Whitchurch ladies 1s 4 Winnington Park ladies 2s 1
Whitchurch ladies 1s entertained Winnington Park this Saturday and from the start Whitchurch took control of the game passing well between midfield players Lisa Sullivan, Catherine Winter-Gresty and Hebe Dixon and had a definite upper hand on Winnington Park as the ball stayed up in the attacking half.
Whitchurch had many shots on goal, but it took something special from new player Katy Leicester who scored flicking up over the keeper into the net to break the deadlock. Winnington Parks keeper made a number of fine saves to prevent Whitchurch extending their lead in the first half. Whitchurch’s defence pushed high allowing Sophie Ward and Millie Edwards to support the forwards adding extra pressure on Winnington.
After a team talk at half time Whitchurch came out maybe a little on the back foot as Winnington Park took a goal from top dee. Whitchurch ladies had a wake-up call to the fact they were not going to have an easy second half and really showed Winnington that they weren’t going to be beaten. Forwards Jessica Carruthers, Katy Leicester and Nina Hodges opened themselves up to receive the ball from outside the dee and this gave Jessica the opportunity to slip in a goal passed the keeper. Spirits high Whitchurch had a run of shorts due to their persistent pressure in the dee and Lisa Sullivan scored their third goal. As Winnington Park tired Jessica Carruthers took the ball half way up the pitch to a defence free dee and shot another into the corner.
With five minutes to go Whitchurch held the ball up in Winnington Parks half preventing any breaks and securing the three points. Players player was awarded to Millie Edwards.
Ladies 1s play away at Oswestry next week.
Neston ladies 4s 2 Whitchurch ladies 2s 2
Whitchurch travelled to play against Neston on Saturday. Whitchurch knew that this was going to be a very tough but evenly matched game. Neston applied the pressure quickly to the Whitchurch defence who had seen a lot of the game with in the first few minutes. Within the first 15 minutes of the match Whitchurch strung together some amazing passes between Ellie McEvoy, Emily Vernon and Amelie Morris who slotted the ball past the advancing keeper.
Neston quick reactions after the Whitchurch goal, caught Whitchurch by surprise and scored the equaliser.
Whitchurch then worked together and started to string the passes around the team including some good runs from Martha Teggin, Edina Jones and Leanne Read and Izzy Huxley but without reward.
Whitchurch were awarded a penalty stroke after a clash of sticks and the ball being stopped from Stephanie Stanton. Jess Kimberley took up the challenge and slotted it straight through the keepers legs to bring the score line to 2-1.
Half time came shortly after and Whitchurch regrouped and then worked out a plan to get some more chances. Neston came out faster than they had been in the first half making Whitchurch have to rethink again.
The advanced Whitchurch goal keeper Gwyn Thomas Rees saw a lot of action along with the advanced defence of Chloe Lloyd, Emma Clarke, Jess Kimberley and Edina Jones fighting off the fast and skilful Neston attack and then equalised and brought the final score to 2-2.
Player of the match went to Jess Kimberley
Runcorns Mens 3s 2 Whitchurch Mens 2s 1
With last weekend’s game cancelled, Whitchurch Men’s 2s took a youthful and inexperienced side to unbeaten Runcorn, looking to improve upon their 8-0 thumping from their opening game of the season.
In bright sunshine the opening exchanges were evenly balanced, with most of the possession, for both sides, in the middle of the pitch, as attacks floundered before making progress into either dee. Whitchurch enjoyed some controlled possession with Craig Hockenhull instrumental in all of the team’s good passing movements.
The defence of Mark Sugden, Doug Buckeridge, Wyn Morris and newbie Brendan Coburn supported each other to snuff out the Runcorn attacks before they threatened the Whitchurch goal, and provided the platform for the younger members of the team to become more confident and progressive higher up the pitch.
Joe Coburn, Joe Faithfull and Euan Morris combined superbly down the Reds’ right side and became more of a threat to the Runcorn goal, while Phil Tranter, Ethan Gresty and Jacob Buckeridge worked some good attacking positions down the left. Shots at goal were still at a premium, but Runcorn retreated deeper into their own dee, and became more desperate in their attempts to keep Whitchurch away from their goal. A number of short corners were won and Whitchurch worked some creative routines to threaten an opening goal.
Runcorn were reduced to long punts down field to create their own attacking moments. A couple of half chances came and went, before the home team opened the scoring against the run of play. A cross into the dee didn’t look to be any particular threat, but despite young keeper Gareth Teggin best efforts the ball trickled agonisingly into the Whitchurch goal.
Undeterred, Whitchurch pushed forward and almost immediately equalised. Joe Faithfull picked up the ball deep on the right and drove into the Runcorn dee along the touchline. His pull-back was flicked on to Euan Morris by Craig Hockenhull and Euan took his time to fire home Whitchurch’s first goal of the season.
Spurred on by their goal, Whitchurch created more opportunities to score, but a lack of ruthlessness in the dee, and desperate defending by the hosts kept the score level until halftime.
Whitchurch continued their good play into the second half. Again Craig Hockenhull was instrumental in the middle of the pitch, but the younger players continued to combine well, with short, sharp passes and movements. Craig Hockenhull, Joe Coburn and Euan Morris saw shots go wide or cleared by the Runcorn defence, Phil Tranter forced a good stop by the keeper, and the Reds did force the ball into the goal at a short corner, but the whistle had already gone for an infringement.
Jacob Buckeridge, Ethan Gresty and James Page continued to battle against opponents much bigger and older than themselves, while at the other end of the pitch, the Whitchurch defenders continued to restrict Runcorn’s efforts to penetrate the Reds’ dee. However, late in the half, despite their good play, a loss of possession clearing a sideline ball, allowed Runcorn to put together a neat passing move and score from their first meaningful shot of the second half.
As the Reds pushed forward looking for an equaliser, they became vulnerable on the counterattack. The Whitchurch defenders cleared up most of the Runcorn attacks, but the hosts did break clear once, and keeper Gareth Teggin brilliantly charged from goal to force the Runcorn forward wide and the resulting shot never threatened the goal.
Unfortunately the game finished 2-1 to the hosts, but the 2s can take many positives from the game. The passing and movement up front and through midfield caused Runcorn no end of problems. Joe Faithfull was dynamic on the right, Ethan Gresty played really well in midfield, and Gareth Teggin’s late rush from his goal line certainly prevented a third Runcorn goal. Brendan Coburn, a product of Back-to-Hockey and injured Wyn Morris both had excellent games in defence.
The biggest compliment to the side was graciously given by their opponents, and the fact that a Runcorn side that now have three wins from three games, felt that Whitchurch deserved at least a draw from the game.
The 2s will look to continue their upturn in form next Saturday when they entertain Bebington 4s at SJT.
Clwb Hoci Eirias Ladies 1s 9 Whitchurch ladies 3s 0
Whitchurch arrived at Colwyn Bay with low expectations, after Eirias’ success earlier on in the league. They went out bravely and fought continuously throughout the match. Unfortunately, Whitchurch conceded their first goal only a few minutes into the game. This did not stop their resilient attitude though, as they came back just as strong. They battled through the first half, with some close shots on goal from Annie Buckeridge and Ellie Windsor, and some superb runs down the wings from Holly Gilbert and Mia Spruce. By half time they had managed to keep the score down to only 7-0.
After half time, the team went back on re-energised and raring to keep this half’s score under 7. The defenders, Jan Teggin and Mel Reid were outstandingly brave, even after some amazing shots on goal from the other team. Louise Cottrell, the goalkeeper, made countless incredible saves, securing her player of the match. Kate Buckeridge ran onto the ball fantastically, after some lovely passes from Wendy Cooper, which created some opportunities for shots on goal. Caitlin Shaw made some excellent tackles in the middle of the pitch, as well as some great crosses into the dee.
After the final whistle blew, signalling full time, Whitchurch came off the pitch ecstatic; they had only conceived two goals that half, making the final score 9-0.
Whitchurch Mens 1s 3 – 2 Macclesfield 3s
Whitchurch Mens 1s made hard work of this game against a well-organised and resilient Macclesfield side. Despite dominating early exchanges, with scoring chances for Peter Scales and Nick Cooper, many attacking plays were cleared up by the Macclesfield defence, and it was the visiting team that scored first on the break late in the first half – a raised shot wrong-footing keeper Paul Leigh. Whitchurch continued to press until half time, but were unable to convert possession into goals or penalty corners.
The second half saw the pressure lifted temporarily, with an early equaliser created through patient work from Scales on the right hand side, before crossing for Cooper to finish from in front of goal. But the game then settled back into the previous pattern, with Whitchurch increasingly frustrated by their inability to score further. A penalty corner awarded to Macclesfield saw the visitors again go in front, with a raised shot deflected high off the goalkeeper’s pads, leading to a period of ill discipline and a string of sin bin offences for Whitchurch players, including captain Alex Fry. However, the away team were unable to capitalise on this advantage, and when Whitchurch returned to full strength they were able to settle and push for the win.
Excellent individual skills from man of the match Jake Wood at the top of the D, saw him create the space he needed to shoot hard and low to the keeper’s left to level the score. Within minutes Whitchurch had clinched the game with a flowing move starting out wide with Fred Egerton and only two incisive passes required to present Cooper with his second. Whitchurch maintained possession for most of the final minutes of play, and managed to survive one final scare at their end to hold on for the win.