Ladies Section, Match Reports, Men's Section

Match reports 26/11/16

The ladies 1s game was cancelled due to frozen pitch.

The ladies 2s were credited on 3-0 win after Wilmslow ladies 4s conceded the game.

 

Whitchurch Mens 2s 0 Runcorn Mens 3s 0

Whitchurch 2s welcomed Runcorn 3s with fog and freezing temperatures at SJT.

Runcorn started the brighter with their experienced midfield trio immediately taking control of the centre of the pitch. However they were unable to make any progress into the Whitchurch dee thanks to strong defending from Iain Bones and Mark Sugden. When Runcorn tried to attack using the width of the pitch, they were unable to find any way past Richard Leigh and Aaron Shackleton.

Whitchurch tried to mount their own attacks but they continually ran into Runcorn defenders and were unable to make any real progress towards the Runcorn goal. James Wise was isolated up front despite the willing running of Ellis Hickson and Airon Jones trying to offer support.

Runcorn managed to force a brief flurry of short corners midway through the first half, but these were well defended by Whitchurch and their goal was never really threatened. This prompted Craig Hockenhull to come into midfield as a substitute, which gave Whitchurch a bit more drive and control in the centre of the pitch and enabled them to start creating some chances in the Runcorn dee.

A swift passing move started by Sam Conway provided Aaron Swain with a chance that was well stopped by the Runcorn keeper, and Aaron had another chance just before half-time, which he fired just wide after a melee in the Runcorn dee.

With the fog thickening and temperatures dropping, the second half followed a similar pattern to the first. Despite the hard work of Marcus Conway, Tom Forster and Josh Parry to try and contain Runcorn’s midfield, they were struggling against their more experienced counterparts and Runcorn continued to enjoy more of the possession and territory. But the Whitchurch defence remained strong and Runcorn were still unable to create any clear cut chances to score.

It was late in the second half when the best chances arrived. Whitchurch went close when Craig Hockenhull fired into the dee and James Wise’s deflection wrong-footed the Runcorn keeper, but flew wide of the goal. Runcorn responded and brought an excellent save from Whitchurch keeper Neil Jones. And then with the final play of the game, Iain Bones charged into the Runcorn dee and fired across goal but neither Ellis Hickson or James Wise were able to deflect the ball in at the far post.

This was a hard-fought 0-0 draw with a team that were pushing for promotion last season. The draw ends Whitchurch 2s run of defeats and moves the team up to 7th place in the league. Next week the 2s travel to Deeside Ramblers 7s.

A special mention for Jess Kimberley who stepped in at the last minute to umpire her first men’s game. Jess had an excellent game and drew praise from both teams for her performance.
Whitchurch Mens 1s 5-0 Wrexham Mens 2s

Whitchurch 1s made a return to winning form with a comfortable, but competitive, victory against a strong Wrexham team.

The Reds started brightly, moving the ball around quickly and keeping possession well, but it took 15 minutes for this to be rewarded with a first goal.  After failing to score with their first penalty corner, the next was also broken down by a fast Wrexham defence, but only cleared as far as the 23m line, with the ball slipped back into Joel Leese to score low to the keeper’s left.  Within a few minutes this was followed by another from open play – Ben Fry squaring the ball from the right, followed by a through ball to Ben Kimberley who finished confidently – and another followed within five minutes, again started by Fry as he picked out a free player in the opposition D who squared the ball to Kimberley for his second.

The second half saw a second short corner converted, this time collected and put away by Steve Lloyd as the ball rebounded from an initial shot by Tom Leonard.  The fifth was a classic striker’s effort from Martin Beecher, collecting a through ball in front of goal before moving away, turning and finding the back of the goal with a well-struck shot.  Wrexham gained more control of the game in the final twenty minutes, but the Whitchurch defence managed to keep out a succession of short corners to maintain a rare clean sheet.

Committee News

Match Reports 19/11/16

Alderley Edge ladies 7s 1 Whitchurch ladies 2s 15

After the successful win last week Whitchurch were still ecstatic and raring to go. Whitchurch started strong with lots of passing between Amy Fry, Phoebe Jones and Grace Berry. Grace started of the goals with a strike from the top of the Dee. After this goal Whitchurch began to pass the ball around the Alderley Edge defence to pick out Berry to complete a further 5 goals.

Whitchurch had earned two penalty corners but the Alderley goalkeeper saved them. After receiving the third Whitchurch mixed it up and Tracy Tolhurst ejected the ball out to Jess Kimberley who fired the ball straight through the keeper giving Whitchurch a 7-0 lead by half time.

During the halftime talk Whitchurch had a positive talk and to carry on passing around the players.

In the second half Edge came out stronger and after not having many chances Shola Bailey cleared the ball away from the Dee and up to Helen Machin who picked out Berry to score her 6th goal.

Whitchurch received a long corner and Becky Brookfield picked out Kimberley on the top of the Dee who fired home making the score 9-0 to Whitchurch.

After another penalty corner Brookfield slapped the ball home giving Whitchurch a comfortable lead.

Amy Fry scored her four within minutes each confusing the keeper and bringing the score to 12-0 but Whitchurch didn’t end there. Wendy Cooper and defender Emma Clarke picked out Laura Workman and Berry who fired home rounding up her tally of 7 goals.

Kimberley drove the ball through the Edge defence and picked out Phoebe who was on the post and tapped it in leaving the score at 14-0 but within the last 10 seconds Whitchurch had tired and the Edge team passed around the defence and slipped the ball pass Shola leaving the score at 15-1.

Grace Berry received player of the match. Whitchurch will be entertaining Wilmslow ladies 4s at home.

 

Whitchurch Men’s 1s 1 – Liverpool Sefton Men’s 3s 3

Whitchurch’s winning streak finally came to an end this week against a Sefton side full of speed, strength, skill and substitutes. In the most challenging game of the season, Whitchurch survived the first ten minutes in which Sefton started brightly and put immediate pressure on the back four. As the game settled in, the defence picked up their marking with Ryan Murtagh helping to nullify their strike, and Ben Fry and Matt Brooks were able to start to push up down the wings and release the ball to the midfield who started putting together some good passing moves. However, the Sefton defence was very strong, and their keeper pulled off some excellent saves to keep the score line quiet.

Sefton started to break down the wings and threw numbers into the dee and pressure eventually resulted in a goal. Whitchurch didn’t lose concentration and continued to fight, including a clearance from the on goal line as keeper Aaron Swain excellently kept out another attack. Swain continued to provide a solid safety net included a very calm clearance kick to the sideline when one-on-one with the Sefton striker.

1-0 down at half-time continued the trend for Whitchurch this season as the higher level of competition showed, and the second half started with Whitchurch more of the same tight marking at the back, and Joel Leese and Alex Fry holding the centre, but eventually Sefton broke through and nicked a second goal to go 2-0 up. This inspired a fight back, with Felix Jeffries making several runs, linking up with Jake Wood on the left wing and Ben Kimberley on the right who had very strong games and finally the ball was crossed to Tom Leonard who continued his excellent season to score with a crisp strike from the edge of the dee.

Sefton poured on the pressure after this, and James Partington had to make three critical interceptions to prevent more goals, but finally a ball in the dee looped up in the air and the Sefton winger hit the sweetest cover drive on the volley to belt the ball into the back of the Whitchurch net and the game was done. Whitchurch played possibly the best they have all season, but on the day the opposition was better; Whitchurch stay top of the table just above Sefton.

 

Whitchurch ladies 1s 1 Wilmslow ladies 2s 2

Whitchurch ladies 1s played at home this weekend, knowing it was going to be a tough game as they were playing top of the division.

Whitchurch pushed hard into Wilmslow’s half and within the first 10 minutes a lovely dribble into the dee by Lucy Ratcliffe, a short pass to Captain Catherine Winter-Gresty fired into the keeper which allowed Sue Read to score from the rebound. Whitchurch spirits rose but not for long as Wilmslow were awarded a short corner and scored.

Whitchurch defence Catherine Reece-Gresty and Clare Fitzgerald had plenty of work to do. Gayle Ladd and Jane Williamson passed balls up to Lisa Sullivan and Emma Harper allowing plenty of chances for Whitchurch to gain a lead. Forwards Ellie Windsor and Aisla Cairn battled through Wilmslow defence but couldn’t quite make it count. There were some great shots into the dee by Lisa Sullivan, Catherine Winter-Gresty and Emma Harper but Wilmslow keeper was covering the goal well.

It was a close game but Wilmslow scored again from a short corner just before half time.
Whitchurch were determined not to concede any more goals, keeper Maddy Sugden made some amazing saves in the second half and managed to keep out Wilmslow. Whitchurch held well and worked hard until the final whistle. Player of the match went to Gayle Ladd.

Whitchurch are away next week at Northop Hall.

 

Whitchurch Mens 2s 1 University of Chester Mens 1s 3

After a weekend off, Whitchurch 2s were looking to register their first win since the opening weekend of the season when they entertained University of Chester 1s.

The opening exchanges were fairly even. The Whitchurch midfield moved the ball up the pitch nicely through Josh Parry and Marcus Conway to Martin Beecher and Tom Forster in the forward positions, but the Chester defence remained steadfast and opportunities to shoot at goal were restricted to a couple of half chances.

Chester were also able to move forward through some good phases of play, but Steve Kay, acting as the screening player in front of the defence, was able to snuff out any attacks coming through the middle of the pitch, and Richard Leigh and James Nicholson coped well with any moves coming from Chester’s wide players.

Whitchurch’s best opportunities were coming from swift counter-attacks with long balls looking for Martin Beecher and Tom Forster. Mid-way through the first half one of these long passes found Martin Beecher free in the dee and he duly fired past the Chester keeper to give Whitchurch the lead.

Chester looked to press forward, but excellent defending from Iain Bones and Mark Sugden prevented Chester from having any meaningful chances. And on the break Whitchurch were still a threat to the Chester goal and had a great chance to double their lead when Marcus Conway found himself free in the dee but hammered his shot over the bar.

As the first half wore on, the youth and fitness of the Chester players began to show and keeper Neil Jones was forced into a good save before a dangerous run down the wing and cross across the face of goal was unluckily deflected into the goal by a Whitchurch foot for the Chester equaliser. This was quickly followed by another goal, from a short corner, which gave Chester Uni a 2-1 lead at half time.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. The opening stages were very even. Chester looked to press Whitchurch back, whilst Whitchurch were always a threat on the counter attack through Aaron Shackleton and Airon Jones on the wings and Tom and Martin through the middle. Sadly for Whitchurch they couldn’t quite fashion a good enough chance to get a meaningful strike at goal.

Ultimately the Chester pressure resulted in them extending their lead, midway through the second half, through another short corner routine.

As with the first half, Chester were able to finish the half stronger but the Whitchurch defence brilliantly snuffed out the Chester attacks and during a final flurry of Chester short corners just before the end of the game, Neil Jones made a fantastic save to his right.

The 3-1 defeat felt a bit harsh on Whitchurch, who played well for large periods of the game, but were ultimately undone by the opposition’s youth and fitness. However, this result leaves Whitchurch 2s in 8th place in the league.

Next week the 2s entertain Runcorn 3s.

 

Ladies Section, Match Reports, Men's Section

Match reports 12/11/16

Timperley Ladies 4s 0 Whitchurch ladies 1s 2

Timperley started off at the stronger of the two team as Whitchurch struggled to find their feet.

Whitchurch settled into the game and Lucy Rattliffe passed the ball to Sue Reed who tapped in the opening goal. Timperley had many chances on to equalise but goal keeper Maddy Sugden defended them off and to keep the score Whitchurch in the lead.

Emily Hilton, Emma Harper, Clare Fitzgerald and Charlotte Lawder worked well defending at the back and feeding the ball up to Catherine Winter-Gresty, Phoebe Jones, Laura Workman and Lucy Ratliffe.

In the second half Whitchurch applied the pressure straight away, after gaining a short corner Whitchurch scored from a strike of the top of the dee from Lucy Ratcliffe and securing the points.

Whitchurch ladies 1s will be at home playing against Wimslow 2s

 

Whitchurch Men’s 1st 4 – Deeside Ramblers Men’s 6s 1

Whitchurch had a much calmer game than last week’s thirteen-goal thriller, but were able to ensure a solid win against an experienced Deeside team. A strong turn-out with a number of substitutes meant that they could apply constant pressure on a Deeside team which combined experience at the back with speed and skill up front. Tom Leonard started the scoring after being put through by Alex Fry with a strong strike on goal, whilst Ryan Murtagh, Tom Forster, Matt Brooks and Ben Fry were able to keep the Deeside attack at bay and clear the ball quickly and accurately, and Aaron Swain in goal made an excellent stick save to keep Deeside from getting off the mark.

More pressure from Whitchurch paid off with a goal from Martin Beecher during a period where Deeside had lost a player to the sin bin, giving them a comfortable 2-0 lead at half time. The half-time talk centred on getting the basics right, sharpening up ball control and passing, but this was a much better performance than last week in general and Whitchurch started to put together the smooth passing game which has given them so much success, with Joel Leese, Ben Kimberley and Steve Lloyd combining well in the middle of the field, and Martin Beecher and Jake Wood providing width in attack.

In reply, Deeside started putting on pressure in the Whitchurch half, leading to a number of short corners, finally leading to a goal to make it 2-1, but this inspired Whitchurch to regroup and counter, and Tom Leonard was able to grab his second with a flick lifted over the diving Deeside keeper very shortly after. A number of shots went just wide, and the Deeside keeper made a number of critical saves, but eventually Whitchurch got their one and only short corner of the game, and Jack Barnes was able to fire a shot through the legs of the Deeside keeper to make it 4-1. The last few minutes were then spent defending with James Partington and Ryan Murtagh each getting critical saves in, before the final whistle gave Whitchurch their 6th win of the season to stay top of the division.

 

Whitchurch Ladies 2s 21 Bebington Ladies 2s 0

The Whitchurch team were raring to go after a 2-week short break. They needed a big win to put them back at the top of the league as they sat second at the start of the match on goal difference. Before any of the action began both teams participated in a 1 minute silence to remember those who have fallen in conflict.

Whitchurch were straight out from the get go with Hayleigh Busby slotting the ball away in the first couple of minutes. Soon after Ashleigh Heath pushed two more goals past the keeper. This was followed by great passing and tactical play which allowed Tracy Tolhurst to fire away another two goals. Another chance came for the growing in confident team with a short corner in which Becky Brookfield slapped in her first goal for the club. Olivia Edgerton scooped up the next goal, followed closely by Millie Edwards who in her first senior game placed a further two more goals away in the net, with Ashleigh Heath and Tracy Tolhurst both scoring to finish their hat tricks. At half time Whitchurch had a lead of 11-0 but they still weren’t finished.

Many short corner chances came for the team and with new routines there was much success. Again, Whitchurch came and again Whitchurch scored with Emily Vernon picking up two goals, Ashleigh Heath adding two more goals to the tally, Becky Brookfield pushing the ball through the legs of the keeper. Millie Edwards also adding four more goals to her total. The teamwork allowed Edwards to drive the ball down the right wing and into the dee with Busby getting the final tap into the goal.

The final score of 21-0 was down to the whole performance of the team with excellent passing and defending from all players.

A jubilant 2s will face Alderley Edge 7s next week.