All posts by Craig Hockenhull
With the ladies without matches over the half term break it was left to the men this weekend.
Whitchurch Men’s 2s 3 Neston Men’s 7s 3
In what has turned out to be the last hockey match for at least a month, the Men’s 2s welcomed Neston 7s to a bright and sunny Whitchurch on Saturday. Once again coronavirus had impacted squad selection, so a number of players were drafted in from the 1s game earlier in the afternoon.
A familiar pattern emerged as the older and more powerful Neston team took control of midfield and forced Whitchurch back towards their own dee. But with the home side working hard, Neston found it difficult to threaten the Whitchurch goal. Brendan Coburn, Danny Foulkes, Joel Leese, Sturge and Gareth Teggin put in a succession of blocks and tackles to keep Neston at bay.
Whitchurch were quick to counterattack when the away side lost possession.
Joe Coburn, Ethan Gresty and Luke Beddow combined well in midfield, but couldn’t quite find striker Will Gilbert, or the willing runs of Jacob and Doug Buckeridge on the wings.
Eventually one of Whitchurch’s attacks was rewarded with a short corner. Doug Buckeridge exchanged passes with Joe Coburn and Buckeridge swept home from close range to open the scoring.
The pattern of play continued for much of the half, with Neston enjoying territory and possession, but Whitchurch posing threat on the counter. Ultimately, and despite the best efforts of the Whitchurch defence and keeper Neil Jones, the pressure from the away side brought an equaliser.
With the game level at half time, Whitchurch were looking to retain more of the ball in the second half, but Neston had other ideas. The away side injected more pace into their passing and Whitchurch struggled to get to grips with the change. Neston deservedly took the lead and looked to press home their advantage, but Neil Jones made several excellent stops to thwart the Wirral side.
Whitchurch eventually settled and with Tom Forster and Jack Barnes adding more power in midfield, they worked their way back into the game. Once again Joe Coburn was instrumental in Whitchurch’s best attacking moments, and as his ball into the dee flicked off a defender’s stick and looped up over the keeper, Luke Beddow raced through to get a vital touch and equalise.
Soon after another defence splitting pass found Fred Egerton, who rounded the Neston keeper and fired home from an acute angle to give Whitchurch the lead. The home side continued to create chances but were unable to add to their advantage.
Buoyed by their lead, Whitchurch began to commit more players forward and Neston were forced to play on the counterattack. With only a few minutes left, a Whitchurch move broke down and as the away side drove forward the Reds defence found themselves outnumbered and Neston took full advantage to equalise.
The 3-3 draw was probably a fair result. Both sides enjoyed good spells during the game, and both sides were grateful for good goalkeeping and poor finishing. At times Whitchurch were a little disjointed, with a number of new players on the pitch, but those players also added some much-needed physical presence.
With the national lockdown imminent, the Men’s 2s next game will hopefully be in early December.
Whitchurch Men’s 1s 2 – Chester Men’s 4/5s 2
With another scheduled game lost to local restrictions, Whitchurch played a friendly against a Chester team made up of a mixture of their two teams in the Division 3 South league. With heavy rain having soaked the pitch in the morning, there were questions about whether the game would go ahead, but the rain stopped, the sun came out and the match was played in glorious sunshine.
It was an evenly matched game, played in good spirit and with some excellent play by both teams. A shortage of senior players gave a number of the younger 2s players an opportunity to step up, with Alex Leigh, Luke Beddow, Ethan Gresty and Will Gilbert joining Joe Coburn and Fred Egerton as the next generation of 1s players, and all represented themselves well, showing pace and skill against an equally youthful opposition.
With some decent end-to-end hockey, the game always felt like it had goals in it, and Whitchurch broke the deadlock with a well-worked short corner, fired in by Danny Foulkes to Jack Barnes at the top of the dee, whose powerful flick went through the keeper. A few minutes later, the scores were level as a Chester drive broke through the Reds’ defence and managed to get the ball past a diving Sturge in goal.
As with last week’s game, Whitchurch settled well to their task, and maintained their efforts through both halves, which is the step up they needed to make from previous seasons where games could tail off in the second half. There was some great use of width, starting at the back with the defenders happy to go across the pitch multiple times before finding their pass out. The midfield were equally happy dropping the ball back to the defence rather than running into trouble and it set the game up well. Some great running down both wings put pressure on the Chester defence, and there was strength in the middle of the pitch at all times.
Chester went 2-1 up with an unlucky deflection after they’d made a good run down the middle of the pitch on the break, but Whitchurch got the scores level again with another short corner routine out to the right which was crossed in before Chris Ruscoe got the last touch.
It was another good game, with Whitchurch showing a promising future as their strong youth structure provides the rewards the coaching staff have been working on. Another home game against Chester 4s is scheduled for next weekend, when Whitchurch will go all out for the win.
Announcement: Club Hockey in England suspended until after 4 December
England Hockey are disappointed to have to confirm that the national lockdown announced on Saturday will mean no club or community hockey from 5 November until after 4 December at the earliest.
The latest government announcement orders all sports facilities to close and therefore club and other community hockey activity is suspended until the game is in a position to resume.
Over the last few months all those involved in delivering hockey safely have helped to prove that the sport is extremely low risk in terms of the transmission of Covid and this gives us confidence that we can be back soon. We are very grateful to all the Covid officers, volunteers, players, coaches and officials that went the extra mile to provide a safe place for hockey to be played.
At England Hockey we continue to receive overwhelming feedback from participants that the physical and mental health benefits of being able to take part are significant. We recognise that the next few weeks will be challenging for those like us that love the game and will miss the opportunity to be out playing, coaching and officiating with friends.
The government announcement made reference to returning to the Covid Alert Levels after the end of this period of lockdown, and should that be the case we are confident that clubs will be able to resume promptly in line with our previously-issued Return to Play guidance. If it becomes clearer in time that the lockdown will end on 4 December we encourage clubs to consider resuming some activity before Christmas if at all possible. To mitigate the risk of changes and with the uncertainty about what Level the club may be in at the end of this period, we recommend that the time until Christmas is used for training and very local matches. The aim of this is to ensure that activities fall in line with any Level-based restrictions that may be in place.
It will take time to determine the best approach to reorganising activity and we ask that players and clubs respect the need for organisers to consider the next steps properly in light of the timing and extent of the upcoming break.
England Hockey will communicate with all clubs, England Hockey League teams and EH Championships entrants as well as Player Pathway organisers in the coming days.
Match reports 24-10-20
Whitchurch Men’s 1s 0 – Deeside Ramblers XI 2
With the North West Hockey League being heavily affected by Tier 3 lockdowns, very few matches could go ahead as planned this weekend, but Deeside Ramblers came to Whitchurch for a friendly with a squad of players from a spread of their teams – as high as their 2s, as well as teams from the Reds’ own league – so Whitchurch knew they would have a strong battle on their hands.
As has been the case on a number of occasions, Whitchurch seem to play better against better opposition, and this match was a prime example: to a man, everyone stepped up and faced the challenge ahead with confidence and composure, and it worked. For large periods of the game, Whitchurch had the game under control; they passed the ball with some sublime one-touch play out from the back, up the wings and into the Deeside dee. Passes went to their targets, tackles and re-tackles and tackling again to get the ball back meant that they were never under the cosh, despite some excellent play by Deeside. The only thing they lacked was the final touch to get the ball into the net, but they came close on several occasions.
At the back, Paul “Sturge” Leigh had his usual strong game, keeping the ball out despite heavy pressure in the Reds’ dee as Deeside ploughed in in numbers. Danny Foulkes was composed and confident at the centre, spreading the ball out wide, or finding the incisive bullet up the middle if the opportunity presented itself. Sam Conway ran and ran and ran, ensuring there was always a decent option out wide on the right. James Partington got some good tackles in, and a block that took a shot up onto the crossbar. Ross Gill, playing sweeper in front of the defence, controlled that area of the pitch calmly, releasing pass after excellent pass to keep the play going in the right direction.
Jack Barnes and Joel Leese were the bedrock of the midfield, working well off each other, to move the ball in triangles up the pitch, or to carry the ball if there was space, putting great pressure on the Deeside defence. Tom Forster and Fred Egerton rotated well on the left wing, pushing forward and getting crosses in, and Chris Ruscoe had his usual dominant game on the right, playing in both dees – either putting a great pass or shot in at the far end, or racing back to make a critical block in the Reds’ own dee.
Will Gilbert, Sam Budd and Martin Beecher were constantly at the Deeside defence, giving them no time to settle, and Whitchurch had a number of shots either well-saved, or slightly wide of the goal, including an excellent attempt at a deflection shot from Budd, and on another day would have scored many.
Despite the Reds’ constant good marking, quick ball movement, cutting out opposition passes, chasing back when the ball was lost, and a constant team effort, Deeside were able to score two goals. The first was a really well-worked piece of play, driving down the middle in triangles before passing it to the incoming striker at the top of the dee who was able to fire it up into the net. In the second half, a good run into the dee by Finn Leonard for Deeside was passed to the penalty spot, and the shot was scooped over a diving Sturge.
In the end, a fair result, but Whitchurch can take a huge amount from this game. Had they played at this level in the two previous games this season, there’s no way they would have suffered losses. The challenge is to find this performance week-in, week-out and, if they do, the rewards will come.
Whitchurch ladies 1s 5 Macclesfield ladies 2s 0
Whitchurch came up against a 16 strong Macclesfield side this Saturday, but held their own with 12 players.
Centre players Lisa Sullivan, Hebe Dixon and Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty pushed from the off, holding the ball in Macclesfield’s half. Forwards Ellie Windsor and Stephanie Stanton put plenty of pressure on and within ten minutes Whitchurch were awarded a penalty flick that Dixon calmly slotted into the goal.
Macclesfield fought back, but Whitchurch defence Chloe Lloyd and Kezzie Hutchings were hot on their every move. Plenty of chances came for Whitchurch and eventually a shot in from Catherine Winter-Gresty was deflected to score their second by Ellie Windsor.
Whitchurch were keeping possession and passing the ball round well, tiring the fresh Macclesfield legs that were being subbed regularly. Keeper Maddy Sugden made some great saves again when Macclesfield had a couple of lucky breaks, but they couldn’t get on the score sheet. Before half time Sarah Field scored through the keepers legs, making it 3-0 before the second half.
Even though Whitchurch were comfortably in the lead the second half started a bit panicked, but before long they settled back playing their game, Hayleigh Busby picking out Hebe Dixon to score her second.
Whitchurch won several short corners, allowing Sarah Field to make it 5-0.
Well in front and Whitchurch kept possession as much as possible, using the width of Anna Latham and Molly Fry, pushing up length of the pitch. Whitchurch played hard up until the final whistle and were very happy with the result.
Hebe Dixon was awarded players player.
Deeside Ramblers Men’s 6s Whitchurch 2s Men’s 1
With the coronavirus rules and restrictions playing havoc with the league fixtures, Deeside Ramblers and Whitchurch Men’s 2s had played out an entertaining friendly at SJT the previous weekend. Although the game had finished 1-1, Whitchurch had dominated most of the game, but were thwarted by the excellent Ramblers keeper.
One week on and the two clubs played again, fulfilling the scheduled league fixture. Whilst Deeside were able to bring in some of their more experienced players, Whitchurch once again lost two key players due to enforced self-isolation.
Deeside took control of the match from the first pushback. They retained possession well and moved Whitchurch across the pitch, whilst probing for openings. Despite their control, the home side struggled to get into the Whitchurch dee. Brendan Coburn and Wyn Morris were imperious in the centre of defence, but the midfield were working hard to plug any gaps and harry the Deeside players.
Whitchurch weathered the early storm and managed to work their way into the game. As they got more of the ball, Ethan Gresty, Richard Leigh and Alex Leigh began to put together some neat passing moves, and with good support from Jacob Buckeridge, Dave Brunyard and Joe Faithfull on the wings, Whitchurch started to threaten the home sides dee.
The 2s were especially dangerous on the counterattack. As Deeside continued to dominate territory, Whitchurch were quick to attack when they won the ball, and midway through the first half, Ethan Gresty surged through the centre of the pitch and played an excellent through ball for Airan Jones to race clear of the Deeside defenders and calmly flick past the on-rushing keeper.
With Deeside knocked out of their stride, Whitchurch went close to increasing their lead. Euan Morris had a number of chances that flashed wide, were saved by the Deeside keeper, or scrambled clear by the defenders, but the closest the Reds came to doubling the lead was from an Ethan Gresty shot that came back off the post, following good link up play with Joe Faithfull.
Throughout the half, the home side had concentrated their attacking efforts down their right hand side. Will Snaith and Wyn Morris had continually repelled these attacks, but as the Whitchurch defence was pulled across the pitch, Gareth Teggin and Doug Buckeridge had to be wary of attackers arriving at the back post. Moments before half time the Deeside tactic paid dividends as the ball flashed across the face of the Whitchurch goal and the attacker was able to steer the ball inside the post for the equalising goal.
After the break, Deeside stepped up their intensity and Whitchurch struggled to deal with the increase in physicality. With so many young players the 2s were simply overpowered, and the home side dominated possession and territory for much of the second half. When moves broke down, they were quick to harass the Whitchurch players, who struggled to keep hold of the ball and find their passes.
The away side did manufacture a handful of chances, but nothing of the quality of the first half. Instead the Whitchurch midfield was fully employed helping out the defence. The team defended resolutely, and at times rode their luck. Keeper Neil Jones made some good saves and clearing kicks. But eventually Deeside’s pressure paid dividends.
A goalmouth scramble needed Jones to make several close range stops as defenders and attackers hacked at the ball. As the ball escaped Jones’s grasp, Doug Buckeridge was on hand to clear off the line, however, the umpire decided the ball had crossed the goal line and awarded Deeside the goal and the lead. Whitchurch weren’t happy with the decision and discipline slipped. Words were exchanged which lead to a Whitchurch player taking a two-minute sin bin, and Deeside were quick to capitalise on their man advantage. A series of short corners were won, and Deeside extended their lead when a mis-hit, bouncing shot crept inside the post.
Whitchurch regained their composure and pushed for a consolation goal, but Deeside were happy to contain the away side and preserve their 3-1 lead.
This was another reality check for Whitchurch in their new division. They enjoyed some good spells of play and looked particularly dangerous in the first half. However, as in the Birkenhead game, the sheer physicality of their opponents eventually overwhelmed the young players. Jacob Buckeridge and Will Snaith played well down the left, Ethan Gresty had another excellent game in midfield, and the defence generally played really well.
Subject to changing Covid regulations, the Men’s 2s next game will be at home to Neston Men’s 7s on Saturday 31st October.