Match Reports 20-02-23

Golborne ladies 2s 0 Whitchurch ladies 2s 7

Due to traffic, Whitchurch Ladies 2s had only 10 minutes to warm up for their rearranged game away at Golborne. Running on the pitch, the side were met with a well organised opposition, however the team got off to a great start and dominated play with clear and accurate passing between centre forward Hayley Kellet and the rest of the attackers, Sophie Jones, Jas Williams, Lydia Jones, and Poppy Gilbert.

It wasn’t long before the goals started coming as Heidi ‘hat trick’ Groom arrived, (who’d also been stuck in traffic) to lead the attack, allowing Hayley to drop back and strengthen the mid field, alongside Bella Morris, Holly Edwards and Maisie Bennett.

There were also several short corners which allowed Whitchurch 2s to practice their set pieces, Lydia Jones pushed out to the top of the dee to either Kellet or Morris, who then looked for the slip and quick hit on goal.

Long corners taken by Bella Morris were quickly taken with support from Sophie Jones on the right wing, who between them battled their way skilfully into the dee.

The first half saw four goals scored by Whitchurch, with the half time talk focusing on ‘more of the same’ and ‘let’s try switching it to be left.’ Leaving mistakes to be made by an increasingly frustrated opposition.

The 2nd half, Golborne started to bring their attack back to Whitchurch, increasing the pressure on the defensive team of Hermione Ball and Catherine Reece Gresty, who battled tirelessly to clear the ball to Holly Edwards, who was absolutely solid in both defence and building the attack back up with Edwards, Kellet, Jones and Morris distributing the ball to the forward lines through Poppy Gilbert.

More goals came for Whitchurch, whilst the defence had to contend with five consecutive short corners for Golborne who seemed determined to get a goal of their own but were stopped every time, including when they broke through the defensive line and Whitchurch keeper Megan Nicholson had to contend with a one-on-one attack from a Golborne player. Megan calmly ran out of goal to kick the ball out and away from the attacker, giving the Whitchurch defence time to run back and behind to block off any chance of Golborne scoring. Maisie Bennett was also in excellent in defence, making her debut for the 2s, and was solid, accurately picking up balls and distributing back up to the attackers.

But no matter as Whitchurch 2s won 7-0 with goals from:

Heidi Groom-3 Jas Williams -1 Hayley Kellet -1 Sophie Jones-1 Lydia Jones-1

A great team effort.

Alderley Edge Men’s 6s 6 Whitchurch Men’s 6s 3

Whitchurch travelled to Alderley Edge for a re-arranged fixture. Both Whitchurch and Alderley fielded teams with many of their up-and-coming younger players.

The game started at a frantic pace with both teams pushing for an early goal and from the start the Whitchurch defence of Lucas Hill, Charlie Edwards, Sam Conway and Thomas Wyndam-Lewis knew they were in far a hard match as a well-trained forward line pulled them around their dee. Alderley took the lead but Whitchurch were soon back in the match as a well worked penalty corner hit the defenders foot on the line and Sam Conway stepped up to convert the penalty flick.

Whitchurch lost Wyndam-Lewis too injury and Oliver Edwards dropped back into a defensive role and played his game of the season in an unfamiliar position making countless tackles in both halves.

Alderley took the lead again with two quick goals before Whitchurch pulled a goal back as Craig Hockenhull threw an aerial ball over the Alderley defence and Airan Jones took the ball down and fed Joe Chester’s who calmly beat the outcoming keeper.

Whitchurch continued to push as they got on top of the game for the first time Tom Edwards tirelessly running in midfield caused problems for Alderley throughout the game and from his pass Will Edwards brought Whitchurch level.

The team talk at half time revolved mainly around how the defensive unit was to mark the Alderley attackers and throughout the second half for large periods they kept them quiet.

It was unforced errors that ultimately cost Whitchurch a misplaced pass from the re-start saw Alderley pounce on the ball and take the lead within a minute. Alderley then scored another minutes later after a fine initial save by keeper Neil Jones saw the ball drop and role towards the Whitchurch goal line and despite the efforts of a diving Charlie Edwards it made it into the Whitchurch goal.

Despite the frustrations Whitchurch never stopped working and creating chances and Alfie Edwards and Oliver Hayward worked tirelessly upfront chasing down both attacking chances and pressuring Alderley defenders.

The final goal came as the Alderley defender broke into the Whitchurch dee and finished with a reverse strike that left Neil Jones no opportunity.

The final score was a fair result and Whitchurch although disappointed took a lot of pride from their performance and effort against a good Alderley team.