Ladies 1st XI 3-1 Olton & West Warwick 2nd XI

 

Scorers: Sally Cory (38mins) Caz McCabe (PC, 58mins),  Becca Wilkinson (69)

 

Saints 1s travelled to Olton for the second away match in a week determined to make improvements on the previous match and defeat to Harborne. When asked to comment on the Saints chances US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney commented that “of a successful game it is hard to know how well it will turn out” typical non-committal response. However match-day sponsor Boris was more positive when he replied “there’s a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know if we are ready? Are we ready?”

 

Well actually Boris we seem not to get ready at the start of matches as well as the opposition and again found ourselves 1 – 0 down from a scrappy opening goal in the 3rd minute. This rattled the Saints as they were put under a lot of pressure for the first 10 to 15 minutes by a well organised Olton side. As the first half wore on Saints were able to gain ground and began to build several attacking moves but were not able to create too many clear cut chances and finding the Olton keeper when they did arise. Saints finally won their first penalty corner in the 34th minute of the half and following two saves from the Olton keeper the umpire decided to stop the action for half time. Following a brief discussion with his opposite number and Chloe Cozens politely pointing out the ball had not left the circle the Saints were re-awarded the penalty corner. Sally Cory decided that now was the time to use the scare tactics of hitting the ball high into the charging defence. Sally did managed to achieve the desired scare effect but only to the two crows sitting on the back fence as the ball travelled high over the Olton goal.

 

The second half started on a much more positive note and with the Saints forwards pressing up, the Olton defence began to find it very difficult to clear their lines. Saints were rewarded in the 38th minute as Sally Cory turned in a cross on the far post to level the score. The pressure that Saints then continued to apply to the Olton defence finally paid off as Caz McCabe was able to slot the ball past the Olton keeper from a penalty corner in the 58th minute to put Saints into the lead. Saints pinned Olton back in their own half for much of the second period with the Saints defence restricting Olton’s attack to limited counters. In the final minute Becca Wilkinson converted a deep pass on the near post to complete a well-deserved victory for the Saints.

 

After completing their first win of the season Boris was heard to reply to his own question – “yes we are”

 

Man of Match: Becca Wilkinson – for an impressive performance up front.

 

DOTD:(3 candidates): 

Sally Cory – for spending most of her time on the floor

Lottie Tulley – for a green card

Colyn Biddle – for not realising we were in the lead!!! (I plead extenuating circumstances – it’s been a while)

 

Squad:Claire Leech (GK), Clare Sibley, Sally Trappit, Georgia Linnell (c), Caroline Hassock, Emma Cooper, Ferne Sanders, Sally Adlen, Emily Kilner, Lottie Tulley, Caz McCabe, Chloe Cozens, Becca Wilkinson, Ellie Bleech, Sally Cory

 

 

 

Men’s 2nd XI 2-3 Nottingham University 2nd XI

 

Goals: Danny Whitfield, Alex Blunt

Northampton Saints men’s 2’s beaten narrowly by a well drilled Nottingham Uni.

Unlike last weeks fixture, pre match preparations were a big improvement. So a full squad was available from the push back.

Both Nottingham and Saints started strongly, moving the ball around with Nottingham’s simple hockey approach giving them the majority of the possession. Saints defended strongly throughout with Lewis Ward, Guy Roberts and Daniel Whitfield working well at the back keeping Nottingham’s patient play at bay. Mid 1st half Nottingham’s patients was finally rewarded with there 1st goal from open play.

Saints reacted well to deficit with good runs from Greg Summers and Scott Mahoney creating chances but were failing at putting the final ball into the D. The 1st half ended 0-1 Nottingham with Saints pushing ever closer to an equaliser.

A strong half time team talk gave Saints the push they needed. As from the start of the 2nd half Saints gained more possession, attacking more effectively with good play from Sam Mitchell, using his pace to win Saints 1st a short corner. A strong chance for an equaliser.

A fast injection to the top battery and a strong, low flick to the bottom right corner from Daniel Whitfield gave Saints a much deserved equaliser. Game on! 1-1

From push back Nottingham went straight back into their steady style and managed to win their 1st short corner quickly after the restart.

A strong injection and quick flick right down the centre of the goal put Nottingham back in front. An immediate reaction to saints equaliser.

Tempers flared amongst the more passionate saints players as they were desperately looking for there second equaliser of the game.

The last quarter of the game came about, Saints were still looking for an equaliser. Winning a short Corner and creating many chances. Finally the ball was given into the D from the right hand side and fell to Alex Blunt at the back post who competently chipped the ball over the already diving keeper. The score 2-2

Saints tried to retain possession after the equaliser to push forward for the winner. In the last few minuets of the game Saints conceded a late short corner (as the whistle went) from a miss timed tackle by Tom Wightman. Again down the middle proved suffice as Nottingham took the lead and with it the win.

Overall a strong game from both sides with Nottingham’s strong finishing coming out on top.

A strong performance earned Lewis Ward man of the match. Alex Blunt claimed DOTD for taking the 100% approach to tackling to the extreme.

Squad: Robin Sawyer (GK), Guy Roberts, Lewis Ward, Pete Riches, Matt Gausden, Chris Reid,Tom Wightman, Danny Whitfield, Dan Whittaker (c), Alex Blunt, Scott Mahoney, Dan Rose, Greg Summers, Sam Mitchell

 

  

 

Ladies 2nd XI 0-6 Beeston 3rd XI

 

The Ladies 2s faced a tough game, playing Beeston 3s for the second time in 3 weeks. After trying out a new formation in a friendly during the week, it was time to put it to the test with the rest of the team. The aim of the game for the team was to defend from the front with the sideline support of Sam Biddle, who had come to support on his birthday – Happy Birthday Sam!
After a long team briefing in the changing rooms Sam gave us the mental push we needed to face Beeston full on. As we got to grips with the new formation Beeston managed to get through the defence for a quick 1st goal. Saints heads didn’t go down and pushed them through the rest of the first half, making it hard for them to get into our D. Saints won 2 penatly corners and just couldn’t quite finish them with a goal.
We started the 2nd half with tired legs, but a positive spirit determine for the game to provide the team with the positives we needed. We worked fantastically well as a team, but again struggled to score a goal – even though unlike our game versus Beeston 2 weeks ago we camped out in their D. The closest we got was when Natalia Raca hit the post.
The final score was 6-0 to Beeston, showing they had more finishing power than us. However the team worked well with the new formation, especially the player of the match Courtney Thorpe who push herself at centre mid. The team can take away some real positives for when they face Matlock 2s next Saturday.
The team would like to thank Sam who pushed us through the whole game and helped create a positive team spirit!
 
MOD – Courtney Thorpe
DOD – Natalia Raca
 
Squad: Emma Brennan (GK), Annie Howard (c), Nicky Milford, KJ Wilkins, Nic Holton, Annie Toman, Ella Forsyth, Emily Wilkins, Sophie Herring, Natalia Raca, Courtney Thorpe, Hannah Richards, Sim Sandhu

 

Melton 3rd XI  1-5 Men’s 3rd XI

Goals: Hillier (pc), Gamble (2), Pibworth (2)

The Gamble Pays Off For Saints!

Saints were raring to go, so much so that they were ready to start even before a second umpire and opposition keeper could be found. Strong talking translated into a strong opening as precise passing and interplay meant Saints bossed possession. It took about 15 minutes for Saints to take the lead, a typical thunderous penalty corner strike by Jason Hillier into the bottom corner.  Soon after woods the second came, Luke Pibworth bursting into the D before his reverse shot nutmegged the keeper. Saints looked to make full use of the pace and Roberts, Day and Miller made good use of the wings looking for the darting runs of the forwards. The 3rd goal came again with Saints bossing the D, Gamble finding space to push the ball into the corner past the keeper.

Half time resulted in Stobart revealing an injury to his hamstring, Roberts tried to stretch it out before it was discovered that actually makes it worse.

The second half started in a similar vein to the first, however with Saints pushing a high line, Melton were able to grab some confidence as a free run into the Saints D allowed the home team to score. Saints responded with a few loose passes as they tried to stamp authority back on the game. As both teams fought hard, attack after attack finally brought the 4th goal. Pibworth’s shot was saved by the keeper, before he followed up by slapping the ball into the goal. Powell almost got in trouble with the umpires as bursting outside the D they were unsure whether his clearance was with stick or pads. Saints thought they had their 5th goal as Rose burst into the D and roofed the ball into the net; however a painful looking Gamble showed that the ball had hit him first. Gamble did however grab the 5th as his pass / shot deflected off the defender and into the goal. 5-1 the final result and considering they only won away once last year, they will be happy with the 3 points.

Squad: Adam Powell (GK), Andy Dale, Nigel Down, Harry Stobart, Hugo Day, Jason Hillier, Ian McIlwaine, James Miller, Will Gamble, Luke Pibworth, George Roberts, Lewis moran, Ally Rose

 

Ladies 3rd XI 4-0 Olney

Goals: Ness Kingston (2), Sarah Walker, Rebecca Collins

Saints 3’s pressed from the start and Olney never really stood a chance.  It was a great team performance, with excellent communication from Verity in goal fed throughout the defence and mids to the forwards.  Becca H linked well with Ness up front and short corners were a plenty.  The first goal came from a well practised short with Sarah Walker injecting and Ness Kingston and Clare Noble linking at the top with a one two move ending in a flick in the top right hand corner from Kingston.

Continued pressure throughout the first half saw Sarah Walker burying a loose ball in the D, the goalie never stood a chance.  As with previous performances Saints struggled to maintain pressure throughout and did give Olney a couple of run away chances, but fantastic recovery by the defence, Savanna, Winnie and Jules and a couple of great one on one saves from Verity saw Saints 2 nil up at half time.

Motivational team support from coach Emily Wilkins enabled Saints to restart the game with the same intensity they had the match.  With Becky Mellor in defence and Sophie Burnham making her debut, Saints showed a depth of talent. Jane, Sarah and Kate continuously worked hard in the middle, feeding to Clare and Rebecca.  Pressure from the front two resulted in further shorts and again Saints finished off in style. One with Ness slipping to Rebecca Collins who didn’t hesitate and put the ball away with power and another with Ness and Clare working together and once again a one two move and a finessed finish by Ness.

It was a great team performance, Verity Anderton-Johnson, Winnie Jones, Savanna Jones, Jules Herring, Becky Mellor, Rebecca Collins, Sarah Walker, Jane Ogden, Kate Barnetson, Clare Nobel, Becca Herring, Ness Kingston, Becky Lovatt and Sophie Burnham.

MOTM: Rebecca Collins

 

 
Men’s 4th XI 6-0 Men’s 5th XI

Goals: Luke Howard (1), Max Darby (2), Lloys Atkinson (2), Steve Morris (1)  
 

THE MORNING RAIN BRINGS A POT OF GOALS AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW

 

The first inter-club league match of day saw the Men’s 4s take on the Men’s 5s at Caroline Chisholm School. The 4th XI started on the front foot and within 5 minutes found themselves a goal up thanks to Luke Howard reacting first to the keepers save during a short corner routine.  A stunned opposition soon found themselves overpowered as Saints 4s had a good spell of possession that allowed Max Darby to pick up the keepers initial save and neatly slot the ball home.  With a constant wave of attacks, Saints 4s were deservedly awarded a penalty flick which Rob Cary put wide of the posts although he did redeem himself shortly after with some good wide play saw his cross find Lloyd Atkinson in open space to strike the ball bottom left of the goals.  With minutes before half time, Saints scored their 4th and Max Darby’s 2nd after a good old fashioned wall-pass short corner routine saw his shot finding the back of the net!
 
With energy levels zapped by the high indian sun, the 4s did not start the second half as strongly yet with old heads on old bodies in defence, both Mike Darbyshire and Jim Phipps helped to keep the opposition at bay!  It took a good 20 minutes for Lloyd Atkinson to grab his second goal of the game following his magnificent solo run that enticed the keeper off his lines which also created the narrow gap for him to score. Despite the opposition having a McFlurry of chances, it was the self-practising physician and goal keeper extraordinaire that not only pulled off some fine saves but he also reinserted his dislocated shoulder back in to place without any swearing, swelling or discomfort – actually it was as if his cries of pain was more a tactical ploy for a comfort break!!  Anyway, Saints sealed the game with their final attack of the game as Steve Morris was found all alone on top of the D by Dave Henry who sent the keeper the wrong way as he finds the back board

Squad: Scott Bashford (GK) Jim Phipps, Mike Darbyshire, Matt Candler, Jeremy Wang, David Henry (c) Rob Cary, Steve Morris, Lloyd Atkinson, Luke Howard, Max Darby, Trev Fidler
 
MOTM – Lloyd Atkinson (tireless running)
DOTD – Rob Cary (despite having a good game he missed a penalty flick)
 
 

Men’s 5th XI 0-6 Men’s 4th XI

The first team of 1992 took on the newcomers of 2012 and showed their experience. The first half started evenly with both sides attacking and defending equally for the first 15 minutes before the ‘92 1stXI scored the opening goal. Soon after the newcomers launched a counter attack soon after but Alex Jeffery’s shot clipped the post and Ed in anger head-butted Bash’s stick causing him to bleed all over the pitch and made him see 22 players on each side. Before the end of the half the ’92 1stXI scored 3 more taking their lead up to 4-0.

The second half was much for the newcomers despite conceding 2 more goals. They launched multiple attacks down the right with Joe linking up with just about every player form left back. There were a few near goals for the newcomers including a Beautiful cross by Gareth to Alex who’s shot was somehow saved by Bash! Elliot also had a close shot saved by Bash by him simply hurting himself (Bash that is?) and stopping Karl from being through on goal! Some great saves as always by Jake at the back kept the newcomers in the game but the forwards couldn’t beat the brick wall that is Bash. The entire team did well but didn’t capitalize on their chances and showed a lack of experience compared to the ’92 1stXI but there is promise for the rest of the season!

 

MOM: George Rockell – for being everywhere and being a great playmaker!

 

DOD: Ali – for getting stuck in between the table and a wall at the pub knocking over a lamp on his way, and for being Ali.

 

Teas: Sausage and Chips with Bread and Butter.

 

Attendance: about 7

 

 

Ladies 4th XI 3-1 Ladies 5th XI

 

4th XI Goals: Trudy Royer, Rosie Instrell (2)

In another inter-club league match, the Ladies 4s continued their unbeaten start to the League with a win over the Ladies 5s. In a confident performance, the 4s had most of the possession in a one sided first half. This possession was converted into a goal through Trudy Royer, after a marauding Becky Easton attacked the D. The 4s channelled attacks well down the left hand side and two goals quickly followed from Rosie Instrell in a Player of the Match performance, her second coming after rounding the keeper and picking her spot with aplomb.

 

The second half was a different story however, with the 5s driving forward at every opportunity with some quality passing. They were rewarded for their pressure with a goal coming from an attack through the centre. However, the 4s managed to stem the tide, nearly scoring on the counter attack, and the game finished 1-3. Despite losing, the 5s are a team to watch…

 

U9s Tournament

With the realisation that a large number of last seasons dominant Mighty Nines had grown up and migrated into the U11 squads, it was left to U9 team veterans Ewan, Oliver and Ben to welcome in the fresh faces of Anaya, Grace, Michael and Chase to the group on a bright and sunny morning in Lutterworth.

With Ewan timing his arrival to perfection, our first opponents we’re Welford. Known for their speed on the break, the hosts lived up to their reputation and immediately placed the Nines under pressure, goalkeeper Ben repeatedly showing great positional sense and pulling off an impressive array of blocks and kicks to keep the ball the right side of the goal line. After the initial scramble our debutants soon found their feet and put in some excellent work in midfield and we were able relieve some of the pressure through attacks of our own, and were unlucky on a number of occasions. With the game constantly ebbing and flowing to the end, a share of the spoils was a fair result for an extremely well matched game.

Our second match saw us line up against Long Buckby. With the bit now between their teeth, the Mighty Nines outfield players gave Ben plenty of time to catch his breath. Excellent tackling from Grace and Anaya and relentless support play from Oliver and Chase meant that the majority of the play was in the opponents half. After a couple of well defended skirmishes into the D, last seasons top scorer Ewan was finally able break the deadlock and get his 2012-13 goal tally underway. With surprisingly little to do defensively, the team pushed on and were desperately unlucky not to increase their lead. Some outstanding scramble defence from Long Bucky somehow managing to deny Michael what looked from the sideline to be a certain goal.

The smiles on the faces at the end of the games showed that everyone had clearly enjoyed getting the season off to an unbeaten start…. and that was just the parents!

Final results:

Welford 0 – 0 NHC Mighty Nines

Long Buckby 0 – 1 NHC Mighty Nines

 

U11s Tournament

What a great day, 26 players (3 teams) playing for the under 11’s. There were some very encouraging signs within those 26, some great defending, attacking and goals.

A big well done to team 3 who won the tournament.

Without conceding a goal to team 2 in a nail biting playoff which they won and to team 1 who improved in every game which was really pleasing to see.

Top scorer was Rhys
Man of the match for team 3 was Amelia
Man of the match for team 1 was Gemma
Man of the match for team 2 was Finn