Harborne 1st XI 2-2 Ladies 1st XI

 

Goals: Esther Keijbets (2)

Ladies 1s promoted into the National League

 

Despite leading the table at the start of the last game of the season, Saints where not guaranteed the champions trophy yet. It all depended on the last game against Harborne, who previously beated the Saints Ladies at home. In addition to this ... the Saints pride was at stake. A win would see them end top of the table, and guarantee National League status for next season.

 

A week of relatively relaxed training sessions continued in the changing room prior to the game. However, Gavin Markham did not allow the girls to get distracted and wrote down the rules: DO NOT LOOSE, DO WIN. And more importantly, follow the game plan and stick to it at all times. In a more serious mood the players entered the pitch and warmed up. Abi Fitzgerald was quick out of the starting blocks for this last game, wanting to proof a point. Whilst the rest of the team continued their warm up under the capable lead of LA Chacksfield, goalkeeper Abi showed off her quick responses and moves, sending the opposition a warning.

 

The game started and Saints clearly were not fully awake yet. Harborne put the Saints defence under pressure from the start, but luckily they were not dangerous. Although there was good work in defence playing the ball around the back and not letting number 99 from Harborne get involved in the game, at times Saints struggled to get the ball out from the back. At other times, Saints were amazing and played quick balls that cut through the Harborne side as if slicing a cake. Amie Hone and Fran Lee worked well together in the centre, putting a high pressure on the Harborne defence, with some cracking tackles and great passes. Without real danger at either side of the pitch the umpires decided it was time for half-time.

 

Saints started the 2nd half pretty much the same way they finished the 1st half, with some strong powerful play. Harborne responded by putting more pressure on the Saints defence, and with some quick forwards they managed to get a number of short corners. Without runner Emma Cooper Saints had to make some changes, but they did not fear Harborne and went out strong on the short corners, keeping a clean sheet. The relief was clear on the faces of the Saints defence, but it did not last long. The ball was given away easily by Saints, and within minutes Harborne had scored twice. From that moment Saints decided that this was not how they wanted to end the season and as a team they stepped up their game. Playing the ball quickly around the back and midfield, Saints turned the game their way. A series of short corners was awarded, and it was Esther Keijbets who scored from two different angles. Back in the game Saints kept pressing for the winning goal through hard work up front from Sarah Cosford and Lisa Coe. Unfortunately there was not enough time, and the excellent umpire duo gave the last whistle.

 

In silence Saints celebrated. The reason for these quiet celebrations is not known: Saints Ladies 1st XI CHAMPIONS of the Midlands Premier League of the season 2010 - 2011.

The celebrations back in Northampton were definitely not quiet, that is all we can say!

 

Next year, Saints Ladies 1st XI are back in the National League. We would like to thank everybody who has been cheering us on from the side lines, and look forward to your continued support next season when we need it again. In addition, we would like to thank the club and in particular Gavin who stuck with us at all times and never gave up!

 

MOTM: Fran Lee and Esther Keijbets

DOTY (Year): Lisa Coe

Written by Esther Keijbets

 

Ladies 2nd XI 1-1 Leicester Ladies 3rd XI

Goals: Ness Kingston

Saints Ladies 2s travelled to Leicester for their final league game of the season. A thorough warm up meant that for once Saints were not out done in the first ten minutes of the game.

Despite struggling to come to terms with the bounce of the water based pitch Saints matched Leicester during the first half. Nicky Milford excelled at centre back with support from Kate Barnetson & Ferne Sanders. Meanwhile, Ness Kingston back playing up front caused the Leicester defence some trouble.

0 – 0 at half time & coach, Jon Noble, made a few tweaks to the line up. An error from the otherwise faultless Nicky Milford resulted in Leicester competently putting the ball in the back of the net. From the restart Saints worked the ball through the Leicester midfield to find Ness Kingston on the edge of the D. Kingston fired off a shot which came off the post, hit the goalkeeper’s bottom & finished up in the back of the net.

Both sides continued to work hard for the win. Clare Noble & Sally Adlen worked tirelessly in Saints midfield with Noble taking a number of hits from Leicester players.

The game finished 1-1 which was probably a fair reflection of the match. Leicester’s hospitality after the game was fantastic making for a pleasant afternoon out.

This result now sees Saints heading into a play-off next Sunday against Birmingham University. A win guarantees them a place in the Midlands Feeder league, defeat will see them drop into the Northants Ladies League, Division 1.

MOM: Nicky Milford, Clare Noble, Sally Adlen.

DOD: Ferne “will you go out with me” Sanders, Becca “slippers” Wilkinson.

 

 

Men’s 1stXI 4-4 Edgbaston 1stXI

 

Goals: Dave Saunders, Ben Scott (pf), Grant Carlin, Joe Colantonio

 

Saints went into their last game of the season hoping to end on a high against visiting Edgbaston. The home started very well put the third placed side under some intense pressure and went ahead through a well taken Dave Saunders strike. The game opened up very quickly with both teams enjoying attacking phases but it was Edgbaston that scored the next two. A lack of concentration suddenly saw Saints behind and the home side needed a change of attitude quickly. Saints pressed the away side for the next ten minutes and forced Edgbaston into conceding a penalty flick which Ben Scott converted. Five minutes from half time Saints scored two quick goals through Grant Carlin and Joe Colantonio to take a 4-2 lead into half time.

 

The second half was a very even affair with neither side able to convert a chance and with ten minutes to go Saints looked like ending their season with a win. But, in typical Saints style they threw it away. Just needing to keep possession in the Edgbaston half, Saints twice dribbled into flat sticks when there was no need to run with the ball, Edgbaston countered and scored twice, the second after winning a short corner.

 

A stern lesson for Saints who need to learn to use the heads when trying to close out a game. The last 5 minutes summed up their season and there is definitely a lot to work on before September.

 

Written by Ben Scott

 

 

Men’s 2ndXI 4-5 Belper 2ndXI

Goals: James Knibb (3), Simon Stringer

 

In the words of Alex Ferguson, it was “squeaky bum” time as the Men’s 2s travelled to Belper in search of the 1 point needed to secure their place in the 2ndXI Midlands Premier Division. They also had half an eye on results elsewhere as defeat for Leek against Stourport would mean safety secured regardless of Saints result. They say that hockey is a game of 2 halves, this game definitely was!!!

 

First Half….The good, the bad and the ugly! (minus the good!)

Preparation wasn’t ideal as Matt Wilde and Andy Smith arrived late. Ben Northedge took the warm up and used all he’s learnt in his Sports Science Exercise Degree to great effect as he put the team through their worst warm up of the season!! (Has he actually attended any of the lectures?!).

The team-talk was all about keeping it simple, tight, don’t do anything silly and lets attack them at pace. For the first 10 minutes the team did exactly this as they pushed Belper into defending deeply. However no clear-cut chances were created. Some-what against the run of play Belper took the lead as the defence switched off to a free hit. Minutes later they pressed the self-destruct button again as some lack lustre marking allowed Belper a free shot on goal which they duly converted. The mad spell continued when Saints fell another goal behind. All of this within a 15 minute period! Saints gradually began to regain their composure and exert themselves on the opposition as they had done when the game started. Unfortunately it was Belper who got another to leave a shell-shocked Saints 4 goals down.

With minutes to go before half-time, Saints deservedly got a goal back as James Knibb expertly converted a penalty corner.

Half-time and 4-1 down, things weren’t looking good! This lead to a rallying call from coach Biddle and Captain Gausden. Put everything you’ve got into these 35 minutes. Unfortunately these motivational words didn’t sink in until 5 minutes into the second half! By which point the team had fallen another goal behind, again due to some non-existent marking (Ben Northedge!). This led to Stringer and Gausden exchanging a difference of opinions across the pitch!

 

Second Half…..The Great (or should that be lucky?) Escape

5-1 down and the team then sprung into life as they spent the rest of the half attacking Belper. James Knibb scored a second goal from a penalty corner and with 15 minutes to go there was still time! Knibb then completed his hat-trick courtesy of another short corner so with 10 minutes to go, 2 goals needed maybe they could pull off a great come-back? Saint switched to a 3-4-3 formation in a desparate bid to get the goals. During this time Knibb hit a corner just over the cross bar, and forward Dan Rose also blazed over the bar when it seemed easier to score. With time running out it looked like it was the end of the road, however up-stepped Simon Stringer to convert a short corner to leave the score 5-4. Unfortunately that was it and the whistle went for full-time, and they fell just short of what would have been a stunning come-back.

So a dejected team headed off the pitch with all eyes (and I Phones!) on the Stourport vs. Leek result. At 6pm the result was confirmed, Stourport 2-1 winners over Leek, leading to jubilant celebrations (and relief) in the Saints camp. The Great Escape complete!

 

A huge thanks go to coach Colyn Biddle for his hard work and chauffeuring this season! Same to Rachel Langley who’s travelled with the team to umpire all their away games and again has driven to most of them. (And even more thanks to her for listening to Martyn Cory telling her the rules of hockey!!). Also thanks to Lloyd Atkinson for captaining the team till November (before going off to play for the 1s). Lots of work to be done for next season if the team wants to avoid relegation battle.

MOTM: James Knibb – who needs Martyn Cory!

DOTD: James Knibb – bad hair day (again!), and shot by a sniper during the game! It must also be mentioned he won the fines meeting as well!

Squad: Sam Biddle (GK), Simon Stringer, Pete Riches, Danny Whitfield, Ben Northedge, Matt Wilde, Alex Mcindoe, Matt Gausden (c), Liam Cassidy, Stephan Williams, Athiq Thamby, Dan Rose, James Knibb, Andy Smith

Written by Matt Gausden

 

Men’s 3rd XI 2-10 Birmingham University 3rdXI

Goals: Lewis Ward, Jason Hillier (pf)

The last weekend of the Midlands Premier league saw Saints 3s welcome a strong University of Birmingham side to a rather overcast Moulton (annoyingly for Hillier as he had packed his sun cream), who needed a win to finish the season as champions. The talk before the game was of not committing silly turnovers and intelligent defending to try and absorb as much pressure as possible from an anticipated strong opposition.

Indeed the first 20 minutes were extremely cagey, with Saints defending deep and exceptionally well to frustrate the visiting team. However it was a case when not if, and Birmingham made the breakthrough to take the lead after 25 minutes.  This was the catalyst for the game opening up a little bit more, with Saints enjoying some good periods of possession and moving the ball effectively down the left hand channel though good work from Ward and Day as well as Swansborough and Scott-Collins putting the centre backs under pressure in defence, the chances starting appearing for Saints. This period of pressure was then rewarded by a goal from Ward after a mix up in defence between the Uni defender and keeper allowed the ball to be simply slotted home from close range.

With the score at 1-1, this should have been the time to consolidate possession and see out the half. Instead Saints started committing cheap mistakes, leading to turnovers in dangerous positions that were duly converted by the visitors; making the score at half time 4-1.

Unfortunately this trend continued for the duration of the second half, the lessons learned from a season at this level not being heeded, with game going out of reach after 4 unanswered goals from the visitors. Despite this Saints never gave up going forward, with Heaphy and Down playing some nice balls through for the forwards to run onto. Saints persistence was rewarded in the last 10 minutes when a well worked passage of play down the right channel led to a penalty flick. A sunburnt Hillier stepped up and duly converted the flick, taking great delight in the Uni keeper diving exactly where he told him he would put the flick! Despite this the visitors managed to score 2 more goals before the game was out making the final score 2-10.

Overall the 3s season has been pretty tough and the squad has been plagued with inconsistency with regards to selection which definitely hasn’t helped in getting the right results. Despite this the attitude has been exemplary and no one has been going through the motions even after relegation from the Midlands Premier, as highlighted by some good results towards the end of the season against strong opposition in Stourport and Loughborough. Special thanks also needs to go to Down, Swansborough and McIlwaine for running things in the absence of the 3s captain for a large part of the year.

 

Squad: Phil Preen (GK), James Miller, Jason Hillier, Lewis Ward, Tom Wightman, Nigel Down, Ian McIlwaine, Sam Bigley, Sean Henry, Max Heaphy, Tom Scott Collins, Hugo Day and Matt Swansborough.

Written by James Miller

 

Coalville 4thXI 0-3 Men’s 4thXI

Goals; Tom Bradshaw, Chris Godman, Ross McLean

Attendance; 3

Tea; Three pints of Rutland Best and a Coke

In the news; Anti-cuts demonstrations in London town

 

Smiley Pointers

Saints dragged themselves up the motorway for one more game before the end of the season.

They needed have bothered as this pointless game dragged on to it’s inevitable anti-climax by way of three dubious goals.

There first was put away by Chris Godman to the resounding silence of the crowd as the umpire checked the rulebook to see if it was legal. It was!

Highlight of the first half was Ant Czaicki’s aerial back towards the Saints’ goal, gleefully picked up by a Coalville player who then lost it. Czaicki later complained that, “Nothing else was on”. Running a close second was the umpire mistakenly pointing the wrong way on a free hit and arousing the fury of Andy Dale.

 

Much of the same in the second half, punctuated by a close range goal by Tom Bradshaw and a third from Ross McLean who, “Turned on a sixpence” to put the ball in the back of the net. Apparently.

Highlight of the second half was Scott Bashford going head-to-head with an enraged umpire for smiling too much and, running a close second, was the umpire mistakenly pointing the wrong way on a free hit and arousing the fury of Andy Dale. Again.

MOTM; Anthony Stevens

DOTD; Andy Dale (For letting Joe Cliffe run off with his car keys, thus prompting domestic re-arrangements)

 

Squad: Scott Bashford (GK), Joe Cliffe, Andy Dale (C), George Roberts, James Ruse, Ant Czaicki, Chris Rowland, Anthony Stevens, Ross McLean, Tom Bradshaw, Chris Godman

Written by Joe Cliffe

Men’s 5thXI 11-0 Nuneaton

 

Goal Scorers: Callum Scott-Collins (3), Rob Cary (3), Tom Dysko, Rob Tee, Grant Stevens, Greg Summers (2)

 

In the absence of Dave Henry, soaking up the sun in Barcelona, Jon Keep went back to his skipper roots and lead the fifth team to battle against the battered Nuneaton squad. The fifth team went in with confidence after the last meeting against this team and were set to put another two figure score against them.

 

From the outset fifths went in hard and pummelled Nuneaton’s defence quickly putting away four goals. First of which was finished with an incredible flick perfectly executed by Grant Stevens, followed up by a sneaky slap placed in the bottom right corner by new found centre forward Callum Scott-Collins. The next goal was a super shot nailed into the top corner by Rob Cary. Gareth Voss experienced what it felt like being a rabbit in the head lights when a ball was struck towards his head, Tom Dysko took the advantage and coolly flicked the ball into the net.

 

The game looked one sided through the majority of the first half and  was help by a solid performance from the whole back line, although Ed Holt found not touching the ball too much hard work and thus made himself comfortable on the astro. Another surge from the fifths resulted in well placed flick into the side netting by Callum Scott-Collins. From that the fifths found themselves messing around inside the oppositions D, which eventually produced another goal by Rob Cary who has a simple tap in at the post from a cross by Tom Dysko. A surge down the left by Scott Fleming and Tom Dysko lead to an easy slap in at the back post by Rob Tee, however the fifths admitted a blatant foot that lead to the goal and sportingly gave up the goal. The final goal of the first half was by Greg Summers who picked up a deflection after Rob Cary was denied by the cross bar.

 

The second half started with some good attacks from Nuneaton, much to Ed Holt's disgust as he had to get off the floor to make a quality diving save. However the possession quickly turned and fifths won a short corner, where Callum Scott-Collins struck into the goal, claiming a hat trick in his first game as a striker. Another attack, this time on the right, and a lovely bit of play by Tom Dysko, worked his way into the D and Greg Summers finished for his second goal of the game. Sam Mitchell felt left out by not getting a goal and took his anger out on Scott Fleming, if were not for Scott’s ballerina skills he may have been out for the count! Another short corner followed with Rob Cary placing it into the net with a well placed flick setting him up for a hat trick and sealing his position as fifth team top scorer. The final goal of the game was a one man effort by Rob Tee, despite the whole team creating space and shouting ‘PASS’ over and over again, Rob went in pursuit of goal and trickled by the keeper, making it 11-0 to Saints, the goal was not enough for Rob Tee, who did an awful celebration which rubbed salt into the wound for Nuneaton.

 

MOTM: Callum Scott-Collins

DOTD: Rob Tee (Greedy)

               

Squad: Ed Holt (GK), Grant Stevens, Jeremy Wan, Steve Morris, Adam Shepherd, Sam Mitchell, Jon Keep (c), Greg Summers, Gareth Voss, Tom Dysko, Rob Tee, Rob Cary, Callum Scott-Collins, Scott Fleming

Written by Callum Scott-Collins

 

Badgers 5-3 Daventry Badgers

Goals: Jacob Pryce (4), Greg Summers

 

With a late afternoon push back at Moulton, Northampton started the brighter with a lot of possession and by 10 minutes were 1-0 up, scorer Jacob Pryce with the first of his 4 goal. With great team work Lions pushed and pushed and by 30 minutes 4-0 up all from Jacob, then a beautiful drag flick from Greg Summers after some really good link up play should have sealed the first half for Northampton. However seconds before the half time whistle went, Daventry smashed their way through Lions to claw one back! 5-1,at halftime.

 

Daventry must have had a very good team talk at half time and came out very strong and quickly scored minutes into the second half, 5-2. Northampton tried to counter but Daventry’s goalkeeper Will Powell stood firm to deny Northampton any further goals. Daventry pushed and scored again, 5-3. Northampton’s defence held strong and even though we couldn’t score any more, 5 was enough to seal a victory. 5-3 to Northampton.

 

 Well played both Teams.

Match report by Hayley Evans-Smith