Ladies Section, Match Reports, Men's Section

Match reports 03/11/17

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.

Match Reports, Men's Section

28/10/17 Match reports

With the ladies not playing this weekend it was left to the men.

Neston Men’s 5s 0 Whitchurch Men’s 1s 3

Whitchurch travelled away looking to return to winning form. Neston pressured from the start of the match forcing Whitchurch to defend in numbers, against the run of play Ben Kimberley broke down the right wing and into the Neston dee and slipped the ball to Craig Hockenhull who flicked in the opener.

Neston continued to push forward but the Whitchurch defence remained solid with the back three of Ryan Murtagh, Danny Foulkes and Steve Kay breaking down Neston’s attacks. With ten minutes to go in the half a collision between Steve Kay and the Neston forward saw him side-lined for the remainder of the match and Whitchurch playing with only 10 men.

Whitchurch faced a storm of pressure from the Neston forwards for the final ten minutes of the half but manged to retain the lead due to the work rate and tackling of Rob Chappell, Jake Wood and Airan Jones in the midfield.

The half time talk focussed around maintaining possession and making best use of the ball as all feared with 10 players the game was going to be one sided in the second half.

Neston again came on the attack and again Whitchurch defended in numbers and frustrated the Neston attackers. An interception in midfield saw Alex Fry break into the Neston dee and shoot, the rebound off the keeper’s pads bounced to Hockenhull to fire in his second with a reverse stick shot.

Neston began to get frustrated and as they pushed forward Kimberley began to create havoc with his pacey runs and this continued to give Whitchurch opportunities with Tom Leonard firing just past the post and Airan Jones deflecting just wide of the goal.

As the game went on Neston’s frustration began to affect their play and from a penalty corner Alex Fry fired in an unstoppable shot to give Whitchurch a three-goal lead.

Whitchurch rode their luck in the remaining minutes as the players struggled with fatigue and a superb save from goalkeeper Paul Leigh topped a strong performance giving Whitchurch a clean sheet and a well-deserved three points.

 

Whitchurch Men’s 2s 4 Neston Men’s 8s 4

Whitchurch Men’s 2s faced Neston Men’s 8s, with Whitchurch keen to bounce back from their defeat of the previous weekend.  The game started with Neston coming out all guns blazing and dominating the game for the first 10 minutes, but Whitchurch rode out the pressure with a strong back four of Richard Leigh, Ian Bones, Thomas Molenaar and Rupert Yeoward shutting down any of Neston’s efforts that got into their D.

As Neston’s initial momentum tired, Whitchurch moved from the defensive strategy they’d been forced to adopt, and the midfield line of Matt Brooks supported by father and son Wyn and Euan Morris were able to push further up the pitch and take the game back to Neston.  Although Whitchurch were now controlling the tempo of the play, Neston were still very much in the game and play rapidly alternated between one end of the pitch and the other, with an attack from Neston seeing a cross fed to one of their players on the back post who placed it into the goal to open the scoring.

Whitchurch continued to push hard, with Joseph Coburn and Fred Egerton on the wings taking the ball around Neston and feeding it into Whitchurch’s strikers, Martin Beecher and Josh Parry.  Before long, Beecher responded to Neston’s lead with a powerful shot from the edge of the D that brought the scores to 1-1.

Play continued in the same vein, with both teams quickly moving from attacking to defending, Neston scoring a second goal but Beecher adding to his tally to bring the score back to 2-2.  A short corner awarded to Whitchurch saw the reds skilfully playing the ball around the Neston D and drawing the Neston defence, with Ian Bones taking the opportunity to hammer it home to give Whitchurch a 3-2 lead at half time.

Neston came out strong for the second half, and despite possession still being balanced, Whitchurch were at times unable to meet Neston’s attacks man-for-man allowing Neston freedom within the Whitchurch D that allowed them to convert two more crosses into goals, snatching the lead to go 4-3 up.  Whitchurch refused to let their spirits drop, and their commitment was rewarded as Beecher scored his hat trick, bringing the score up to 4-4.

Unwilling to settle for a draw and despite tiring, both teams continued to push hard with Neston continuing to test Whitchurch keeper Neil Jones, and Whitchurch also racing into counter attacks, one of which saw Beecher rocket a shot into the Neston crossbar, but with neither team unable to secure victory, the final whistle of what had been a thrilling game ending in a 4-4 final score.

Ladies Section, Match Reports, Men's Section

Match reports 21/10/17

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

The Men’s 1s were hoping to bounce back from last week’s heavy defeat, facing a Sefton team promoted along with Whitchurch last season and previously offering very competitive fixtures.
Whitchurch started brightly and were beginning to dominate the midfield when Sefton broke quickly and scored ten minutes into the game, catching the Red’s defence by surprise.  The home side picked themselves up and continued playing as they had been, controlling most of the pitch and creating chances from open play and a series of short corners, but weren’t able to convert, despite Martin Beecher, Tom Leonard and Jack Barnes all coming close.  To add insult to injury, another Sefton break forced a second goal before half-time.
The second half was almost a repeat of the first, with the Whitchurch midfield controlling the play through Ben Fry, Rob Chappell and Jake Wood, and the defence looking comfortable with only the occasional challenge.  But again, Whitchurch were unable to turn possession into goals, despite Leonard and Ben Kimberley coming close several times.  Five minutes from the end, Sefton scored a final counter-attacking goal to give a result which did not reflect the balance of the game, but certainly tells the story of Whitchurch’s need to convert their chances and put the pressure on the opposition, which will be the main focus of their visit to Neston next weekend.

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.

Academy News, Development News, Match Reports

Under 14 girls – 7th October – Match reports

On Saturday 7th October Whitchurch Under 14 girls took to the pitch for the first time with a mixed team of Under 14s and Under 12s and no goalie!

Shrewsbury

We started off with the older girls, Mia, Izzy and Mathilda in mid-field and Alice as sweeper supporting Holly and Hermionie in back. Suzie was up front.

We had the greater part of the possession for most of the match and considering many of the girls had never met before, they soon got used to calling for the ball and ably moved it around the pitch. We had some really solid shots on goal and were denied simply by the fact that they had a goalie. Holly had a fantastic match at left back and was really effective. Ellie came on in front to see if we could make some more of our chances, but their goalie was just too good and we finished the match 2:1 down. If we had had a goalie though, we would have almost certainly prevailed, as they were able to convert their only 2 shots on goal and we had had many shots on goal and had been denied.

Much Wenlock

Mathilda went up front for us in this match to see if she could generate a bit more “fire power”. This team was also without a goalie, so we were on an even playing field. Suzie went in a right half, Ellie at centre half. Again, our girls moved the ball around really effectively and what was very pleasing to see amongst the youngsters that although they were more tentative about going in for the tackles, when they did, they won the ball the vast majority of the time.

Hermionie took a big hit to her knee in this match, so our only sub Mia had to go on for her, which meant that we had no capacity at all to rest any of our players. And although we led for much of the match, tired legs started to show and eventually the score evened up and that is how the match ended at 3:3.

However, at least 3 players were involved in all 3 of these goals, with one goal starting with Holly at left back, all the way across the pitch to Suzie at right half, who then fed the ball into Izzy, who was out of the left mid field and she thumped it in, in very satisfying style indeed! Great use of space and players.

Shrewsbury #2

By this time, our gang were run off their feet, not really having had the chance for any kind of rest, but they still worked very very hard and dominated the game in the first few minutes. Our defence was really spent by this point and Holly had nothing more to give, so we fell victim to a swift succession of goals towards the end. We were, however, outrun and not outclassed by any means!

In this match we had a series of short corners that worked really well. Our injector Izzy sent the ball into Mathilda who beat the main defender every single time, however, what we did not have up our sleeve was any ability to vary this set-piece. Some practice on some lays off so that someone else can take a shot on goal, would have no doubt delivered some fantastic chances for further goals. Final score 6:2 to Shrewsbury, but the majority of their goals came in our last very tired 5 minutes.