining the team up in a strong attacking formation. Defenders Emma Clarke and Catherine Reece-Gresty pushed forward squashing the Alderley Edge players into their half, with Jess Kimberley sweeping any balls which made it through. Whitchurch started strong, with three short corners in the first 5 minutes and were unlucky not to convert them.

Whitchurch kept up constant pressure in Alderley Edge with Molly Fry in middle playing the ball through to her sister Amy Fry who interacted with Ellie Pearson all showing their skills and precision passing. When Alderley Edge were able to make a break against play, they were stopped by halves Holly Gilbert and Ellie Windsor, but managed to secure a short corner. Whitchurch have a good reputation for defending short corners, but without a keeper Alderley Edge were able to slot the ball through the Whitchurch players feet and score their first goal.

Whitchurch did not let their heads go down, keeping the pressure up using the left side of the pitch with Tracey Pearson and Amelie Morris playing confidently in their regular positions working well with Nicola Forster up front. Alderley Edge made sure Whitchurch’s defence were put under pressure constantly, but the ball was kept well away from Whitchurch’s dee. Unfortunately the youthful legs of Alderley Edge proved too much for Whitchurch and they scored their second on a speedy break against play. Again Whitchurch refused to lie down. And it wasn’t long until they were finally rewarded for their efforts, Tracey Tolhurst reversed the ball to Ellie Pearson on the post and she put it in.

The second goal came shortly before the half time whistle from a short corner, scored by Nicola Forster which was slipped left from the top of the dee.
Our half time talk was supported by coach Alex, who helped with our technique. The whole team was exhausted but believed we could still win.

Unfortunately, the second half proved too much for Whitchurch, with Alderley Edge having three subs and a keeper we were under constant pressure. The team worked hard keeping the ball in the Alderley Edge half as much as possible but they knew the Whitchurch team were flagging and time took its toll, with two more goals being score by Alderley Edge early in the second half.

But there was no way Whitchurch was going to roll over, 5 minutes before the end of the match Molly Fry lead another break down the centre of the pitch, passing to Nicola Forster who swept past the keeper and slotted Whitchurch’s third goal of the match.

Even though we were exhausted Whitchurch pushed back at Alderley Edge chasing the draw, unfortunately it was not to be. The final whistle went and Whitchurch lost 3-4 to Alderley Edge.
Next week the ladies 2s travel to Sale.

Macclesfield ladies 3s 0 Whitchurch ladies 2s 2

After a fantastic first game of the season Whitchurch ladies 2s travelled to Macclesfield with high hopes. Arriving with only 20 mins to spare and one car literally turning up with 5 minutes to go, Whitchurch were disorganised and not warmed up. However, as a team they are they all pulled together and made it on the pitch ready for push back.

From the whistle, Whitchurch were a strong attacking force, with Phoebe Jones as centre forward taking control. For the first 5 minutes of the match Whitchurch dominated and were justifiably rewarded with the first goal of the match, a lovely flick of the ball over a lying down keeper by Phoebe Jones to give Whitchurch the lead and confidence to flourish.

This gave Macclesfield the determination to make some attacking presses which Whitchurch’s defensive cohort, of newbie Eryn Cookson, who had a storming match Catherine Reece-Gresty, Emma Clarke and Jess Kimberley stopped. Jas Williams took on the key role of centre half and kept a cool head and stopping the Macclesfield team equalising.

Each attack by the Macclesfield ladies was expertly quashed and sent back up the field to the safe young hands of Holly Edwards and Ellie Pearson who passed the ball smoothly between themselves to move the ball up the pitch to the awaiting attackers of Amelie Morris who had a highly commendable match, Holly Gilbert and Heidi Carr supporting her with their excellence skills.

This led to Whitchurch being awarded a number of short corners, from which our 2nd goal come eventually, with a left hand short corner, which managed to touch every one of the attackers sticks before Kimberley managed to slot it in behind the keeper, after the umpire had made the decision to play advantage in Whitchurch’s favour.

After a half time talk, where the team were asked to take a breath, Whitchurch came out fully determined to keep their lead. Jones took the ball and played high into the Macclesfield defence; this was the way play was to continue throughout the second half.

Macclesfield continued to attack hard, but our amazing keeper Beth Wright kept strong, she moved around the dee with stunning agility diving at the ball on a number of occasions. Macclesfield won a number of short corners but they were continuously defended and scuppered by the strong Whitchurch defenders.
It was not a tidy match, extremely scrappy but the whole team gave 100% effort and pulled together to make sure we won no matter what.

A clean sheet for Beth Wright, a great win for Whitchurch ladies 2 and MoM to Jess Kimberley. Next week the L2s are home against Alderley Edge Ladies 7.

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 3 Deeside Ramblers Men’s 5s 4

Whitchurch lost again this week, but in a much more even game. While they were mostly played off the park last week, this week’s game was a more balanced affair and despite going into the half time break at 2-2, the home side felt that Whitchurch should have won it from there. However, it wasn’t to be.

With players still unavailable due to the Welsh restrictions, the Reds were still in their secondary formation albeit it with two substitutes this week. Team captain Danny Foulkes had passed on a game plan, with planned substitutions to keep the players fresh, and game-day captain Chris Ruscoe set about implementing them, again leading the team in effort and commitment.

Ruscoe was flanked by James Partington and Sam Conway, with Steve Kay rotating in, and they were under constant pressure, but worked well to get the ball out. Joel Leese and Jack Barnes had plenty of time in the centre of the pitch at times, and used the space well. Joe Coburn and Ben Kimberley had good games out wide, driving the ball up the wings, and Tom Forster, Martin Beecher, Fred Egerton and Sam Budd had the skills and speed up front to cause the Deeside defenders problems.

It was, though, a game of two halves. In the first, Whitchurch had decent amounts of time on the ball and were able to go up the pitch smoothly, and a series of quick, short passes had Sam Budd picking up his first for the club. The play then came down the other end, and Deeside picked up a goal after Paul ‘Sturge’ Leigh’s kicked clearance didn’t make it past the next attacker, who put it away neatly. Then at the other end, Beecher scored with another crisp shot, but Deeside were able to get back on the ball and pick up another. Despite the scores being level at half time, the game absolutely felt like Whitchurch’s for the taking; they had time on the ball, and could mount attacks at will, and were only a few inches away from being two or three more up as shots went wide or were blocked at the last second.

The second-half, though, was another story. It started well enough, with Whitchurch moving the ball well, and getting up the pitch before a ball fired into the dee was deflected by Beecher, and then tapped in at the back post by Budd for his second. At that point, all the Reds needed to do was settle, stay calm and keep the ball, but that’s where things went awry.

Deeside at half-time had tasked their younger players up front with trying to run the ball more, against a slowing defence and it paid off. They kept the ball well, moved it in triangles up the pitch and drove the baseline with confidence and it worked. They got themselves a number of short corners and, despite some good saves and blocks, it kept the pressure all up at the Whitchurch end.

Whitchurch in turn just couldn’t keep hold of the ball. They would clear it out of their dee, and start a good run but would then try for an overly-ambitious pass instead of a simple one (or just hanging on to the ball waiting for support) and the pressure was immediately back on. Eventually a decent short-corner routine paid off and Deeside were level, but it was in the last moments of the game that the Reds were undone. Despite being warned minutes earlier for pushing, a Deeside drive into the dee ended with two Whitchurch players being pushed in the back during attempts to clear the ball, but no foul was called and the resultant shot was given as a goal to hand Deeside an unlikely victory.

It does at least give the Reds confidence that they can compete at this level and in this league, but it was a hugely frustrating end to a very close game. Finer attention to detail, a bit more composure on the ball, and a little more luck and they should find their feet and progress in this division.

Whitchurch ladies 3s 0 Triton ladies 2s 1

Having faced some tough battles against Triton 3’s last season Whitchurch were prepared for an even tougher battle against a newly formed Triton 2’s who were in a lot higher division last season. With a few changes on the right from last week, Poppy Huxley took up the wing position, Alice Page at right half and Bella Morris at right inner. The left stayed the same with Emily Lister at half, Annie Buckeridge at inner and Kate Buckeridge at wing. Nicola Foster made a return to the 3 team at centre forward backed up by our captain Wendy Cooper at centre half with regular backs Jan Teggin on the right and Hermione Ball on the left. Louise Cottrell now with repaired helmet was in goal and could be heard shouting encouragement to our new players.

For the first 20 minutes, Triton were strong in tackles and pacey through the middle but Whitchurch showed resilience and made several early attacks into the Triton dee winning a couple of short corners but were unable to convert due to some fine saves made by the Triton keeper. Buckeridge, Lister and Forster linked up well on the left showing their experience and newbie Sasha Preece subbed on providing some width to the right hand side. Unfortunately the relentless attacks down the middle by the Triton attack rewarded them with a goal about 20 minutes into the first half despite some excellent clearances from Ball and Teggin and goal kicks from Cottrell.

Some reorganisation on the right from captain Cooper resulted in some much better passing shots from Preece, Huxley and Morris and again Whitchurch drove into the Triton half and won a short corner but were unable to convert. Cooper made some magnificent passes to Buckeridge and Forster through the middle before taking a nasty hit to her ankle and was replaced by Page.

Half time arrived quickly ending 0-1 and allowed Whitchurch to regroup. Huxley, Morris and Page were linking up much more effectively on the right and Annie Buckeridge and Lister made some excellent drives down the left supported by Preece on the wing with Forster dropping deep to help out. Kate Buckeridge dropped back to right half feeding to Page on the right wing and Morris supported both forward and back at inner.

Ball made some excellent defensive moves cutting off the Triton attack and firing passes down both left and right wings. Cottrell made some crucial saves and Whitchurch successfully defended a short corner. The last 10 minutes saw Whitchurch making many more counter attacks and proved that the sides were evenly matched but unfortunately the clock ran down and the game finished 0-1 to Triton.

Players player was Nicola Forster.

 

Birkenhead Men’s 2s 4 Whitchurch Men’s 2s 0

Whitchurch Men’s 2s travelled to the Wirral on Saturday to face a Birkenhead 2s side who had also gained promotion last season, but had inflicted two heavy defeats on the Shropshire side in the process.

As expected, the Wirral side enjoyed the upper hand in most aspects of the game and Whitchurch struggled to impose themselves on their opponents. From the first pushback, Birkenhead pressed the Whitchurch players at every opportunity and Whitchurch were unable to maintain any meaningful possession of the ball and struggled to make much progress out of their own half.

When the home side won the ball, their power and experience helped them retain the ball and move into threatening positions. But Whitchurch battled hard and made things difficult for their opponents. Gareth Teggin, Brendan Coburn, Wyn Morris and Will Snaith defended resolutely and Birkenhead struggled to get into the Whitchurch dee and fashion shooting opportunities.

The first real goal scoring chance came at the other end of the pitch. Jacob Buckeridge, Ethan Gresty and Luke Beddow linked up well down the left, but the move broke down before reaching the dee, but Euan Morris was alive to a defensive mistake and ran clear into the dee. His lofted shot was brilliantly smothered by the rapidly advancing Birkenhead keeper.

Ultimately the home side got their deserved breakthrough. After withstanding a number of short corners, the Reds were a little flat-footed reacting to a pass back to the injector, who diverted the ball past a helpless Neil Jones in the Whitchurch goal. It wasn’t long before Birkenhead doubled their lead, again from a short corner that was well struck into the near post.

Whitchurch battled hard and did well to keep the deficit to two by the interval.

The second half saw the 2s change formation to try and provide more protection through the centre of the pitch and give Euan Morris more support up front. But the pattern of the second half was much the same as the first half …. Birkenhead controlled territory and possession, and had Whitchurch pinned in their own half. When the away side won the ball, they were unable to keep it due to a combination of Birkenhead pressure, a little bit of over-eagerness to pass the ball quickly, or the tendency to run into tackles.

Whitchurch did have odd moments; Luke Beddow made some threatening runs into the dee; Will Gilbert was busy around the periphery of the dee; and Euan Morris worked hard with very little reward. However, it was always going to be Birkenhead that impacted the score line, and they duly added another couple of goals in the second-half to run out 4-0 winners.

This was a tough afternoon for the Whitchurch 2s, but they battled away and made a very good Birkenhead side work hard for their victory. Ultimately, power and experience were the deciding factors.

Fred Delf-Rowlandson and Joe Faithfull were eager runners all afternoon, but found it difficult to influence the game in attacking positions and Doug Buckeridge and Richard Leigh worked hard to provide protection to the overworked defenders. Ethan Gresty had another fantastic game. Ethan has always had the talent but sometimes his work rate left a little to be desired, but in both games so far this season, Ethan has been a bundle of energy and had a significant impact on the performance of the team. In this game he tracked back diligently and made some vital interceptions and blocks in the Whitchurch dee, but was also the driving force to get on the team on the front foot, and provided excellent support to Luke Beddow and Euan Morris when Whitchurch tried to attack.

The 2s next game is at home to Bebington 3s at 1:30pm on Saturday 17th October.

Whitchurch ladies 1s 5 Knutsford ladies 1s 3

The ladies 1s entertained Knutsford ladies1s this Saturday in better weather than last weekend. From the whistle Whitchurch took control of the game and in less than five minutes Ellie Windsor collected the ball in front of the keeper and slipped it past her.

The game stayed at a fast pace as Whitchurch played the ball around Knutsford getting plenty of play up in the opposition dee. Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty crossed the ball into Izzy Huxley who calmly deflected into the back of the net.

Knutsford started putting up a fight and found a high player who took on Whitchurch keeper Maddy Sugden forcing her to make a great save, unfortunately minutes later they scored from a short corner. Hebe Dixon had an amazing game taking on multiple players in the dee before scoring a third for Whitchurch.

Half time came and a well-deserved break. Whitchurch reset themselves but found that Knutsford came back out with more aggression and scored again from a clever break.

Some fantastic passing across the width of the pitch from Anna Latham allowed Whitchurch to pick out Huxley again on the post to score a fourth.

Things were looking strong at the back with Millie Edwards, Sophie Ward, Kezzie Hutchings and Chloe Lloyd meeting everything Knutsford could muster. The game moved well for Whitchurch with Lisa Sullivan and Molly Fry distributing the ball out wide, with Hayleigh Busby collecting outside the dee and passing into Dixon to give the reds a good lead.

Within the last few minutes Knutsford managed to convert another short into a goal.

Players player was awarded to Hebe Dixon. Ladies 1s play away at Warrington next week.