Category Archives: General News

Whitchurch hockey match reports 01/11/14

Whitchurch Men’s 1s  0   Oswestry Men’s  1s  9

It was always going to be a challenging local derby for the Whitchurch team as they took on their local rivals with both teams knowing each other so well.

It was always going to come down to which team managed to get the early advantage and whether the speed and youth of the Whitchurch side or the experience and guile of the Oswestry team would come out on top.

The first ten minutes were equally balanced as both teams attacked and defended looking for the early advantage and this came to Oswestry. Whitchurch seemed to deflate and Oswestry turned on the continuous pressure for the remainder of the match giving Whitchurch no time or opportunity.

Oswestry won the tactical battle knowing the Whitchurch team and thus managed to subdue the key players in the Whitchurch team. It was a credit to the Whitchurch side that they kept their heads and discipline and managed to keep working until the end of the match although it was of little consolation.

The next game will be a big test for the young Whitchurch team as they aim to put behind this result and take the lessons learn’t from the game into their next home game against Leamington next week.

 

Whitchurch Men’s Fathom  3   Stafford Men’s Fathom  2

Whitchurch men’s fathom side returned to winning ways on Saturday against Stafford. The start of the match saw the sides very evenly matched as both sides countered each other and it was not until midway through the first half that Whitchurch opened the scoring when Craig Hockenhull played a well weighted aerial ball through to Aaron Shackleton who beat the keeper with a good shot. However Whitchurch sat back on their lead and were punished as Stafford seized the initiative to take a 2-1 lead into the half time break.

In the second half Whitchurch settled as both sides tired and started to move the ball catching Stafford on the break and defending solidly at the back with through Ben Fry, Mark Sugden and Ian Bones. A Ben Kimberly, brace over a five minute period reduced the arrears and gave Whitchurch the winner shortly before the end of the match.

For Whitchurch three notable performances from our junior ladies Jess Kimberley, Phoebe Jones and Emily Hilton who didn’t have matches this weekend so stepped in to make up the numbers.

Whitchurch fathom travel away next week to Bloxwich.

 

The ladies teams had a break from league action this weekend but return again next week with the 1s away to Golbourne 2s and the 2s away to Wrexham 2s.

25/10/14 Ladies 1s match report

Neston South Wirral ladies 3s  0    Whitchurch ladies 1s  1

The top of the table clash was a tense one as the girls really had to fight for their 1-0 victory over Neston 3rds, breaking Neston’s winning streak.

Claire Roberts attacked the opposition with fierceness in her tackles, and with Gayle Ladd and Jayne ‘Crow’ Williamson clearing the ball, they kept it in the oppositions half.

Catherine Reece-Gresty made a fantastic clear from the goal line when the opposition had a short corner, then with Catherine Gresty’s amazing interception along with Julia Neale; we managed to push the ball forward again. Sue Read and Nicola Workman received the balls from our team brilliantly and helped keep possession to our team.

Lisa Sullivan, with incredible shot from the top of the D enabled Whitchurch to secure their one and only goal. Jess Kimberley had some great runs which yet again helped us keep possession and keep the ball away from our half. Whitchurch had plenty of short corner opportunities but failed to convert.

Vicki Price, Sue Read and Chloe Crump made a great runs on the opposition’s goal and were only unable to score a goal because of the force of the Neston defence. We had a great save from Gwyn Thomas-Rees after a fantastic shot from Neston, but not good enough to beat our amazing goal keeper.

This win saw Whitchurch move back to the top of the league before next week’s break.

18/10/14 Hockey Match Reports

Whitchurch Mens 1s   6   Barlaston Mens 1s       0

The Whitchurch Mens 1s are three games into the season and after securing this big win now have a record of two wins and one loss.

Whitchurch started the game strong showing the opposition what they can bring this season and anyone watching would agree that this very young side is looking one of the strongest in the league. Our first goal came from a penalty flick which was converted by our inside forward Ben Lea, the keeper got a pad to it but could do nothing but deflect it in. Ben Lea went on to score two more from sweetly converted drag flicks from short corners scoring his fifth of the season.

The three other goals of the game in which the opposition soon turned to aggression, knowing that they could not come back from such a strong side on the counter attack came from our left winger Joe Nicholson, our inside forward Joel Leese and our midfielder and captain Lee Davies. Joe Nicholson’s goal was well worked which he skilfully beat two of the Barlaston defenders and the keeper resulting in him claiming his first goal of the season. Unfortunately he picked up an injury landing badly on his foot meaning he had to go off and may miss some games this season. Joel Leese’s goal came from change of tactics on a short corner and the captain Lee Davies decided to slip the ball left to him and Leesel went on to flick the ball from the top of the dee into the backboard, again scoring his first goal of the season. Our final goal from Lee Davies was another change of tactics from a short corner in which he struck the ball perfectly hitting the back board which really wrapped the game up.

Whitchurch’s defence Luke Davies, James Partington, Alex Fry and Jamie Williamson all did an excellent job resulting in us not conceding any goals. However our keeper Paul Leigh played a big part in stopping shots when it came to the last ten minutes of the game and the team started to fatigue. But as the team walked off the pitch knowing they had played excellently and had won 6-0 this certainly wasn’t something to dwell on.

 

Whitchurch Men Fathom 11        Ludlow Men Fathom 0

Whitchurch Men’s fathom team had an overwhelming victory against a young Ludlow side, who had no answer to Whitchurch’s  strength  & experience but several of the Ludlow youngsters showed promise, For Whitchurch Ben Fry and Mark Sugden dominated the mid field, While Simon Bricento and Ben Kimberley had good games on the forward line. Goal scorers Simon Bricento (4), Jack Barnes (2), Steve Lloyd (2), Ben Kimberley (2) and Ellis Hickson.

 

Whitchurch ladies 1s 3 Warrington ladies 2s 4

Whitchurch ladies 1st fought against their toughest opponents of this season, it was a first defeat for our ladies with the final score 3-4 to Warrington.

Warrington ladies fought hard from the get go and were hungry for victory as they pushed through our defence to bring a score of 2 – 0. But Whitchurch ladies weren’t giving up that easily. We fought back at our opposition, and managed to equalise with goals scored by Lisa Sullivan and Nicola Workman.

There was plenty of work for our great defence team of Catherine Reece-Gresty, Claire Roberts and Jane ‘Crow’ Williamson and our wonderful goalkeeper Gwyneth Thomas-Rees, with debutant Keeley Hathaway seeing plenty of action too. Warrington pulled ahead with their third goal, which Lisa then matched. Sue Reed, Chloe Crump and Catherine Gresty fought to keep that ball in Warrington’s half, with Jess Kimberley and Julia Neale feeding the ball forward, with fatigue setting in some opportunities where missed for our Whitchurch ladies and although Warrington ladies lost a player due to injury they managed to secure their victory with the final goal taking the score to 3-4.

 

Whitchurch ladies 2s 0 Alderley Edge ladies 6ths 0

It showed how far the ladies 2s has come in a short space of time, many of the younger members having played their first senior matches this season.

The combination of Rachel Garnett, Gayle Ladd, Sally Pearce and Helen Apperley, Sharon English and centre half Katie Goodwin provided the cool heads and experience and the junior members of the team ran the Alderley Edge defence ragged for long periods of the game. Emily Vernon, Phoebe Jones, Ellie Windsor, Emily Hilton, Becky Brookfield, Ellie Windsor, Shola Bailey, Hayley Busby and Laura Workman worked until they could run no more but despite the team creating some good chances they couldn’t convert their opportunities.

The second half saw much of the same with both teams cancelling each other out, Eleanor Evans made one fine save in goal but had little else to do. Both teams were satisfied with the point they earned on the final whistle.