Match Reports 28-01-23

Whitchurch Men’s 2s 5 Deeside Men’s 6s 3

Whitchurch started the game at electric pace and should have been ahead in the first minute as Jon Gilbert found Will Edwards in the dee with the resulting shot falling just wide of the post.

With both teams evenly matched they cancelled out each other for the next ten minutes until Pip Jones gave Whitchurch the lead from a penalty corner.

Whitchurch continued to push down both wings through both Olivier and Charlie Edwards but despite maintaining large amounts of the play Deeside broke twice through the midfield and punished Whitchurch with two goals.

Whitchurch seemed undeterred by these setbacks and carried on with their original game plan with solid defending from Thomas Wyndham-Lewis, Sam Conway, Lucas Hill and Archie Phews as the basis to build and go forward.

Just before halftime Will Edwards shot rebounded off the keeper and following Craig Hockenhull hit the crossbar and then tapped the dropping ball into the goal to bring the scorers level.

A positive team talk by captain and goalkeeper Neil Jones encouraged the team to keep going and do the same as the first half.

The second half started well as a neatly worked short corner routine saw Will Edwards score his second defecting in on the back post.

Whitchurch made good use of their substitutes with Nik Moga and Oliver Hayward rolling on to maintain the intensity and pressure in the midfield.

A blistering run down the right wing by Alex Leigh saw Will Edwards again shoot and Joe Chesters get on the scoresheet as the rebound dropped to his feet and he calmly lobbed the Deeside keeper.

Whitchurch were on top at this point and it was Pip Jones driving down the right who turned provider for Leigh to fire into the bottom corner.

Deeside pressured in the final minutes of the game and managed to pull another goal back but Whitchurch managed the end of the game for a well deserved victory.

Deeside ladies 3s 0 Whitchurch ladies 1s 12

A nearer away game this week for Whitchurch ladies 1s, but a late 4.30pm  slot, playing Deeside 3s at their home pitch.

Whitchurch started well with strong control of the game. Great accurate triangular passes gave them pace up the pitch, and within 10 minutes they had their first two goals on the sheet from Valérie Fabery-de-Jonge.

Lisa Sullivan, Mollie Bell and Captain Cath Gresty held a strong centre pushing high up into the Deeside dee to win a run of short corners, where Lisa Sullivan received it on the post and calmly tapping it in.

A lot of play was in the Deeside half, but only a few breaks occurred and the defence of Chloe Lloyd and Hayleigh Busby calmly dealt with these.

Tilly James and Holly Edwards used the width to pass up the side lines to Jasmin Williams and Molly Fry, this resulted in Mollie Bell battling into the dee and finishing in top left corner.

Just before half time Georgia Munro got in on the scoring beating the keeper to make it 5-0.

Whitchurch started the second half in high spirits with great passing and fantastic team work resulting in Deeside being left rocking as Munro scored three goals in quick succession.

Deeside were now slowing and their heads dropping leaving more space for Sullivan to pass to Captain Cath Gresty to strike past the keeper.

A lucky break for Deeside as Whitchurch relaxed while rotating their sub brought keeper Caroline Wynne into the action with a beautiful sliding save, keeping Deeside off the score sheet.

With ten minutes to go Valérie Fabery-de-Jonge showed no mercy with a rapid three more goals for Whitchurch, first a pass in from Gresty then the final two from one on one with the keeper.

Whitchurch ladies 2s 3 Oswestry ladies 1s 0

Whitchurch welcomed Oswestry ladies who were one place beneath them in the table at the start of the game.

Whitchurch started strong, putting lots of pressure on the Oswestry defence, with Heidi Groom scoring a brilliant goal with a strong strike. Towards the end of the first half, Oswestry tried their hardest to fight back, however strong defence from Cath Reece-Gresty and Hermione Ball, along with great goalkeeping from Megan Nicholson kept them at bay until half time.

At the start of the second half, it took Whitchurch a little longer to break through the Oswestry defence, however after multiple passes between Bella Morris and Poppy Huxley, a gap in the Oswestry defence was found leading to Heidi Groom having a shot on goal which finished off by Poppy Gilbert .

After multiple failed shots on goal for Oswestry, Whitchurch reclaimed possession of the ball with lots of superb midfield play by Hayley Kellet and Lydia Jones among others. With the ball back in the Oswestry dee a skilful battle with the defence from Heidi Groom saw the ball was released towards Poppy Gilbert who slotted it past the Oswestry keeper.

Players player was Hermione Ball

After a great performance, Whitchurch will face Sandbach next week with renewed confidence.