Crewe ladies 4s 4 Whitchurch ladies 3s 4
Whitchurch ladies 3s travelled to a wet and windy Crewe vagrants, whitchurch started off the stronger of the two teams and were pressuring the Crewe defence with runs from Eleanor Beecher, Poppy Gilbert, Meg Brunyard, Freya Gresty and Mable Hazelhurst, working together to get the ball into the Crewe dee. Crewe then found a gap between the strong line of defence after a quick turn around at the other end of the pitch to slot the ball past the Whitchurch goalkeeper of Megan Nicholson who was making some crucial saves to keep whitchurch in the game.
From the whistle Gresty picked out Gilbert who found Beecher who drove the ball past the Crewe defence and scoring her first of many bring the score line to 1-1, whitchurch then had the scoring bug and wanted more, within minutes Beecher made a break towards the Crewe goal and slotted it past the Crewe keeper bringing the score to 2-1. But Crewe fought back and passed around the Whitchurch defence of Emma Clarke, Mel Reid, Elsie-may Cottrell and Rachael Chesters and slotted the ball just past Nicholson who had made some more critical saves to keep them in the game. Bring the score to 2-2.
After an encouraging team talk the girls were ready to go out fighting once more and score some more goals. This time Sophie Jones got herself on the score sheet with a pass from Jess Hunt who received the ball from Jan Teggin who had also picked out Maise Bennett who spotted Jones on top of the Crewe dee who fired home for her first goal of the season.
With the score being 3-2 Crewe came back at the Whitchurch defence but with countless efforts from Clarke and Chester’s Crewe still managed to slot the ball bringing the score to 3-3.
With everyone on the edge of their seats Beecher made a crucial run up the pitch to slot in her 3rd of the game bringing the score to 4-3, whitchurch were in the clear all they had to do was run the last 3 minutes down by keeping control of the ball but with them getting tired and Crewe pressuring Nicholson they brought the score line to 4-4.
Eleanor Beecher was rewarded players player.
Whitchurch ladies 1s 2 Warrington ladies 1s 1
Ladies 1s hosted Warrington at home this week and started off strong with great defensive play from Chloe Lloyd and Hermione Ball, working the ball out to Sophie Ward and Mollie Bell.
Warrington were strong on their hit outs and moved the ball quickly up the pitch, winning a short to score first. Whitchurch came back strong and had a string of short corners, but couldn’t break Warrington’s defence.
Mid players Lisa Sullivan, Captain Cath Gresty and Jazmin Williams battled constantly putting pressure on the opposition and eventually got the ball the Hayleigh Busby to get on the score sheet.
Half time and 1-1, quick team talk and back on the pitch as it was very cold and wet.
Whitchurch worked hard to keep possession much better in the second half, not allowing Warrington to score again.
Alice Parton and Caitlin Edwards covered the width forcing Warrington to all defend, a deflection off the keeper into the air, allowed Hayleigh Busby to tap the ball above head height into the goal.
Keeper Holly Edwards kept Warrington from scoring in the last 5 minutes as they battled to get a draw.
Whistle went, 2-1 to a happy ladies 1s team.
Wilmslow Men’s 3s 5 Whitchurch Men’s 1s 3
Whitchurch travelled to Wilmslow this week to play a team higher in the league and on a winning streak, so the Reds knew they’d have a tough game from the start. With player availability restricted, there were new and younger players in the team, and it was a credit to all how well they played together, settling into a steady rhythm quickly.
The first half was a very even affair, with constant pressure from Wilmslow being balanced by solid defending from Whitchurch, with both teams unlucky not to score on the break. It was Wilmslow who went ahead first though, despite a clear foot from their attacker which went unseen but meant that the Reds had paused momentarily waiting for a whistle which never came. Paul “Sturge” Leigh was his usual indomitable self in goal, and made a number of significant blocks and saves to keep the score to 1-0 at half time.
In the second half the tempo stayed high, with both sides using the width of the pitch well, but eventually the pressure told and Wilmslow made a breakthrough, with a goal that appeared to go in off a back-stick, but again the Reds had waited for a whistle that wouldn’t go their way, and it was followed by a third for the opposition. However, the current Whitchurch team has shown time and again their mental resilience and, rather than letting their heads drop, they regrouped, settled and built up the pressure on the Wilmslow defence. Their marking was effective, giving the opposition defence very limited options, and Jack Barnes was able to take advantage, picking off their clearance from a sixteen to take it into the dee and fire it in.
Another goal followed shortly after, as a long-corner hit was moved around with some lovely one-touch hockey before Luke Beddow scored a great goal on the reverse stick to put the Reds in touching distance. Wilmslow picked up another, but Whitchurch came back again, with Beddow’s speed causing more problems in the Wilmslow defence but despite being firmly blocked by the keeper, the ball rebounded to Tom Forster who drove to the baseline near the edge of the dee and unleashed a great shot on a very fine angle to bring the Reds back within a goal again.
It wasn’t to be for Whitchurch, as Wilmslow were awarded a number of short corners at the end of the game, and their last one was a well-worked deflection goal to go 5-3 up. Sturge took an injury to his shoulder in the dying seconds and the full-time whistle was blown, but Whitchurch can take a lot from a game where it could have gone very differently if they hadn’t stuck to their tasks as well as they did, and worked so well as a team despite the changes in personnel.