Whitchurch ladies 1s 6 Wilmslow ladies 3s 2

Whitchurch Ladies 1s entertained Wilmslow 3s at home for their last home game of the season. With Wilmslow still in contention for a top four finish Whitchurch were prepared for a tough game.

From the whistle Whitchurch had majority of the ball putting plenty of pressure on the Wilmslow defence. Ellie Windsor started the goals rolling deflecting a shot from Lisa Sullivan. As the ball was passed around Wilmslow, there were more shots on goal from Hebe Dixon and Helena Dannenfeldt, but Wilmslow defence held tight. Ellie Windsor’s picked the ball up on the edge of the dee beating the last defender and fired an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner for her second of the game.

Every break from Wilmslow was tidied up by Millie Edwards and Catherine Reece-Gresty in defence, playing the ball wide to Sophie Ward and Helen Mellor who made some great runs up the wings. Whitchurch were relentless in their pressure on the Wilmslow defence rolling players to keep fresh legs and the intensity on their dee. Jessica Carruthers and Stephanie Stanton worked tirelessly up from and managed to place the ball for Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty to slot home a deflection from the keeper. Spirits were high and Whitchurch kept attacking; only minutes passed and Winter-Gresty collected the ball in the 25, drove into the dee and struck the ball into the far corner. Whitchurch just had time for another goal before half time as Izzy Huxley arrived on the back post to slot the ball under the advancing keeper.

At half time Wilmslow obviously had a hard talking to as they came out a lot stronger and focussed, passing more around Whitchurch. Winning a run of short corners goalkeeper Maddie Sugden made a string of amazing saves, but Wilmslow eventually pressure was rewarded as they managed to score their first goal from a well practiced routine. Whitchurch continued with their game plan and again were back scoring as Stanton latched onto a cross and slipped the ball through the keeper’s legs. With five minutes to go and both teams getting tired the game slowed, but another short corner came for Wilmslow which they managed to score from. Player’s player was awarded to Millie Edwards.

Whitchurch play their final game of the season away against Chester next week.

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 3 – Chester Men’s 5s 1

With the season drawing to a close, Whitchurch were looking to ensure league safety as well as get a victory against a Chester team they drew within the previous fixture. It was to be another game-of-two-halves with the first half being made far more difficult by Whitchurch’s own efforts: again composure on the ball and movement off it were not what they could or should have been, and they struggled to find any fluency. Passes were easily intercepted; balls forward didn’t find their targets and poor first touches would leave people compromised. Tempers frayed on both sides, and a number of green and yellow cards were shown, which had been the case in the first fixture and was what both teams needed to avoid. What the Reds did do was grind out a goal, with Tom Forster passing a sideline ball to Nick Cooper who slipped it across to Ben Kimberley who put it into the top right corner. At the back, Whitchurch managed to keep every one of the many short corners out, but it was attritional hockey. It wasn’t helped by James Partington taking an accidentally-raised ball to the jaw and needing treatment, but one thing Whitchurch is much better at this season is using substitutes well, and the team restructured smoothly.

The half-time talk was a stern one from captain Alex Fry, pulling no punches about what needed doing; the standards to which the team ought to hold themselves demanded an improvement in the second half, and anything less would not be acceptable. It is a pattern from this season that it is often the half time talk that marks a game’s turnaround, and it was the same this week: the second half was good in every way that the first half had been poor. Movement was better; control was sharper and marking tighter – often leaving the Chester defence no-one to pass at sixteen’s. The back row of Airan Jones, Dale Seymour, Fred Egerton, Forster and Partington improved the marking to cut out most attacks before they developed. Marcus Conway, Fry and Jack Barnes in the middle took control of the pitch, breaking the attacking circles at free hits and driving the ball up the pitch and, critically, their forward passes were now finding their targets. Up front, Sam Conway, Pip Jones, Craig Hockenhull, Kimberley and Cooper were causing the Chester defence endless problems with number of shots just wide or saved by the excellent keeper, including a shot by Airan Jones that almost crept between his pads. The pressure finally told, with a drive down the right by Sam Conway getting passed to Forster who put a high ball across the face of goal where Cooper perfected an overhead smash to bury it in the net.

It was not all one-way traffic in the second half, with Chester rallying well and Paul “Sturge” Leigh was instrumental in keeping the score line in check, including blocking and then clearing an attack despite it being three-on-one as the defence were beaten and struggling to get back. Sturge was again the saviour as a drive into the dee by Chester ended with a flick to the right of the goal but an outstretched toe was enough to divert it past the post. Chester did manage to get on the scoreboard with a speculative ball forward being only partly blocked by Partington – directly into the feet of Seymour, and the Chester forward didn’t wait for a whistle for the short corner but pulled off a skilful flick over a diving keeper. Whitchurch regrouped, determined not to let the game get away from them, and were able to win a short corner at the other end. The routine went well, with the ball being moved around the dee before Barnes drilled a shot through a group of players for Whitchurch’s third.

At the end of the game, the result was what Whitchurch needed, even if the first half wasn’t one to remember. Chester were decent opposition and made the Reds work for their win, but the way Whitchurch came back for the second half and the application they showed was much appreciated by both the team and the supporters. They have their last away game for the season against Oxton Men’s 4s next week.

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

After putting out an under-strength side last time out, the Reds welcomed back a number of key players for their visit to table-topping Chester. The reverse fixture saw Chester run out comfortable 6-0 winners, so Whitchurch were looking to improve on that outcome, building on their much improved performances in the second half of the season.

As expected, an experienced Chester side took the game to Whitchurch from the off, putting pressure on the Whitchurch dee but not managing to penetrate the youthful defensive line of Will Snaith, Wyn Morris, Brendan Coburn and Alex Leigh. The Whitchurch midfield also played their part, breaking up the home side’s momentum and ensuring the Chester attack had only scraps too feed off. On the odd occasion they did break through, Gareth Teggin in goal assuredly cleared any danger.

As the first half wore on, the young Whitchurch attack of Luke Beddow, Euan Morris and Ethan Gresty began to make inroads into Chester’s back line, creating a number of half chances that unfortunately lacked a finishing touch.

Chester became more reliant on route one hockey, bypassing their skilful midfield players with long hits towards the Whitchurch dee. One of these hits found a Chester attacker, and from the resulting melee the ball somehow squirmed its way over the line to give the home side the lead. Buoyed by the goal, Chester continued to press, forcing a good stop from Reds keeper Gareth Teggin, but the pressure eventually led to a controversial penalty flick awarded to the home side. While the ball undoubtedly struck a Whitchurch foot on the goal line, the frantic scramble beforehand saw at least two players lose their footing in the dee competing for the ball, with the ball striking the head of a prone Chester player before falling nicely for the Chester shot on goal.

Whitchurch continued to play their attractive passing hockey, and a superb move featuring Richard Leigh, Joe Coburn and Euan Morris found Luke Beddow in an excellent shooting position in the Chester dee, only for the umpire frustratingly to blow for a short corner before Luke could get the shot away. The resulting short came to nothing, but the Reds passing and movement, with replacements Owen Pearce and James Page playing their parts, increasingly worried the Chester defence, and they were perhaps the more relieved of the two sides to hear the half-time whistle.

The second half got off to a more even start, with neither side able to gain the upper hand. The pattern of the latter stages of the first half began to play out once again, as Chester fell back on big hits towards the Whitchurch dee, while the Whitchurch youngsters looked to pass and move the ball up the field. Chester left two attackers high up near the Whitchurch dee, but one fluffed opportunity aside, the Whitchurch defence coped well with the tactic, with Mark Sugden bringing his experience to bear with some good interceptions and accurate passing out of the danger area.

As the second half progressed, Chester legs began to tire and the game was played more and more in the Chester half. However, despite some attractive build-up play, Whitchurch were unable to make meaningful inroads into the Chester dee, foiled by a combination of a packed defence and a reticence to actually fire the ball into the dee; there was also at times a lack of composure on the ball. David Brunyard, Joe Coburn and Joe Faithfull worked tirelessly in midfield to push the Reds on, but in the end, neither side was able to make the opposing goalkeeper work for large parts of the second half. Despite Whitchurch seeing more of the ball, the lack of a cutting edge meant that the game ended without further addition to the score line.

The Chester players were gracious in victory, acknowledging that the very promising crop of Whitchurch youngsters had played the better hockey for most of the game. On this occasion, route one hockey had ground out a win for the home side, but the passing, movement and teamwork shown by the Reds once again illustrated how far the team has come since their defeat against the same Chester side earlier in the season.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 1 Sale ladies 3s 6

The result in no way reflected the game, Whitchurch started the first half taking the game to Sale who looked shell shocked at the attacking prowess of the Whitchurch team. Whitchurch created chance after chance in the first 15 minutes and eventually took the lead as Nicola Forster swept the ball up into the roof of the net.

Whitchurch then undid all their good work as two mistakes in defence gave Sale two chances in five minutes and Sale clinically took their opportunities. The Whitchurch heads dropped as the team focussed on the negative and not on the positives of the first 15 minutes. Sale ruthlessly exploited the nervousness in the Whitchurch side and two more chances resulted in two more goals before the break.

The half time talk focussed on playing like the first 15 minutes and not worrying about mistakes. Whitchurch took this on board and started the second half as they did the first taking the ball to the Sale defence with a confidence that has only been seen in limited periods this season. Phoebe Jones, Molly Fry and Emily Vernon tackled and passed the ball around the midfield creating opportunities for Tracy Tolhurst, Caitlin Edwards and Beth Wright to get the ball into advanced positions. The defence of Chloe Lloyd, Captain Emma Clarke, Becky Brookfield and Marta Teggin broke down the Sale attack and moved the ball swiftly up the field starting the Whitchurch counter attacks.

As the legs started to tire Whitchurch used their subs and Ellie McEvoy came on in the midfield and with tireless runs linked up with Nicola Forster in the Sale dee. Whitchurch created many chances and had much of the possession but just couldn’t manage to get the ball in the back of the net despite creating the opportunities. Sale were content to sit back and counterattack on the break forcing sweeper keeper Gwyn Thomas-Rees to accelerate off her line to clear the ball on a number of occasions.

Despite all their efforts Sale were again clinical in the dee and took their two opportunities of the second half. Whitchurch took many positives from the match having competed for long periods of the game and will work hard in training to achieve this level of play over a match and not just short periods.

Whitchurch travel away to Macclesfield for their final league match of the season.

Alderley Edge Ladies 7s 10 Whitchurch Ladies 3’s 0

Whitchurch travelled away to their penultimate game of the season against Alderley Edge. Whitchurch fielded a predominately young team on the pitch but the experience of Alderley Edge starting fast caught Whitchurch off guard scoring their first, closely followed by a short corner giving them a two goal lead.

Holly Gilbert, Caitlin Shaw and Milly Carruthers put up a strong attack against the home team with some excellent interceptions and passes. Unfortunately, Alderley Edge managed to increase the score line and by half time they were ahead by six goals despite some excellent saves by Louise Cottrell in goal.

The second half began with Whitchurch attacking strongly and having a couple of short corners awarded due to errors made by the home team. Unfortunately Whitchurch failed to capitalise on these chances. There was some strong tackling from Laura Workman and Sophie Jones on the left backed up by some excellent defensive play by Annie Leigh and Mel Reid who got player of the match.

On the opposite side of the pitch there was some equally strong tackling and attacking from Mia Spruce, Emily Lister, Wendy Cooper and Jan Teggin. Unfortunately, despite Whitchurch’s fighting spirit to the end the home team took their chances well for an impressive win.

Whitchurch entertain Neston ladies next week in their last match of the season.

Bowdon Men’s 5s 5 Whitchurch Men’s 1s 1

Whitchurch travelled to Bowdon this week to play a very strong home team who were looking for revenge for the 4-1 loss to the Reds in the previous fixture, and they applied the pressure from the start. On an overcast afternoon, Bowdon were the first to shine, putting together a number of strong runs and passing the ball well in triangles down both wings giving Airan Jones and Tom Forster much to do throughout the game. With a number of key players unavailable this week, captain Alex Fry dropped back into central defence with James Partington and the back four did their best to repel the onslaught but the pressure told with three early short corners being taken extremely well to put Bowdon 3-0 up. Keeper Gareth Teggin, in his first game for the 1s, had a solid game and blocked a number of shots, but the penalty corner routines themselves were well practiced and executed with strength and speed.

It was in small, key areas that Bowdon were winning; Whitchurch put together a number of fine moves through the middle, with Marcus Conway, Jack Barnes and Sam Conway holding the centre ground well and moving the ball through effectively at times, but the final balls forward weren’t getting through and some of the passes were speculative at best, with Bowdon taking full advantage of any mistakes. Up front, Nick Cooper was a constant threat in the dee, and the Ben Kimberley and Craig Hockenhull were both unlucky not to score with the Bowdon keeper having an excellent game.

The second half was more level for the first 20 minutes as the Reds were able to keep Bowdon out better, with Teggin making some excellent blocks and Forster getting the clearances away, but the pressure told, as twice Bowdon managed to slip their markers from open play with more quick balls, triangles, darting runs and fine shots taking their total to five. A consolation goal came from the sort of play Whitchurch had been able to create in last week’s game against Keele with good movement up the left getting the ball to Hockenhull who laid it off to Cooper who ran across the dee taking the keeper with him before firing in a sublime shot.

Whitchurch stay in sixth in the league with three games to play and will be keen to win next week’s home game against Chester 5s after narrowly losing in the away fixture.

Whitchurch ladies 1s 4 Timperley ladies 4s 0

Whitchurch Ladies 1s played Timperley Ladies 4s at home. After a few hard matches Whitchurch were determined to work hard for a win.

Whitchurch started the first half strong with Catherine Reece-Gresty and Chloe Lloyd defending the Whitchurch goal well from incoming shots from the Timperley players. After a few minutes of battling, Whitchurch were awarded a long corner where Lisa Sullivan drove down the base line and pushed the ball to Ellie Windsor who converted the first goal of the match. Whitchurch continued to work hard with Helen Machin and Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty making some good tackles and passing the ball around the Timperley players. After a lot of strong attacking play, Whitchurch’s efforts were finally rewarded with a second goal which was scored by Hebe Dixon. With Whitchurch’s hopes high, goalkeeper Maddy Sugden made some amazing saves and defender Catherine Reece-Gresty made some great passes to the Whitchurch players clearing the ball from their dee and leaving the score 2-0 at half time.

After the half time break, Whitchurch remained strong with Sophie Ward and Izzy Huxley making some great runs and hits into the Timperley dee where Helena Dannenfeldt was able to score Whitchurch’s third goal of the match. Both teams continued to play well with Jess Caruthers making some great tackles and runs into the Timperley dee. Players Millie Edwards and Izzy Huxley made some good runs and passed the ball around the Timperley players well, managing to get the ball to Hebe Dixon on the base line who crossed the ball into the Timperley dee where Ellie Windsor deflected the ball into the goal for scored her second goal of the game. Timperley made some late breaks, however the final whistle went and the score remained 4-0. Whitchurch player Hebe Dixon received best player.

Next week, Whitchurch ladies 1s will play Wilmslow 3s at home.

Oxton Men’s 5s 7  Whitchurch Men’s 2s 1

After two hockey-free weekends, the Men’s 2s returned to action with a lunchtime push-back at Oxton 5s. The Wirral side had a formidable home record, with most visitors on the end of big defeats, and only 1 goal conceded since September, so this was always going to be a challenge for the Reds. With non-hockey activities having a big impact on player availability on Saturday, the 2s were only able to field 10 players, and 14-year-old Owen Pearce bravely stepped up to play his first senior game in goal.

Whitchurch started the game looking to keep things tight and not be too expansive with their attacking play. Although Oxton dominated possession and territory, they struggled to find a way into the Whitchurch dee and were unable to get any shots at goal. Richard Leigh and Paul Humphries were excellent in midfield, constantly breaking up Oxton’s play and diligently passing the ball out of dangerous areas using David Brunyard and Joe Faithfull to carry the ball into wider areas. Anything that got close to the dee was well dealt with by the defence of Doug Buckeridge, Brendan Coburn and Alex Leigh.

As legs tired and the home side’s frustrations grew, Whitchurch began to find more space going forward. Fred Egerton and Ethan Gresty we’re linking well to provide a threat down the left, and Joe Faithfull and Richard Leigh combined to fire in some dangerous crosses that needed the home keeper to kick clear of the dee. But spaces also began to open up for Oxton’s numerical advantage, and towards the end of the half, the Wirral side won and scored from each of four short corners. Three of the goals were well struck from the edge of the dee, and one poked in at the back post after a series of ricochets off defending sticks and feet.

Although slightly disappointed to be 4-0 down at halftime, Whitchurch could be quite proud of the fact that Oxton hadn’t created any threat to the Reds goal from open play. The challenge for the second half would be to continue the hard work and frustrate Oxton’s superior numbers.

Again in the opening stages of the half, Whitchurch did well to keep Oxton at arm’s length. The home team were looking to overload the Whitchurch defence and did create some half chances in the dee, but when the ball did get close to the goal Owen Pearce did well to narrow angles or kick clear. However, midway through the half, Oxton were fortunate to extend their lead when the ball appeared to be controlled by a foot in the build-up to the goal.

Whitchurch were undeterred. They continued to play their hockey and eventually got their reward as Alex Leigh and Ethan Gresty combined really well down the left, with Ethan crossing to an unmarked Joe Faithfull who swept the ball past the Oxton keeper into the goal.

Oxton added a further two goals late in the game to make the final score 7-1 to the home side but, despite the size of the defeat, Whitchurch should be proud of their efforts. They played a very good side, with a formidable home record and despite being a player short managed to score a really good goal against a team not used to conceding at home.

Richard Leigh & Paul Humphries had to put in a huge amount of work in midfield, Fred Egerton & David Brunyard provided the drive forward, with Joe Faithfull adding width on the right. Joe thoroughly deserved his goal for all of his hard work this season. In the last 2 matches, 4 different players have all scored their first goals in senior hockey for the 2s … a sign of the team’s progression this season.

Brendan Coburn was, again, formidable in defence, but the standout performance came from Alex Leigh in only his second game in senior hockey. His defending was excellent, with his jab tackle constantly breaking up Oxton’s play down the Whitchurch left. But Alex’s calmness in possession and sensible passing enabled Whitchurch to retain the ball even when under pressure from their opponents. The Reds goal stemmed from his excellent interplay with Ethan Gresty.

The 2s next match is a lunchtime fixture away to top-of-the-table Chester 6s.

Bebington ladies 2s 5 Whitchurch ladies 3s 1

Whitchurch started the game well with excellent defending by Mel Reid and Sally Pearce. However, Bebington made a quick run down the middle of the pitch managing to get round all the defenders and put the ball in the goal. Mia Spruce and Emily Lister worked hard, battling to get Whitchurch back in control of the ball however another goal followed soon after the first. Wendy Cooper and Jan Teggin worked hard in the middle delivering some excellent tackles. Despite Whitchurch’s effort, two more goals were scored. With Wendy Cooper injured, Whitchurch needed to come together and work even harder in the second half.

In the second half, several strong attacks were made by Leanne Read, Eliza Brown and Holly Gilbert which finally resulted in a well deserved goal scored by Read. Laura Workman and Kate Buckeridge worked hard on the left wing with multiple attacks made by Laura and good passes into the dee by Caitlin Edwards. Louise Cottrell made some brilliant saves in goal preventing several goals off Bebington’s well rehearsed shot corners. Unfortunately, Bebington scored again making the score 5-1 at the final whistle blew.