Whitchurch Men’s 1s 4  Neston Men’s 5s 0

This week’s top-of-the-table clash was a classy affair between two teams who gave it their all in testing conditions, but which left Whitchurch six points clear after a scintillating performance. With Storm Dennis having already flooded the Whitchurch pitch, the game was moved to Ellesmere College in an attempt to prevent the postponement of such an important game. The conditions at the start were blustery but dry, and the game started at a high pace that would be maintained for the full 70 minutes.

Whitchurch fielded a strong team with four substitutes, and that played a good part in their success: players ran hard and then rolled off, which ensured the pace and fitness could keep the game under control. Neston have done extremely well this season, and are the only team to have beaten Whitchurch, and brought an even stronger team this week to try to do the double and potentially go back to the top of the league.

From the start, it was a high quality game, with both sides playing great hockey. The Reds were able to bring their A game, and put together the hockey they’ve played for sections of games previously, but this time for the entire game. There were no lulls in performance; no quiet patches or periods where things didn’t work out. It was a consistent effort with solid results and the rewards were fully deserved: Nick Cooper grabbed the first by dribbling the ball round the keeper and unleashing a shot from an acute angle. He could have had a second with a long aerial ball coming his way into the dee but his first-time shot on the half volley was fortuitously saved by the keeper rushing out. The Neston keeper made a number of great saves during the game to keep the score down, but their defence was under constant pressure.

By the start of the second half, Storm Dennis was unleashing torrents of rain, but nothing was going to dampen Whitchurch’s enthusiasm for the game. The teamwork in the second half was as good as the first, with everyone playing for each other – whether being unselfish in the Neston dee and opting to pass rather than take a shot, or at the back where Chris Ruscoe was again on form making critical last-second saves when everyone else had thought the Neston striker was about to score. Paul “Sturge” Leigh was a rock at the back, again, making blocks and diving saves to record yet another clean sheet for the season. The defence worked as a unit, and the midfield were up and down the pitch all game, attacking and defending in equal measure.

At the other end, the balance shifted as Whitchurch started to stretch away: Dale Seymour drove the ball into the dee and took a shot which was blocked, but the rebound fell to him and he drilled it in. Sam Conway was on the receiving end of a powerful cross and calmly swept it in first time. The final goal was a beauty, with Jack Barnes driving into the dee and holding the ball while the Neston keeper and a defender came out to get it, before slipping it under his arm across to Cooper who now had an empty goal and all the time in the world to slot it away with the last hit of the game.

The atmosphere at full time within the Whitchurch team was as good as any all season. It’s a testament to the Neston players, who put in a real shift and made the game so hard, but the Reds were rightly proud of their effort – a full 70 minutes of hard running, good skill and solid teamwork, and a 4-0 result to put them six points clear at the top of the table, and in clear sight of promotion at the end of the season.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 5 Crewe Vagrants ladies 4s 0

Whitchurch ladies 2s travelled to Ellesmere due to flooding of their home pitch to play Crewe hoping to secure a win despite the torrential weather. In the first half, Whitchurch faced the driving wind and rain and managed to score off a short corner. Catherine Reece-Gresty and captain Emma Clarke provided a solid defence letting no balls past them so Beth Wright had a very easy job as keeper. Nina Hodges, Holly Gilbert and Caitlin Edwards stayed strong, moving the ball around the Crewe players up to the forwards. Hodges, Tracey Tolhurst and Hayleigh Busby triumphantly all scored a goal each.

In the second half, Whitchurch upped the pace pushing through Crewe and making beautiful runs down the pitch. Using Hayleigh’s W press, Whitchurch were able to keep the ball up in the top half and Nicola Forster was able to achieve two well deserved goals. Megan Brunyard, Catherine Reece-Gresty and Caitlin Edwards kept a strong mid-defence and allowed no balls through giving Crewe no opportunity for a goal.

Whitchurch had four players out of position and was missing six of its regular players. This did not show in their game play as they went on to win 5-0.

Man of the match was Amelie Morris

Oxton ladies 2s Whitchurch ladies 1s 6

Despite the awful weather, Whitchurch arrived to play Oxton with determination for the tough game ahead. The first half was difficult for Whitchurch, but they persevered, with Emma Harper and Chloe Lloyd creating an unbreakable defence in the back. Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty and Ellie Windsor worked together on the right, creating numerous opportunities, which eventually led to a break for Whitchurch. Sarah Field utilised this, slotting the ball into the goal, and leaving Whitchurch 1-0 up as the whistle blew for half time.

In the second half, Whitchurch went back out with resilience, battling against the wind. Oxton fought back, putting keeper Maddie Sugden to the test, but she saved all that came to her. Within minutes, Whitchurch had secured themselves a short corner. Harper slipped this to Field, who effortlessly put it into the goal.

Kezzie Hutchings and Sophie Ward played the ball up the pitch making some incredible runs down the wing, which Grace Berry deflected into the goal. Incentivised by this, Whitchurch continued their strong attacks, scoring once again from a short corner, finished by Hebe Dixon. Centre half, Molly Fry, made a break down the middle, crossing in to Jess Carruthers, who scored on the post. Field finished the game with a third and final goal, once more from a short corner, finishing the game at 6-0 to Whitchurch. Players player was awarded to Hebe Dixon.

A week off next Saturday for the 1s but return on the 29th for a home game against Neston.

Neston Men’s 8s 0  Whitchurch Men’s 2s 0

Due to a quirk in the fixture calendar, the Men’s 2s travelled to the Wirral for their final away fixture of the season to face Storm Dennis and a Neston side boasting a formidable home record. Half -term commitments and injuries meant the Reds were without both of their leading scorers and their regular central defenders, so several players stepped up to play in unfamiliar positions.

Despite the re-shuffle, Whitchurch started the game on the front foot. They moved the ball well, keeping the passing short and simple, but working themselves into threatening positions with regularity. Neston were content to sit deep, but leave three, or sometimes four players, in high, wide positions and hit the ball long, bypassing midfield. The Whitchurch defence had to be diligent with their marking. With Doug Buckeridge and Richard Leigh barking out instructions, full-backs Alex Leigh and Will Snaith were careful not to get caught upfield when the Whitchurch attacks broke down.

Chances were hard to come by in the first half. The packed Neston defence made life difficult for Whitchurch to create shooting chances. Will Gilbert picked up the ball at the top of the dee several times but couldn’t find space for his shots and Joe Coburn’s dazzling skills saw him go close. Both Ethan Gresty and Fred Delf-Rowlandson couldn’t quite get on the end of crosses at the back post after making good runs.

Neston were struggling to get into the Whitchurch dee. The Reds defence was cutting off the supply to the high forwards and Neston tried to play through midfield, but the away side worked hard to break up attacks in the middle of the pitch. However, as legs began to tire at the end of the first half, Whitchurch came under some sustained pressure. The home side put together better passing moves through midfield and although the Whitchurch defence was resolute, they were struggling to clear their lines and the ball kept coming back at them. A flurry of short corners was well defended, and keeper Neil Jones, Alex Leigh and Doug Buckeridge did well to clear the ball after a melee in front of the Whitchurch goal.

The stalemate at half-time was a fair reflection of the game, although Whitchurch were more welcoming of the interval than their hosts. At the break the Reds talked about the need to focus on those high forwards and the need to work hard and track back diligently and they started the second half with much more assurance.

Whitchurch dominated much of the second half. Half chances were created with regularity. Joe Faithfull and Jacob Buckeridge both went close; Will Gilbert still couldn’t quite find space for his shots and Joe Coburn was also crowded out by defenders whenever he received the ball in the dee. The Neston keeper made a couple of handy stops and the ball flashed across the goal several times without a player in red being able to get their stick to the ball.

Neston had their moments, but these were few and far between, with the biggest danger coming from a short corner close to the end of the game that was brilliantly blocked by Dave Brunyard at the top of the dee.

This was an entertaining game, well umpired and played in an excellent spirit by both sides. Whitchurch shaded all areas of the game but without Euan Morris and Luke Beddow they lacked a cutting edge up front. Otherwise the team played some excellent hockey, both with and without the ball. Richard Leigh and Doug Buckeridge marshalled the defence well and Will Snaith enjoyed a much better game than the previous weekend at Golborne. The defenders were well supported in their duties by all the players in midfield. The tracking back and diligence to cover the Neston attacks was very pleasing. Joe Coburn ran the game from midfield and yet again Alex Leigh was excellent in defence, whilst also providing a valuable attacking asset on the right-hand side.

Whitchurch Men’s 2s now have four home fixtures to complete the season, starting with Bebington 4s on 22nd February.

Alderley Edge ladies 7’s 4 Whitchurch ladies 3’s 2

Whitchurch Ladies 3’s travelled to Macclesfield just as Storm Denis hit! Without their captain and only had one sub but they shook off the rain and remained upbeat. The team were very grateful to Chris Wilson who stepped in at the last minute to umpire travelling from the ladies 1s game in Oxton. (Thanks Wendy for organising).

Whitchurch chose to play with the wind for the first half and stuck with the tactic of three defensive players along the back, Emma Stubbs, Mel Reid and Jess Kimberley giving us strength and big hits out of the dee to Libby Fox at centre forward, Annie Buckeridge at left inner and Jaz Williams at right inner.

In the first ten minutes, there were several near misses on goal in the Alderley Edge dee by attacking players Louise Whitley, Fox and Kimberley. The opposition were fast on the break and managed to go one goal up despite some good defensive tackling by new comer Poppy Huxley at right half and some excellent running by Annie Leigh at left half. Emily Lister and Annie Buckeridge worked hard on the left hand side of the pitch frustrating Alderley and allowing Kimberley and Williams to make some blistering drives through the middle.

Against the run of play, Alderley Edge were quick to steal a missed Whitchurch pass and scored again making the score 2-0. Undeterred, Whitchurch fought straight back, with Stubbs improving game on game, finding a pass out to Kate Buckeridge at right half who drove the ball through to Williams who slotted home Whitchurch’s first goal.

The 2nd half was a similar affair with impressive tackling from Whitley and Huxley on the right, superb hit outs from Reid, Kimberley and Stubbs to Fox who won several short corners but some excellent goal keeping and defensive play from Alderley Edge denied Whitchurch from levelling the score and Alderley Edge caught Whitchurch on the break again to make the score 3-1.

Whitchurch were very impressive with their ‘never say die’ attitude despite being so wet their shirts were twice their normal weight! Eventually, Kimberley broke free into the dee and won a penalty flick which was brilliantly saved by the 14 year old Alderley keeper. Alderley ever dangerous on the break sneaked in another goal despite some brilliant keeping by Louise Cottrell but Whitchurch were not to be denied and the battling skills of Fox and Whitely were rewarded by Whitley scoring just before the final whistle resulting in the final score of 4-2.

Jess Kimberley was nominated as players player!

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 3 Stockport Bramhall Men’s 2s 0

The Reds faced third-placed team Stockport Bramhall this week in a match that would help confirm the top of the league positions going into the last few games of the season.

Both teams started well, with Whitchurch again finding some excellent form with passing moves working well to accelerate the ball up the pitch and putting pressure on the Stockport defence. Time and again, Stockport had to spend extra time working out where to pass from a free-hit as the Reds’ marking was excellent in all areas of the pitch. Rob Chappell, Dale Seymour and Ben Kimberley were each able to make incisive runs through the middle, and Jack Barnes and Tom Forster drove down the wings causing trouble for the Stockport defence.

The pressure paid off, as Whitchurch started to win penalty corners, and all three goals came from these. None were the first-strike shots that they might originally have seemed, but all were calm composure in the dee, with the ball being moved well and at pace leaving Stockport no chance. The first was Seymour receiving the injection, laying the ball off before making his run and getting it back again to put it into the net. The second was Barnes’ flick not quite the skyrocket he’d intended, but the rebound off the keeper’s pads fell nicely for a second attempt that he was never going to miss. The third was Nick Cooper, whose drilled shot deflected off a defender’s stick, giving the keeper no time to react. A fourth might have been scored, but unfortunately clipped Forster’s foot on the Stockport goal line.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic in the first half, with Stockport never quite having the luck: their striker got one-on-one with Paul “Sturge” Leigh in goal but pulled his shot left. A few minutes later, a goalmouth scramble ended with looping shot that just floated over the Whitchurch crossbar. Sturge was called upon to come out and prevent other one-on-ones, as Stockport used the break well, but the half ended 3-0.

The second half was a more balanced affair: Stockport went on the attack, leaving players higher up the pitch similar to Keele last week and Whitchurch had to sit back more to defend. Alex Fry and Chris Ruscoe each made critical last minute interceptions when it looked certain Stockport were going to score. Sturge held the goal area and provided the base for Danny Foulkes, Ruscoe and James Partington to move it around the back. Fred Egerton and Jon Chappell added options up front and were unlucky not to score. Stockport won a number of short corners in the dying minutes, but the defence held.

All in all, it was another strong game from Whitchurch, with Chris Ruscoe picking up the player of the match award, but everyone had put in a shift to get the fifth clean-sheet of the weekend, leaving them ranked second for home game performances across the whole North West Hockey League. They play Neston 5s at home next week.

Whitchurch ladies 1s 3 Deeside Ramblers 3s 1

Ladies 1s played at home against Deeside 3s this Saturday and saw a definite improvement to the Deeside side from last time they played.

Whitchurch ladies controlled the ball well passing back to Chloe Lloyd and Kezzie Hutching who were holding the defence line, passing back out wide to Anna Latham and Molly Fry. Continuing to attack hard mid players Millie Edwards, Hebe Dixon and captain Catherine Winter-Gresty were making Deeside’s game difficult and it payed off as their first goal was from open play passing within the dee from Sarah Field to Ellie Windsor to score. The sides seemed quite equal at this point and keeper Maddy Sugden made some great sliding tackles but unfortunately Deeside scored before half time.

A good team talk and Whitchurch needed this win and continued to take control and put plenty of pressure on the Deeside defence. A run of short corners for Whitchurch and their persistence payed off, Hebe Dixon receiving the ball to shoot and a rebound from a Deeside stick was quickly picked up by captain Winter-Gresty to slot through Deeside defence into the left corner. A moment of excited celebration for Whitchurch as that was their 100th goal of the season and this really changed their play.

In the lead again now and Whitchurch seemed to pick up the pace and worked so well together, picking off any advance from Deeside. Hayleigh Busby kept Deeside from making any headway on the left supported by Latham. Several shots on goal from Sarah Field, but the Deeside keeper was not for letting her score today. With 5 minutes to go some amazing play from Ellie Windsor and Molly Fry on the right won another short. Edwards pushed out to Field to pick out Izzy Huxley on the post to score their 3rd.

Now it was for Whitchurch ladies 1s to keep possession until the final whistle, which they did for most of that time, not allowing Deeside any time in their dee.

A great game and final score 3-1 for the ladies 1s.

Millie Edwards was awarded players player; their next game is away against Oxton.

Ladies 1s after their win. Thanks to Louis Tinsley for the photo.

Golborne Men’s 3s 3 Whitchurch Men’s 2s 3

Whitchurch were looking to build on their excellent win from the previous weekend when they travelled up to Warrington to face a Golborne side whom they’d narrowly beaten earlier in the season.

In windy conditions, the game followed a similar pattern to that previous encounter. Golborne started much the better and Whitchurch were lacklustre and sloppy. The home side were quick to capitalise and took an early.

The Reds stirred themselves and responded well. Joe Coburn and Luke Beddow began to get more possession in midfield and twice Doug Buckeridge found good positions on the left of the dee, forcing a save and a short corner. The Reds came close to equalising from a short corner, but a fantastic save and block on the line saw the fly high over the crossbar.

However, as the subs rolled on, Whitchurch found themselves further behind. A sloppy pass out of defence was collected by Golborne and a long ball found their centre-forward all alone in the Whitchurch dee. Despite keeper Neil Jones’ best efforts, he was unable to prevent the forward scoring.

With Golborne happy to pack their own dee and prevent Whitchurch finding space to pass around their opponents, the away side’s attacks continually broke down without much threat to the goal. Golborne were content to counterattack by either carrying the ball from the edge of their own dee or firing long balls forward to their high attacking players. The latter being a tactic that seemed to unsettle the Whitchurch defence.

All through this season, Whitchurch have proved to be adept at finding solutions to problems during the game and in this match, they started to stretch the pitch in all directions, giving Golborne more to do to close up the spaces. As the gaps appeared, the Reds started to get into more threatening positions and a neat through ball put Euan Morris into space in the dee and his reverse hit flew past the Golborne keeper to halve the deficit.

The away team scored again soon after as Will Gilbert escaped his marker and found space on the left. Will drove diagonally into the dee and flicked a pass towards the back post where Jacob Buckeridge had made a superb run from the other flank. He steered the ball through the narrow gap between post and keeper for the equaliser.

Whitchurch started to dominate the game. Wyn Morris and Pip Jones were cleaning up Golborne’s attacks and Richard Leigh and Airan Jones were tidy in possession in the middle of the pitch. The wingers were a constant threat to Golborne, and the home keeper was forced to make a couple of handy saves. A flurry of short corners at the end of the half were well defended by Golborne although there might have been the hint of a foot in one of the goal-line stops ….

Despite the 2-2 half-time score line, Whitchurch felt that they were in the ascendancy. However, the break galvanised Golborne. Whitchurch were again sluggish from the pushback and the home side quickly retook the lead from a scramble after a short corner.

Again, Whitchurch had to find their way back into the game. Progressively their passing became crisper and they started to find dangerous positions with Luke, Joe and Ethan Gresty prominent. Chances came and went from open play and short corners, but eventually the Reds worked the ball well around the edge of the dee and Alex Leigh fired a pass across the face of the goal and Euan was on hand to score his second goal of the match.

Golborne continued to be a threat on the counterattack. Neil Jones made some good stops and Wyn and Pip continued to battle away against the high attackers, helped by Gareth Teggin and Will Snaith.

The final minutes of the game became a bit tetchy as both teams felt hard-done-by as umpiring decisions went against them. Ultimately, however, the 3-3 draw was a fair result in an entertaining game. Both teams had chances to win the match, but good defending and goalkeeping thwarted both sides.

This wasn’t Whitchurch’s best performance of the season by a long way. They were lethargic at the start of both halves and struggled to get their game going. The defence had a tough afternoon and both Gareth and Will Snaith found it tough going at times. But once again the team dug-in and battled to a reasonable result. The importance of width and stretching the pitch was being bellowed from the side-lines and implementing that strategy paid dividends as chances and goals were created. Jacob Buckeridge had a strong first half, rewarded with an excellent goal, and Alex Leigh continued his good form.

The 2s travel to the Wirral to face Neston in their next game, on Saturday 15th February.

Deeside Ramblers ladies 4s 5 Whitchurch ladies 2s 3

Whitchurch ladies 2’s headed off to Deeside for an away match they knew would be challenging. The match started in Deeside’s favour with them gaining push back and putting pressure on Whitchurch’s dee. Catherine Reece-Gresty and Emma Clarke worked brilliantly in defence working the ball up the left side of the pitch to Martha Teggin. A cross from Amelie Morris to Ellie Pearson on post secured Whitchurch their first goal. Towards the end of the first half, a quick break from Deeside made the score line 1-1.

In the second half, Whitchurch were forced to push back and work hard in defence and were unlucky to concede a second goal. Holly Gilbert and Jess Kimberly worked well as half’s and pushed the ball up to Phoebe Jones, who sent the ball to Caitlin Edwards who scored Whitchurch’s second goal. Deeside once again put pressure on Whitchurch’s dee to secure two more goals. Beth Wright made some brilliant saves preventing Deeside from scoring further. Towards the end of the match, Deeside made one final push and managed to score their final goal. However, Whitchurch fought back harder, a ball from Holly Edwards allowed Nicola Forster to pass to Tracey Tolhurst, securing Whitchurch their third goal.

Player of the match awarded to Holly Edwards

Neston ladies 5s 0 Whitchurch ladies 3’s 1

Whitchurch ladies 3’s travelled to the Wirral determined to show how much their game has improved after a heavy home defeat to Neston Ladies 5’s way back in September last year. With one sub, an injured captain Whitchurch knew it was going to be tough but they didn’t let it dampen their spirits!

Whitchurch won first pushback and had to make a quick turnaround as Neston choose to play the first half against the wind. Thanks to a superb training session last week (Thanks go to Emma Clarke!), we kept our width due to some excellent play from right half Meg Bruynard and Emily Lister on the left.

This week, Whitchurch choose to play with three defensive players along the back, Emma Stubbs, Jan Teggin and Mel Reid who tackled superbly spraying shots wide to Bruynard and Lister which forced Neston to play everything down the middle, allowing our two inners Jaz Williams and Annie Buckeridge to pick up and run with the ball.

Several shots were fired into the Neston dee by Kate Buckeridge on the left wing and Louise Whitely on the right wing to our waiting centre forward Libby Fox, who narrowly missed the goal at the left hand post and was unfortunate not to win a short corner just before the half time whistle.

A rousing half time talk by captain Cooper, helped Whitchurch to keep their cool and continue with our determined tackles and superb passing. The Whitchurch defence stifled out most of the Neston attack and prevented them from scoring despite a multitude of successive short corners.

Cottrell defended her goal like a Trojan despite getting stuck against the right hand post and Stubbs was cool and calm with her passes out of the dee to Williams and Annie Buckeridge who were waiting in exactly the right places.

A harsh green card reduced Whitchurch to ten players about ten minutes into the 2nd half but this didn’t deter the Whitchurch defence with Reid clearing some hard shots from the 16 yard line and Teggin making some excellent passes to Brunyard and Williams on the right. The Buckeridge’s also frustrated Neston with some long runs down the left wing.

Finally, the last 10 minutes saw Whitchurch rewarded with some short corners of their own due to the sheer driving determination of the Whitchurch attacking players and 60 seconds from the final whistle a hard hit from Fox was deflected in by Whitely giving Whitchurch a hard fought win.

Emily Lister was voted by Neston as players player!