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

Whitchurch travelled to Wilmslow this week to face the top-of-the-league side in a match that could have narrowed the gap in the table considerably, but went down to a narrow defeat from a last minute goal. The game opened brightly, but it was to be Wilmslow to get on the score sheet first – their constant pressure down the right wing eventually paid off with a strike into the Whitchurch dee deflecting off Alex Fry’s fine block, and a Wilmslow striker managed to get enough on it that Paul Leigh’s excellent parry looped up and struck the crossbar – but unfortunately the underneath, so it bounced back down and landed only an inch over the line.

The Wilmslow pressure continued, and Whitchurch struggled to get the ball up the pitch enough to trouble the Wilmslow defence, but eventually the ball was fired up field and Ben Kimberley latched on to it and went one-on-one with the keeper, slotting the ball away to add to his total for the season. Tom Forster, James Partington and Ryan Murtagh were able to mark the Wilmslow attack more ably after the game had settled and the opposition were more on the back foot, and the half ended 1-1.

The second half started with more strong pressure from Wilmslow, and Whitchurch were caught waiting for a whistle that never came for a foul, and the Wilmslow attack drove into the dee and got their second. Frustration showed, and green cards were shown to both teams, but Whitchurch came back to control the game more, with Rob Chappell, Jack Barnes and Ben Fry holding the middle with Alex Fry, and the passing game was much improved, spreading out well to Kimberley and Jake Wood on the wings who then caused the Wilmslow defence some real problems with Tom Leonard’s strikes kept out only through the excellent work of their goalkeeper who was brave in coming out and athletic in ability.

The Reds managed to get their second with some good link-up play: an aerial clearance from Partington found Kimberley, whose shot was deflected wide. The resultant corner was quickly taken by Fry, who got it to Kimberley who passed to Leonard who put it away.

However, in the dying minutes, Wilmslow again drove down the right and across the baseline, and managed to get it to the top of the dee where an onrushing striker put away a good shot to take the game 3-2. Whitchurch play Brooklands MU 6s at home next week, and will look to make amends and get back to winning ways.

Whitchurch Men’s 2s 3 Llandudno Men’s 2s 1

Whitchurch 2s entertained Llandudno 2s on a sunny Saturday afternoon at SJT. With the Welsh side struggling for form and only able to field 10 players, the Reds were looking to build on their entertaining draw with Neston the previous weekend.

Whitchurch took control of the early stages. They moved the ball sensibly around the pitch to exploit their numerical advantage. Their play was erring on the side of caution however and didn’t really trouble the Llandudno dee.

When the Welsh side did gain possession of the ball, their attacks were broken up by good work from the Whitchurch defence of Doug Buckeridge, Danny Foulkes, Rupert Yeoward and Matt Brooks.

As the half wore on, the young Whitchurch players became more adventurous and pushed Llandudno back towards their own goal. With Craig Hockenhull’s driving runs through the centre of midfield a constant threat and good interplay on the left between Fred Egerton and Josh Parry, the Reds looked most likely to open the scoring. However, from a rare foray forward the Welsh side won a short corner that was beautifully flicked into the top corner of the Whitchurch goal.

The Whitchurch response was immediate. As Llandudno messed up a restart from the top of their dee, Josh Parry was alive to the lose ball, driving the ball back into the dee before feeding a neat pass to Fred Egerton, who fired in the equaliser.

Whitchurch continued to push forward as the half drew to a close, but were unable to convert any further chances, including a number of short corners.

In the second half, Llandudno changed their shape and pushed two players upfront and put an extra player in midfield. The changes led to a much more open game of hockey. Whilst Whitchurch were able to find more space going forward, the Welsh side were also able to push more players onto the Whitchurch defence and create chances of their own.

Keeper Neil Jones made a number of good saves during the second period and the Whitchurch back four were resolute in their defensive duties, ably assisted by the midfield tracking their runners, including James Page who diligently followed the Welsh right winger up and down the pitch.

At the other end of the pitch, Euan Morris and Joe Coburn followed up their excellent performances in the morning for the under 14s with some great interplay down the left and Airan Jones was a constant threat on the right with his pacy runs.

Midway through the second half, Whitchurch took the lead when Craig Hockenhull drove in fiercely from the edge of the D after good work from Fred Egerton. This was quickly followed by a goal by Euan Morris, who poked home after a melee in the Llandudno D.

Whitchurch continued to push forward but missed chances from short corners, the Llandudno keeper made a number of good saves and Whitchurch failed to convert a penalty flick late in the game, but ultimately the Reds were well worth the 3-1 win.

This was a good win for this young Whitchurch side. At times they moved the ball well and they worked hard tracking back, when required, to help snuff out the Llandudno attacks. Again the opposition were full of praised for the younger players after the game. The win moves the 2s up to 7th in the table.

A special mention to umpire Jess Kimberley who was excellent throughout and had to deal with a couple of feisty moments in the second-half, when her decisions were questioned a little too vehemently.

Whitchurch 2s travel north to Lymm 3s next weekend.

Whitchurch ladies 3s 0 Golborne ladies 3s 0

This week Whitchurch 3’s were pleased to be not playing in the pouring rain and thrilled to keep a clean sheet.

The team started well having grown in confidence from past matches and now becoming more familiar with their positions. Evie Whatmough, Annie Buckeridge, Amelie Morris led the attack with Whitchurch keeping most of the possession in the first half and making many runs into the Golborne dee.

Kate Buckeridge and Izzy Huxley supported on the left and right wing respectively and tracked back to help in midfield both showing some stick skills learnt from Wednesdays training session. Huxley was very accurate with her feeding to Whatmough at short corners and Annie Buckeridge and Morris demonstrated some good driving runs into the attacking half.

The few times Golborne did break they were quickly broken down by Helen Apperley and Emily Lister in defence who quickly sent the ball back to midfield and also took some accurate hit outs.

Holly Jepson had an excellent debut bossing the centre of the pitch and drove forward to support the attack. She had a few narrow misses on goal and ran tirelessly back to help the defence.

Despite having no subs and down to 10 men in the second half, Whitchurch showed that they have improved their fitness by maintaining their dominant possession. We made many more attacking runs into the dee and won a couple more short corners, which we sadly failed to convert.

For once, our brilliant goalkeeper Maddy Sugden didn’t have much to do but saved some key goals when they caught us on the break and saved a vital penalty flick in the second half.

Wilmslow ladies 3s 1 Whitchurch ladies 1s 0

Whitchurch ladies 1s played away against Wilmslow 3’s. From the start Whitchurch had most of the possession and control of the game. It was fast and Whitchurch had the pace to keep Wilmslow on their toes having lots of opportunities. Wilmslow’s runs were broken down by Helen Machin and Millie Edwards passing the ball back up the pitch to Laura Workman and Hayleigh Busby. Every attempt for Whitchurch seemed to just slightly miss the goal.

Wilmslow were awarded a shot corner and scored. Whitchurch kept their heads high and kept pushing up with some great runs from Charlotte Lawder and Grace Berry. Whitchurch worked together with some fantastic passes into the Dee from captain Catherine Winter-Gresty and Laura Workman. The Wilmslow keeper covered their goal well and saved every shot.

After the half time whistle Whitchurch kept the pressure on Wilmslow wanting a goal to equalise. Defence Hebe Dixon and Catherine Reece-Gresty pushed up the pitch to help the team but as Wilmslow wanted to hold onto their lead all their players held back in defence. Many more chances were there for Whitchurch but time ran out. Player of the match was awarded to the captain.

Ladies 1s play Oxton 2s next week at home.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 1 Neston ladies 4s 4

Whitchurch ladies 2s entertained Neston ladies 4s this weekend. Whitchurch knew that they had to try and redeem themselves after the previous weeks score.

Whitchurch started off the stronger of the two teams by applying pressure from the off, Tracy Tolhurst passed the ball to Emily Vernon who just slotted the ball wide of the goal. Despite having many short corners Whitchurch were unable get the critical touch. Neston then broke through the Whitchurch midfield but the strengths of Captain Emma Clarke, Jess Kimberley, Martha Teggin and Natasha Foster stopped Neston in their tracks but despite all of their efforts Neston slotted the ball past goalkeeper Shola Bailey and brought the score up to 0-1.

During half time Whitchurch had a positive talk which boosted everyone back up. A run from Phoebe Jones and Helen Hocknell picked out Stephanie Stanton who then slotted the ball past the advancing Neston goalkeeper to bring the score to 1-1. Neston then broke through the tired and unfocused Whitchurch team and scored a further three goals. Whitchurch had many opportunities but could not convert into any more goals.

Whitchurch will be travelling away to play against Crewe ladies 4’s at 16:30.

Helen Hocknell was awarded players player.

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 0 – 3 Liverpool Sefton 3s

Wrexham Mens 2s 14 Whitchurch Mens 2s 0

Storm Brian was the least of their worries as Whitchurch 2s were blown away by a rampant Wrexham 3s side in North Wales.

Whilst the 2s fielded another young and inexperienced side, Wrexham, fresh from four impressive wins at the start of the season, lined up with a full complement of experienced hockey players. Right from the start their quick movement and one-touch passing was causing the 2s no end of problems.

Penned back on the edge of their own dee, the 2s defence of Luke Davies, Danny Foulkes, Iain Bones and Doug Buckeridge did well to weather the Wrexham storm for the first 10 minutes of the game. They were eventually undone by a slick passing move that left keeper Neil Jones exposed and helpless for the opening goal.

With Sam Conway and Craig Hockenhull swamped in midfield and the younger players struggling to get involved in the game, Whitchurch were finding it hard to make any progress higher up the pitch. When they did gain territory it was quickly won back by Wrexham and the 2s were exposed on the counter-attack.

Despite a number of good saves by Neil Jones and the best efforts of the defence, Whitchurch found themselves 6-0 down at half time.

The second half played out in a similar fashion. Whitchurch tried to block up the large spaces that Wrexham were exploiting and defend in greater numbers, whilst the Wrexham players seemed keen to add to their own personal goal tallies.

With Fred Egerton sidelined during the first half after a stray stick to the face, Joe Coburn and James Page took turns down the left-hand side in the second half and both worked extremely hard at both ends of the pitch.

Locki Price had a brilliant second-half on the right constantly offering himself as the out-ball for the defenders, he showed great maturity in knowing when to drive with the ball and when to pick an attacking or conservative pass. His performance again drew praise from the opposition after the game.

Josh Parry worked tirelessly up front. Badly isolated in the first half, he dropped a little deeper in the second-half and was involved in all of the 2s most promising attacking moments.

Craig Hockenhull, Airan Jones and Sam Conway worked hard to supplement the defensive efforts and drive Whitchurch forward when the opportunities presented themselves. Ultimately, however, the 2s were up against a very fit, capable and experienced Wrexham side and despite their best defensive efforts they struggled to repel the attacks from the Welsh side.

Wrexham ran out 14-0 winners in the end, but there were still positives to take for the 2s. It was also an eye-opening lesson for the younger players in how to move the ball quickly and play one and two-touch hockey.

Next weekend the 2s look to bounce back when they entertain Neston 8s.

Buckley Ladies 1s 5 Whitchurch Ladies 1s 0

Whitchurch ladies 1s played their first away game of the season at windy and rainy Buckley.

From the first whistle Buckley put pressure on the Whitchurch defence with some very big hits into the dee. Whitchurch fought hard but Buckley scored their first goal within 5 minutes. Mid players Grace Berry and Millie Edwards pushed the ball up the pitch to centre forward Becks Morrissey but Buckley defence were very strong.

Ellie Windsor and Charlotte Lawder had some good runs up the right wing but Whitchurch just couldn’t make their opportunities count. Buckley were all over Whitchurch when they entered the dee leaving them with no time and space. Before the half time whistle Buckley fired their second into the Whitchurch goal.

After the half time talk Whitchurch came out with a little more fight, having a good run of chances at goal.

Buckley continued to defend strongly and Whitchurch’s spirits lowered. Buckley made a run into the Whitchurch dee to smash another shot but as captain Catherine Winter-Gresty got to the ball the shot rose into her hand putting her out for the remainder of the match.

Buckley kept the pressure on and had a run of short corners from which they scored another two goals. Whitchurch player Morrissey was carded leaving Whitchurch with ten players for the last 10 minutes; this gave Buckley time and space to score their 5th and final goal.

Sandbach ladies 2s 2 Whitchurch ladies 3s 1

The day started badly when we lost our sweeper and experienced defender during the warm up due to injury.

Whitchurch started well but Sandbach got a very early goal putting them one up. The remainder of the first half saw Whitchurch have the majority of possession. Ellie McEvoy and Izzy Huxley made fine runs on the wings creating lots of shots at goal but not able to convert. Wendy Cooper and Jan Teggin defended well along with keeper Phoebe Jones to keep the score the same at the end of the first half.

The second half saw Whitchurch start a little slow and again Sandbach took advantage scoring an early goal. This rallied the team and they got back on track with Annie Buckeridge and Milly Carruthers were excellent through the centre and left wing.

Not long before the end, a great shot in from Wendy Cooper picked out Izzy Huxley and her shot was tapped in by Ellie McEvoy for her first goal for the club, making it 2-1. Not enough of the game remained by the time Whitchurch had found their confidence and the game ended without any further goals.

The team were really pleased but tired after playing a full match without being subbed; they continue to grow in confidence the more games they play.

Annie Buckeridge was awarded player of the match.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 1 Golborne Ladies 2s 9

Whitchurch Ladies 2s played top of the division Golborne Ladies 2s this week.

It was evident from the first few minutes that Whitchurch were in for a tough match as Golborne started off strong, scoring, taking the lead by four goals. By the end of the first half however, Whitchurch managed to gain composure, and the resilience and determination from the defence and great goalkeeping by Shola Bailey meant Golborne were unable to add any more goals to their lead for the time being as Whitchurch gained possession.

After their half time talk, Whitchurch realised they needed to step up their game if they were going to score. Unfortunately, during the second half, Golborne took advantage of their tiring opposition, gaining another five goals. However, Whitchurch didn’t back down as great efforts from the mid-field and attack allowed Stephanie Stanton to get past Golborne’s defence and score, meaning Whitchurch were able to finish their difficult game on a high.

Player of the match went to Jess Kimberley.

The 2s have a break next week before their next league game against Neston Ladies 4s at home.

Whitchurch ladies 1s 2 Lymm ladies 3s 2

Whitchurch went out strong, dominating the first 10 minutes, but unfortunately were unable to get a goal. Lymm 3s got a lucky break and made it through the Whitchurch players to score past Gwyn Thomas-Rees . Whitchurch were not impressed but were beginning to tire. A few good plays got the ball up to the Lymm dee with centre mid Catherine Winter-Gresty getting the ball to the edge of the Dee, passed in to Grace Berry, who slapped it into the goal, hitting the net and evening up the score.

This cheered the spirits of Whitchurch, and with some great Ariel plays, Whitchurch continued to fight but couldn’t quite get a goal. A spectacular play saw the ball passed to striker Sue Read, who stretched out but couldn’t quite reach it.

Whitchurch went out fighting again, eager for the win. They battled valiantly but to no avail. Finally, Whitchurch earn’t a short corner. This was injected by Laura Workman, received by Grace Berry, who passed to Becks Morrissey, who struck at goal, causing the Lymm keeper to make a save. Grace Berry caught the rebound and smashed the ball into the roof of the net, putting Whitchurch deservingly in the lead for the first time in the game. Both teams kept their heads up and continue to play some good hockey, although tough at times. Lymm responded with a scrappy goal, following several saves ten minutes before the end. Just two minutes before the end, Catherine Reese-Gresty got a green card leaving Whitchurch with ten players with minutes left they had to hold on for the whistle. Final score was 2-2. Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty received player of the match.

Whitchurch will regroup and go out fighting again next Saturday, away against Buckley 1s.

Whitchurch Mens 2s 1 Deeside Ramblers Mens 7s 0

Whitchurch took on local rivals in this closely fought contest. Whitchurch started the quicker of the two teams and took an early lead with a blistering shot from Craig Hockenhull into the bottom corner of the Deeside goal. Whitchurch failed to take advantage of their chances and but brought the best out of the Deeside keeper who pulled of a great save from a Fred Edgerton shot and just before the end of the half Josh Parry deflected just wide of the post.

The second half saw much of the same with both teams evenly matched, Deeside continued to pressure the Whitchurch defence with same excellent passing between their younger players but the back line of Danny Foulkes, Richard Leigh and Ian Bones quickly broke up their attacks.

At the end of the match both teams were exhausted but Whitchurch claimed their first win of the season and a valuable three points.

Whitchurch travel away to play Wrexham Mens 2s next weekend.

Whitchurch Mens 1s 0 – Bangor University Mens 2s 5

Whitchurch travelled to Bangor for a late-pushback game this week against a young and well-trained team, and suffered their first significant loss in a long while.

The first half started well, and Whitchurch had the majority of the play. Several chances were set up well, with Ben Kimberley’s crosses into the dee from the right wing passing just inches from the tap-ins that would have given the Reds at least two goals. Airan Jones, stepping up from the 2s well, had an excellent game on the left wing, making runs and getting behind the Bangor defence.

At the other end of the pitch, the defence were hard-pushed by a strong Bangor attack, who were able to get a goal from a scramble in the dee. The Reds reset, and held out for the rest of the half, with Alex Fry stepping up in the central midfield role, and Steve Kay taking his place as sweeper, and they were able to control the centre of the pitch and get the ball out wide to Ben Fry and Jake Wood. They had very strong games and impressed with their strong runs down the wings, and they consistently pressured the Bangor players, fought for every ball and got through to the dee and released Tom Leonard to attack with his usual mix of top-of-the-dee strikes and movement through the defenders but, despite the pressure and getting a number of short corners, the final hits evaded them and the goals refused to come. Sturge in goal kept out a number of strikes including a diving save which involved a Bangor forward trying to get the ball over him, until James Partington was able to tap the ball onto the attacker’s foot.

The second half started with immense pressure from the Bangor team, who played with fluency and took control of the centre of the pitch more, passing the ball more freely amongst themselves and cheered on by some passionate supporters. The pressure took its toll on the Whitchurch defence who let their marking slip, and Bangor were able to score a couple of quick goals. Ryan Murtagh and Matt Brooks were worked hard at left and right back to keep a stream of attacks out, but eventually the pressure told and two more goals went in.

The game ended with Bangor deserved winners, but Whitchurch know the areas they need to improve on before they play Liverpool Sefton 3s next week at home – a known threat, as a team who came up with them last season – pushing back at 2pm at SJT.

Whitchurch ladies 3s 0 Wilmslow ladies 4s 8

Whitchurch Ladies 3s played Wilmslow Ladies 4s yesterday, with increasing bravery and determination! You can see the confidence growing in our younger, less experienced members of the team, match by match. Captain Kate Goodwin tried out her players in different positions this match, to try and find out where people are suited best to playing. Evie Whatmough did very well striding her way up front, as centre forward, ably supported by Izzy Huxley, Caitlin Shaw, Milly Carruthers and Amelie Morris. However, sadly Wilmslow were just too strong and despite our good defensive play scored two goals very quickly.

Maddy Sugden made some excellent saves, but this succession of goal scoring continued throughout the first half. Our defence team did work very hard trying to keep them out of our Dee, with Edina Jones, Mel Reid and Molly Goodwin demonstrating some brilliant defensive stick work.  Unfortunately Wilmslow were 6 – 0 up at half time.

This yet again did not dampen spirits however and after a very inspirational team talk at half time, Whitchurch went back on the pitch in a very positive mood.  After a change of players and positions, this was reflected in our play in the second half. What a turnaround! Nobody gave up and appeared to play a far stronger game.  Ellie McEvoy making some great moves up the pitch, with Victoria Corlett, Emily Lister and Annie Buckeridge really battling on.

Some very impressive and determined play by Kate Buckeridge, helping to keep the ball up at the Wilmslow end more, meant we had far more of a chance of scoring in the second half. Sadly, we had a goal disallowed but as a result of our improved playing.

Wilmslow only managed to get two goals past us in this half. What a great improvement by all players! The final score was 8 – 0 to Wilmslow, with Maddy Sugden, our formidable goalkeeper yet again getting Man of the Match! Next week we play away at Sandbach.

Macclesfield ladies 4s 0 Whitchurch ladies 2s 3

This week Whitchurch travelled away to Macclesfield ladies 4s. Whitchurch started the stronger of the two teams with Tracy Tolhurst scoring the first goal within 15 minutes.

Whitchurch pushed hard to increase their lead and were rewarded with Hayleigh Busby scoring the second goal off an attacking short corner. One final attempt in the first half saw need passing between forward Amy Fry, Hayleigh Busby and Tracy Tolhurst to setup Emily Vernon who slapped the ball past the Macclesfield keeper giving Whitchurch a 3-0 lead at the break.

The second half began with Macclesfield mounting strong attacks, the game for Whitchurch changed with Whitchurch defending their goal. Goalkeeper Shola Bailey produced some amazing saves to frustrate the Macclesfield forwards.

With their strong defence, Emma Clarke, Wendy Cooper and Martha Teggin and numerous saves from goal keeper Shola Bailey, Macclesfield were not able to gain an advantage and Whitchurch defended several short corners which were stopped by Hebe Dixon and Jess Kimberley.

Macclesfield voted Hebe Dixon player of the match