Mens 1st XI 2-3 Rugby & East Warwick 1st XI

Goals: Ben Scott, Joe Kopka

Northampton got off to the worst possible start in this game as they fell 2 goals behind after 10 minutes. From nowhere Saints sprang into life and thanks to a Ben Scott penalty corner and a fine Joe Kopka goal, the game was level at half-time.

With a spring in their step, it looked as though Northampton would come out victors, however an ill-disciplined second half performance in which 3 players were sin-binned allowed Rugby to score the all-important winner.

This result pushes Saints further down the table and they’re now starting to look over there shoulders at the relegation zone. They travel to North Staffs and Telford&Wrekin next weekend in a double header that is likely to shape there season.

 

Mens 2nd XI 3-3 Barford Tigers 2nd XI

Goals: Martyn Cory (2), Dan Rose

Saints travelled to Birmingham on Sunday with a real sense of drive and determination after a shock defeat the day before. Things didn’t get off to the best of starts as captain Matt Gausden had given his team the wrong directions and the team found themselves in the middle of a housing estate with not a hockey pitch in site! The team eventually found the pitch thanks to good old Sat Nav (much more reliable than Matt Nav!). Pre-match talk was all about Grant and his massive ego (yes Liam was jealous!). The warm up was painful with the team still aching from the game on the previous day.

The game started with Saints in control, however Barford continued to look dangerous on the counter-attack. The first goal of the game went to Saints as Dan Rose converted from close range (lets be honest, he never scored from further than 5 yards). Shortly before half-time Barford replied from a short corner (which James Miller neatly deflected past his own keeper) to leave the score at 1 apiece.

The second half seemed a repeat of the first half as Saints enjoyed plenty of the ball. They once again took the lead through a Martyn Cory penalty corner. However not to be outdone Barford came back again after converting a penalty flick (skipper Gausden confirming his DOTD award after conceding this flick!).

With 10 minutes on the clock it looked as though Northampton had scored the all important winner as Martyn Cory converted. Saints then wasted a further chances to put the game to bed. And with only a minute on the clock, Barford won a penalty corner, and neatly converted. The game finished 3-3 and this was definitely 2 points lost for Saints.

 

MOTM: James Miller – easily had the beating of the centre forward he was marking.
DOTD: Matt Gausden – got lost off and on the pitch!

Squad: Sam Biddle (GK), James Miller, Ben Northedge, Pete Riches, Matt Gausden (c), Grant Carlin, Matt Wilde, Kyle Taylor, Liam Cassidy, Athiq Thamby, James Knibb, Martyn Cory, Dan Rose, Andy Smith

 

Mens 2nd XI 1-5 Loughborough Students 2nd XI

Goals: Martyn Cory

Against a strong looking Loughborough, Saints fell apart in the first half. After fifteen minutes they were 3 goals down, however after stabelising themselves, they saw out the rest of the half without further problems.

The second half saw a much improved performance from Northampton, however a dubious fourth goal all but finished Saints off. With chances going begging at the other end as well it clearly wasn’t Northampton’s day, and a further goal from Loughborough added salt to the wound. A late Martyn Cory goal failed to brighten spirits.

Squad: Sam Biddle (GK), James Miller, Ben Northedge, Pete Riches, Matt Gausden (c), Grant Carlin, Matt Wilde, Kyle Taylor, Liam Cassidy, Athiq Thamby, James Knibb, Martyn Cory, Dan Rose, Andy Smith

 

Mens 5th XI 6-1 Boots IV

Goals; Rob Carey 4, Joe Cliffe, Ally Rose

Attendance; 7

Tea; Sausage, Chips & Beans

In the news; Egypt – They Sphinx it’s all over. It is now.

 

6-1…But…

A bit like a smelly student with a hangover hitting the snooze button on a Monday morning, Saints only really woke up in the second half of this game.

Even then it wasn’t pretty as the home team responded to David Henry’s half-time roasting by battering the oppo into submission with a blunt instrument.

That blunt instrument was four-goal hero, Rob Carey.

Saints first goal was started from defence by Steve Morris, linking up with Chris Godman and Joe Cliffe, who’s surging run to the top of the D set Carey up for number one.

Number two was a well-placed flick from a short corner.

Godman would have made it three but for a flicked shot which eventually came down with snow on it.

But the home team were by no means having it their own way in the first half and were nearly embarrassed by Boots’ diminutive number ten more than once.

After a no-nonsense half-time talk from Henry which made us all feel like naughty school boys, Saints started to wake up.

Not before a well-taken own goal from Callum Scott Collins however, who volleyed an acrobatic goal-line save from Morris back into the net.

From then on though, Saints woke up. A thirty-yard drive into the D was deflected in the goal by a slightly surprised Carey for his hat-trick, and number four was put away after a fine cross from Rob Tee.

After making one of the visitors cry, a well-positioned Cliffe got in on the act for number five and Tee was provider again for Ally Rose to make it six.

The only player who never really got into the game was Tom Dysko. Having complained at half time that nobody would pass to him, Dysko’s day was made worse by being smashed in the face with a Boots hockey stick. The boy now looks like Pudsey Bear and was last heard from at casualty.

 

MOM; Rob Carey

DOD; Callum Scott-Collins

 

Scott Bashford (GK), Gareth Stevens, Steve Morris, Callum Scott-Collins, Gareth Voss, Jon Keep, Joe Cliffe, David Henry (C), Ally Rose, Tom Dysko, Chris Godman, Rob Carey, Rob Tee 

 

Mens 6th XI (Home) 5-1 Warwick 5th XI

 

Goal Scorers: Adam Shepherd, Ross McLean, Greg Summers, Nigel Riches and Will Gamble

The rose is red, the violet's blue
The honey's sweet, and so are you
Thou are my love and I am thine
I drew thee to my Valentine
The lot was cast and then I drew
And Fortune said it shou'd be you.

This is what is read on the match day programme. It went straight to the Fighting Sixes player’s head with Jamie hitting on George immediately before the game even started.

Good building hockey was the nature of the day. The F6s built well with good pressure and excellent running into space. Adam “Wild Rose” Shepherd was gifted a box of chocolates with easily getting the ball past their defence and keeper.

With F6s holding most of the possession and territory there were some interesting defensive manoeuvres like Karl “Learning to Fly” Flowers falling over (like someone had shouted timber). Warwick won a short corner and with a well deserved move put it past Paul “Tulip” Crawford on rebound.

Tight midfield control by Karl “Daisy” McGregorand Greg “Lily” Summers couldn’t seem to link up with Jamie “Snapdragon” Hawkins who missed, stood on or kicked the ball (earning him DOTD).

Just before the half time whistle, Rob “Violet” O’Donnell decided to get into a argy bargy with the opposition’s left wing, nearly getting him a vote for DOTD.

Dermot “Foxglove” Cassidy gave us a rousing talk at half time inspiring us to greater heights.

With excellent drives both ways it took the F6’s patience, tenacity and a credit card charge for teddies and a bottle of Pinot Grigot to get Greg "Bluebell" Summers assisted by Will “Lavender” Gamble to squeak it into the goal. (It was heard that it was a goal because we didn’t have to hit it in, let’s say we were missing a lot…)

After an excellent clearance from Owen “Leek” Jones it connected with Ross “Dahlia” McLean who dribbled to the right (as his girl will testify) drove it in, for it to then cannon off the keeper into the goal.

With play moving up the middle and the left it was the chance of George “Marigold” Roberts to link up with Jeremy “Buttercup” Wan who advanced quickly. A poor clearance by the opposition and the instincts of a spritely Nigel “Petunia” Riches resulted in a straight slap into bottom left past the keeper.

The final goal was a great assist by Greg through to Will who pushed it into the corner finishing things off. Some would say that Ross was deliberately missing goals so that he could get out of “not buying a jug for a hat-trick”

Teas:    Sausage shaped soya substitute, Chip shaped potato substitute and the nemesis of climate change.

MOTM:  Greg Summers (Awesome debut goal)

DOTD:  Jamie Hawkins (Drunk on duty)

 

Squad: Dermot Cassidy(c); Paul Crawford (GK); Karl Flowers; Rob O’Donnell; Karl McGregor; Will Gamble; Adam Shepherd;  Jeremy Wan; Greg Summers; Owen Jones; Ross McLean; George Roberts; Jamie Hawkins and Nigel Riches.

 

Ladies 1st XI 1-2 Bedford

 

Goal scorer: Lucy Ann Chacksfield

 

The 1st team took a trip down to Bedford on Saturday. Sitting just behind us in the table it was an important game.

Coming from a good week of training we were all in a positive mood though unfortunately this didn’t translate to the pitch. From the start Bedford looked like they wanted it more, making the 50/50 balls and putting the defence under pressure. Northampton made some attacking moves but struggled to gain anything from them.

It wasn’t long before a Bedford short corner was converted into a goal as the defence struggled to clear the ball off the keeper’s pads. Unfortunately even going behind didn’t spur on the Saints who still looked sluggish and were struggling to communicate and string their passes together.

Further Bedford pressure allowed them to score another before the half time whistle. This couldn’t have come soon enough as Northampton needed to regroup and work out how to improve for the second half.

 

A half time discussion and a change of formation gave Saints some renewed energy. The half started on a much better note with Northampton still not at their best but looking much more positive and challenges the Bedford defence on multiple occasions. However despite the improvement and a number of short corners Northampton were unable to capitalise, which meant the renewed energy dropped and Saints often resorted to trying to fire the long ball through with limited success.

Losing a player to a yellow for a very deliberate tackle without retreating 5yards, left Bedford on the back foot and allowed saints to pick up the pace once again. This time a short corner was converted by Lucy Ann Chacksfield, leaving Saints within touching distance with 10 minutes to go. Unfortunately play dropped again and the second goal was not come as balls repeatedly were fired off the end of the pitch and opportunities were lost.

The game ended with a 2-1 loss, and a lot of downhearted Saints players. It was one of those days where things didn’t click or go our way, and it gives us plenty to think about and work on as we approach the last stretch of the season.

 

 Player of Match: Nikki Stringer

 

 

Ladies 3rd XI 0-1 Grammarians

We all turned up early and prepared for the match ahead, even Natalia …. As we knew that this match was going to be tough.
As soon as the umpire blew the whistle, we went out strong and attacking, we were determined to get a win. Straight away we were in their D having shot after shot on goal by Emily Kilner and Courtney Thorpe but none were successful. With the help of the defence, Jane Ogden, Annie Holt and Laura Wychgel, we were able to keep the ball away from our D preventing them to have a shot on goal. We continued to dominate the first half with a great defensive performance from the team allowing us to continue to hit them on the break as we knew that we the speed over them.

The half time whistle went, with the score still at 0-0, with us having the majority of the ball procession and having plenty of shots on goal.

After a positive half time talk from our coach Stu, we were psyched for the second half. When the whistle was blown we were on them like a pack of wolves, with some fantastic runs from Laura … and Anya Hartgroves into their D allowing us to have shots on goal. Unfortunately the Grammarians got a lucky break and managed to get a goal making it 1-0. This made the team more determined to score, pushing everyone up above the half way line. However the final whistle went with the final score as 1-0.

Unlucky girls, we played brilliantly and should have won. Next week Towcester better be prepared because there’s a new team in town

MOTM – Laura Wychgel for playing well in an unknown position (don’t actually know the reason)

DOTD – Tony Brennan for calling players the wrong names

 

 

Mixed 1st XI 3-1 Brixworth

 

Scorers Casey Humphries 1, Nathan Hernandez 2

In this morning game at Campion School, Saints came out victors thanks to the Northampton University students of Casey Humphries and a Nathan Hernandez brace. This was a well deserved win, although commiserations to Brixworth  who put in a fine performance.

 

 

Mixed 2ndXI 6-1 Amateurs

Scorers James Knibb 3, Athiq Thamby 1, Dan Whitfield 1, Aimie Hone 1

In this evening match, Saints came out victors after a superb second half performance. The first half was a closely fort affair as neither side wanted to give anything away. They both exchanged goals to go in 1-1 after 35 minutes. Amie Hone the scorer for Saints.

The second half saw Northampton come out all guns blazing as they scored an impressive 5 goals through youngsters James Knibb (3), Athiq Thamby and Dan Whitfield.