Mens 2s 3-2 Barford Tigers

 

Goals: James Knibb, James Askew, Alex MacIndoe

After a ‘Fantastic’ warm-up from George Mellor and the comments from Alex Mcindoe stating “I’m even colder now than before the warm up” Saints stepped out on to fortress Moulton feeling confident. From the Whistle the team played fantastically and pressed the Barford team well in their 25 for the majority of the half, There where a Mcflurry of chances including the Liam Cassidy ‘Girlfriend strike’ (a reverse hit while blowing kisses to his girlfriend on the side line).

We were rewarded when the Young James Knibb danced through the defence and slot the ball nicely under the Barford keeper… Moments later ‘Old boy’ James Askew dived (I say dived ;)) for the ball at the far post, 2 – 0 saints!!! At the end of the first half Barford score a top of D far post screamer, how our ‘Tallest’ keeper 6’ 6’’ Sam Biddle didn’t reach it we’ll never know! 2 – 1 Saints.

 

The second Half started poorly with Saints not switched on with school boy errors all over the pitch, Barford managed to capitalise and scored 2 – 2.

Saints began to pick up their game and were finally rewarded when our ‘Smallest’ place Alex Mcindoe unleashed a rocket at the top of the D and drilled it straight through the Barford Keeper.

Final result 3 – 2 Congrats on first Prem win, may it continue this Saturday!!!

 

Points of note:

• George Mellor's awful aerial (if you can call it that!), and for wearing a hair band without realising he'd had his hair cut!
• Biddle for turning 18, having a "wild" party the night before our game, and buying a jug. "lad"!
• Ben Northedge for being the next Billy Elliot
• Liam Cassidy for bringing his fan base (girlfriend and dad).

MOM - Ben Northedge

DOD – Should be Knibbs, but the captain is overriding this vote and giving it to Martyn Corey even though he doesn’t even play for our team “Just look at him”

 

 

Mens Vets 2-1 Solihull Blossomfield Vets

 

Goals: Andy Blake, Dave Henry

A solid performance by Northampton Vets saw them through to the second round of the England Hockey National Vets Cup. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Northampton beat a confident side from Soilihull Blossomfield 2-1 with goals from skipper Andy Blake following a skillful piece of play from Ian Macilwaine, and Dave Henry.
Fantastic defensive play led by Colyn Biddle in goal and featuring tireless marking from Jim Phipps and Jason Hillier ( the baby of the team at a mere 40 years old) kept Solihull at bay for the last tense 10 minutes. Northampton march onto a 2nd round home fixture with Barford Tigers on 7th November.

 

Ladies Vets 4-1 Edgbaston Ladies Vets

The ladies made it through to round 2 of the EHB Cup with a comfortable victory over Edgbaston. Full match report to follow shortly...

Ladies 1st XI 1–1 Bedford 1st XI

 

Goals: Esther Kejbit (pf)
 
Bedford were comfortably the better side in this game, however Saints even though playing badly dominated the possession. The first half was scrappy, with Saints not on form and not playing their usual fluid game.  Things got slightly better just before half time but unfortunately the whistle went before we were able to capitilise on this slightly improved performance.
 
The second half was an improvement with us managing to string a few more passes together and find some gaps.  Things still weren't up to our normal standard and on a break after a few missed tackles Bedford scored.  It wasn't looking hopeful for Saints as we frantically tried to level the score.  With some great work in the D, Lucy Ann Chacksfield won a short corner and as a deflected shot was saved on the line by a Bedford shoulder, we earned a flick which Esther Kejbit slotted past the keeper.  With five minutes left Saints pushed on for the win but came away with just a draw.

 

 

Ladies 2nd XI 1-2 Matlock 2nd XI

Goals: Katie Barnetson

For the third game of the season the 2nd team took on a strong and well organised Matlock team. Initially having the majority of the possession, with excellent forward runs from Becca Wilkinson and Clare Noble, with excellent support play from Ness Kingston and Molly Ogden. Unfortunately we were unable to capitalise on this possession and an unfortunate error in defence led to Matlock getting a lucky goal against the run of play.

The second half began with some strong attacking play from the opposition, met by an in form Claire Leech in goal, whilst on the back foot the defence worked hard to defend several short corners, until finally after a slightly dubious umpiring decision led to another Matlock corner which even “Leechy” couldn’t stop!

 

Further Saints attacking play led to a short corner, which was scored from close range by Katie Barnetson. With Matlock on the back foot, Saints had all the play but were unable to score any further goals. A good performance all round with special mention to “man of the match” Claire Leech.

 

Coventry & N. Warwick 1st XI 1 -  4 Mens 1st XI

Goals: Jamie Webb, Ben Scott, Stuart Clark (2)

 

The Saints go marching on!

An absolutely stunning performance from Saint's on Saturday saw them defeat top of the league Coventry & N.Warwick 4-1. Two games ago Saints sat despairingly in the league table with zero points from their opening two games. Now they are only 1 point behind the 3rd placed team in the league. A fantastic turnaround! Little needs to be said about individual details of the game since Saints dominated every area of the pitch and were simply better player-for-player than their opposition. Goals from Jamie Webb, Ben Scott and a Stuart Clark brace ensured a well deserved victory.

 

 

Mens 3rd XI 1-3 Beeston 3rd XI

 

Goals: Matt Swansborough

Squad: Paul Madeley, James Miller, Jason Hillier, Danny Whitfield, Lewis Ward, Kieran Lane, Ian McIlwaine, Nigel Down, Sean Henry, Matt Swansborough, Dan Rose, Simon Ellison, Max Heaphy, Joel Bird

Saints travelled to away to Beeston for an encounter which they fully expected to be a tough challenge. The pre-match warm up was limited due to having to warm up in the car park, whilst avoiding traffic.

The game started, and continued throughout at a fairly frenetic pace; however the early exchanges were fairly even, with both sides creating half chances. Solid work in the Midfield by Nigel Down and Ian McIlwaine, kept the early Beeston pressure at bay, whilst the pace of Kieran Lane and Sean Henry created some attacking impetus for the Saints. After 15 minutes Beeston capitalised on a defensive error and scored the first of their goals. 5 minutes later the score was doubled, when again the home scored finished well after a defensive lapse. To round of 10 minutes of madness, Saints conceded a 3rd goal on 25 minutes, and at 3-0 down, the away side were in danger of being overwhelmed by their hosts. On the half hour Saints pulled a goal back, when Lewis Ward injected some pace down the wing and crossed to the top of the D, where Matt Swansborough swept home a first time effort catching the Beeston keeper off guard. The score remained 3-1 at halftime.

James Miller delivered the half time team talk (minus mince pies, oranges and fresh plums…..in fact, minus any sustenance at all!). The words focused on the need to believe that we could compete at this level, and the need to work harder in all areas of the pitch.

The words were well heeded in the second half, and Saints created more opportunities, as well as defending resolutely. Paul Madeley made numerous good saves during the half, and the back line of Ward, Hillier, Whitfield and Miller kept clear opportunities down to a minimum. With ten minutes to go, it was Saints who were looking the more likely side to score, and they managed to force their first penalty corner of the game. This led to 4 PCs in succession, each of which forced the Beeston keeper into making some high calibre saves, including two from Danny Whitfield drag flicks.

 The game finished 3-1, and the Saints came off the pitch feeling proud of there performance, particularly in the second half.

 

MOTM – Kieran Lane, for an outstanding performance in the midfield

DOTD – Max Heaphy, primarily for not bringing Jim the Squirrel with him!

 

 

Mens 4th XI 1-3 Rugby & EW 4th XI

Goals: Chris Godman

 

Although the 4s were beaten last week the team were happy to be back on
home turf and ready to make ammends. After some creative warm up techniques from the excitable Gary ‘Mr Motivator Patterson it was on with the job in hand.

Now as soon as the whistle sounded for the start of the match Saints somehow managed to put themselves into sleep mode as within no more than two minutes Rugby strung 5 passes together and played the ball into the back of the Saints net. They then realised where they were and what was going on and started to rebuild and block Rugbys advances. The game sat at 1-0 right through until 15 minutes into the second half where through sheer frustration the ‘Stealth like, Stick Like Godman’ forced has way through from the left side of the D beating 3 players, finding himself at the top
of the D to rifle a shot past the Rugby defenders and Keeper.

The game now sat in the balance and although Saints had some new found confidence and played the ball around with conviction, this only lasted for 3-4 minutes as another ‘LA LA land’ moment allowed a Rugby striker with a one on one with Lord Bashford to slip a ball through his legs into the waiting goal.
To the round a dismal grey day off the unfortunate Tom Shaggy Whiteman
was mugged at the top of the D to allow another one on one for Rugby to
finish the game 3-1 winners.
Saints 4s need to go back to the drawing board and rethink tactics and look at
wether they want to compete at this next level.

MOTM: James Ruse for sturn like determination.
DOTD: The whole saints 4th team for just not turning up.

 

 

 

Leicester5th XI 1-2 Mens 5th XI

 

Scorers; Rob Cary, Luke Pibworth

 

Phil Preen (GK), Grant Stevens, Steve Morris, Callum Scott-Collins, Aidan Walker, Jon Keep, Joe Cliffe, David Henry (C), Marcus Spencer-Brown, Rob Cary, Luke Pibworth, Ed Arnold, Adam Shepherd

Attendance; 5

Tea; Curry and Poppadums (No, they weren’t crisps, Luke).

In the news; Red Sludge Reaches the Danube.

 

Furry Friend Wins the Day

 

Another hard game and another extremely well-battled victory for recently-promoted Saints V. It looked as if the visitors were at last going to be found out as Leicester’s skilful players put Saints under pressure from the start. 

But some excellent defending from the back four kept the whites in the game and eventually Saints hauled themselves back into contention. At last they began to move for each other off the ball and started to make the opposition do some of the running. Rob Cary went close with a powerful flick being deflected over the bar and onto the neighbouring pitch. And another fine save from the Leicester keeper meant he was keeping them in the game.

 0-0 at half-time, and it was all still to play for.

Saints at last opened the scoring in the second half with a move down the right involving Joe Cliffe and Ed Arnold, culminating in Luke Pibworth’s third goal of the season.

It wasn’t long though before Leicester equalised after a high velocity goal-mouth scramble.

But Saints kept up the pressure. A run of five short corners and only Jon Keep’s injection ability kept the visitors from scoring.

Enter Callum “Ferret-Nutter” Scott-Collins. Despite his nastily bruised finger, Scott-Collins set off on another trade mark run into the heart of enemy territory. Leicester’s defence was thrown into panic by the visitors’ secret weapon and as their full back kicked it towards his own keeper, Cary gratefully gobbled up the loose ball and put into the back of the net.

At last, the final whistle and Saints went home victorious, via the pub.

MOTM; Callum Scott-Collins

DOTD; Luke Pibworth

 

 

NorthamptonBadgers 0-4 Welford

 

 

 

After a very quick goal from Welford, Northampton played very defensively throughout the first half, but Welford still managed to break the defence before scoring for the second time in the first half. Northampton had two opportunities to score but, despite the ball entering the goal, they were disallowed. The first was for the Northampton shooter was just outside of the D, the second chance came from a penalty corner. With Alexander Rose taking a powerful hit at goal, this was demonstrated after it had hit Welford’s defender and therefore being too high.

 

In the second half Northampton fought back hard, with Tom Wightman making many attempts to shift the ball into the D. But Welford’s defense remained unbreakable, allowing them to steadily rack up their goal tally. One last goal by Welford in the final minutes of the game sealed the deal. Leaving a disappointed Northampton with a final score of Northampton 0 – 4 Welford.

 

 

 

NorthamptonLions 4-1 Long Buckby

 Goals: Tim Warburton, Gregory Summers (2), Jeremy Wan

Northamptonwent a goal down in the first 15 minutes to a rather controversial goal, however pulled it back straight from the restart with Tim Warburton scoring the equaliser.  Not long after, Gregory Summers put Northampton ahead with a cracking reverse shot sending Northampton into the break 2-1 up.  Northampton were straight back on it in the second half and Jeremy Wan yet again scoring from a penalty corner!  With five minutes to goGregory Summers sealed the victory with a sensational goal set up by a great run down the right wing from Anthony Condon. 

Final Score: Long Buckby 1 – Northampton Lions 4

MOTM: Gregory Summers