Match Reports from 27th October
Men’s 2ndXI 2-0 Stourport 2ndXI
Goals: Dan Rose, Alex Blunt
The 2s were in buoyant mode as they hosted league leaders Stourport at a chilly Moulton on Saturday afternoon. They welcomed student Nick Beattie into the squad after some impressive performances lower down the club. Whilst Lewis Ward made a returned in place of injured biscuit boy Pete Riches. The pre-match preparations were good, skipper Dan Whittaker giving his usual rousing team-talk. Robin Sawyer continued to dazzle his team-mates with his fashion sense by modelling his Granny’s tea cosy.
The game started and Saints got off to a flying start, pinning Stourport back into their own 25 straight away. Indeed this is how it continued for the whole half as Northampton made attack after attack after attack. However it was at times proving difficult to break down such a compact, crowded defence but the deserved breakthrough came mid-way through the first half as a swift counter-attack saw Saints storm down the left side of the pitch and after some neat 1-2 touch passing, the ball fell perfectly to forward Dan Rose at the far post for him to sweep the ball home.
The second half saw a repeat of the first, with Saints completely dominating proceedings but once again struggling to break down a very defensive opposition. 15 minutes in and Alex Blunt sealed the 3 points for Saints as he found space in the D to unleash a miss-hit shot into the near corner of the goal. A touch of fortune for Blunt when he should have squared the ball to Rose but even so a deserved second for Northampton. The rest of the game saw a series of chances go begging with Danny Whitfield and Guy Roberts both going close from penalty corners, and ‘attacking centre-back’ Roberts also just firing wide of the far post from the top of the D.
A final mention must go to debutant Beattie. After such an impressive debut he finished on a memorable low as he proceeded to kick the ball into the net in his bid to claim a third goal for the team. Fortunately Roberts attacking display saved him from being DOTD.
The game finished 2-0, an extremely one-sided match and a slightly flattering score-line to Stourport however 3 deserved points for Saints over the league leaders can never be turned down.
Next week sees them take on Edgbaston away in what will be a very tough encounter.
MOTM: Nick Beattie – energetic debut performance.
DOTD: Guy Roberts – spent far too much time in the oppositions D, yet he still “couldn’t score in a brothel!”
Squad: Robin Sawyer (GK), Lewis Ward, Guy Roberts, Danny Whitfield, Chris Reid, Ben Northedge, Matt Gausden, Dan Whittaker (c), Nick Beattie, Dan Rose, Alex Blunt, Sam Mitchell, Tom Wightman.
Nottingham 3rdXI 2-2 Men’s 3rdXI
Goals: Pibworth (2)
Halloween or No Halloween, there were enough goings on for this to be a trip not to be fondly looked back on. For Will Gamble it was forgetting his trainers, before Adam Powell led him to Fosse Park to buy some Orange and Green Replacements. For the team it was waiting in the cold outside a clubhouse that was never opened so they had to change on the pitch. Shame no-one forget to tell the team that there was no hot water for the showers! Even some of the coke cans had frozen! Pibworth also lost £20 and left his shorts in Nottingham, so if you’re reading this and have ‘46’ shorts you know why!!
On the pitch McIlwaine demanded the possession game that has marked Saints out for the last few weeks. However a youthful Nottingham side put a downer to any early Saints goal when they went into the lead. Saints went close with several efforts, but it finally scored after some great play from Gamble and ‘Spectator’ Wade setting up Pibworth to volley home past the keeper. The half was extremely open with both teams having plenty of possession in each other’s D, Miller among others having a solid defensive day. Several short corners came and went but the score remained level at the break, Powell on hand for some good saves.
Both team raised the tempo for the second half, but it was Nottingham who went back into the lead after a reverse shot sneaked into the corner past Powell. With an every expanding game, O’Donnell and Rockell were finding great space on the left, with Moran on the right. Tempers flared briefly over several decisions, but it was Hillier who received the games only card (green) after ‘slipping’ into the opposition. Wade also received a stick to the head (he claimed it was a bear). Saints equalised after more good work from Moran and Gamble allowed Pibworth to volley home his second of the day. Five more minutes of frantic attacks bore no fruit and both team had to settle for a point.
DOTD: Gamble – Doubt he will ever forget his trainers again
MOTD: Pibworth – much to Hilliers’ and Millers’ amusement.
Squad: Adam Powell (GK), George Rockell, James Miller, Jason Hillier, Andy Wade, Lee O’Donnell, Ian McIlwaine (c), Lewis Moran, Will Gamble, Luke Pibworth, Richard Whorton
Ladies 3rd XI 7-1Old Grammarians
Goals: Ness Kingston, Jules Herring, Becca Herring, Clare Noble, Becca Wilkinson.
After yet another slow start, Saints finally found their rhythm and pressured in the D to win a short corner. A quality injection from Jules Herring saw Ness Kingston finish with finesseand Saints took the lead. From then on there was no looking back. Saints continued to pressurise and a cross in front of goal was finished by Jules Herring for a 2 nil lead. A massive hit down the pitch saw Grammarians pressurise and win a short, finishing it with a high strike which caught the defence out. Not to be deterred Saints picked themselves back up and BeccaHerringtook control in the D and finished with a spin and a push into the corner. 3 -1 at half time.
The second half and Grammarians never stood a chance. With a team spirit not seen before Saints worked relentlessly. Clare Noble took the goalie on at the top of the D retained possession and finished to make it 4 – 1. This was followed by continuous pressure in the D with Saints winning a numberof shorts resulting in a pass from Kingston to BeccaCollinswho finished with the quality she has been promising all season, alongwith a further two from Kingston. Obviously none of this would’ve been possible without constant quality from the Saints defence who picked up every break away run, and fed back up the pitch through the midfield. Great team play.
Squad:Verity Anderton-Johnson (GK), WinnieJones, SavannaJones, Jules Herring, BeccaHerring, Jane Ogden, Ness Kingston, Sarah Walker, Clare Noble, Kate Barnetson, BeccaCollins, Nat Raca, Sophie Burnham.
Men’s 4th XI 3-0 Belper 4thXI
Goals: Lloyd Atkinson (2), Rob Tee,
Saints 4s came into the game on a 4 game win streak without conceding knowing they were in for a tough game against an experienced Belper side.
Saints started slowly and only some good defending from Jim Phipps and Steve Morris kept out Belper. Saints eventually grew into the game good work on the left from Lloyd Atkinson who produced a cross was met by Rob Tee how deflected the cross but was thwarted by a last ditch save by the Belper Keeper.
From the resulting melee a short corner was given a good injection from Chris Godman went to Lloyd Atkinson who slotted into the corner for 1-0.
Saints continued to battle hard to the break with James Ruse in particular enjoying a very solid game at left back.
The second half got underway George Roberts moving from Right Midfield to Centre Midfield alongside Lloyd Atkinson and this seemed to change the game with the Belper defence under pressure they conceded a free hit excellent work from Lloyd Atkinson who took the hit quickly
found Rob Tee who on the second attempt slotted the ball into the goal for 2-0.
Saints continued to enjoy large amounts of possession but a rare Belper attack called Scott Bashford into action who produced a great save to stop Belper from getting back into the game.
Saints finally made it 3-0 when they won a short corner which was brilliantly worked by George Roberts and Lloyd Atkinson who played a neat one two before Atkinson neatly finished into the corner.
A good result for the 4s which keeps them at the top of the league still unbeaten and still to concede. In fact out of the 33 leagues in Midlands, consisting of 367 teams, only 1 side has zero goals against….and that’s our Men’s 4thXI (thank you to Mike ‘statto’ Derbyshire for this fact). Well done boys!
MOTM- Lloyd Atkinson– Great midfield play and well taken goals
DOTD- Tom Dysko – Arrived 10 minutes late
Squad: Scott Bashford (GK), Jim Phipps, Steve Morris, James Ruse, Jeremy Wan, George Roberts, Lloyd Atkinson, Anthony Condon, Tom Dysko, Chris Godman, Dave Henry (c), Rob Tee, Luke Howard
Teas- Sausage, Beans, Chips
Men’s 6thXI 2 – 0 Coalville 4thXI
Goals Alex Jeffery and Richard Smith
A welcome 3 points in what was even this early in the season a relegation 6 pointer against fellow strugglers Coalville. The 6’s are now used to having to take on both the opposition and the weather in their games at Moulton so a bitterly cold driving rain was nothing new.
In the early exchanges the 6’s controlled the play and created a number of half chances however they were guilty of trying to force the play at times and possession was given over much too easily. Darren Thorpe and Andy Dale in the middle of the park did a good job of disrupting the Coalville attacks frequently intercepting their long ball attempts from the back.
The 6’s took the lead midway through the first half when Alex Jeffery picked up the ball just outside of the D and worked it onto his reverse side for a lifted shot that easily built the Coalville goalie.
The second half started off with driving rain again and the 6’s continuing to give the ball away far too easily however the defence were comfortably preventing the Coalville attacks from threatening the goal with Dermot Cassidy and John Bennett stifling a number of attacks. As the game became more stretched and Saints failed to finish Coalville off there was always going to be danger and Jake Bennett was finally called upon to make an excellent save which maintained the 6’s lead.
The elusive 2nd goal finally came from a short corner when the initial shot broke back to the injector and Richard Smith somehow bundled the ball into the net in a Tony Brennan stylie.
The 6’s comfortably saw out the remainder of the game with a few good chances being created. A welcome first win for the team and hopefully the platform for better things over the next couple of weeks.
MotM: Jake Bennett for an excellent save
DotD: Phil Knight for arriving just in time to eat the sausage and chips
Men’s 7th XI 3-3 Leicester
Goals: Dave Kelly, Charlie Graham (2)
With a last minute dash up to Leicester (courtesy of Josh’s bus turning up late) the pre-match preparations couldn’t have been worse. With minutes to spare the 7s got themselves organised ready to take on the current league leaders. With 3 players making their mens hockey debuts and one player returning after 4 years of not playing the team were a little anxious about the match at hand. All this must have been playing on captain Jon Keep’s mind when he won the toss but chose to play facing into the sun for the first half of the match.
From the outset the Leicester midfield put the 7s under pressure, putting lots of pressure into the Northampton half. Leicester had several chances but failed to capitalize on these, after some solid work by keeper Dean Gibson, and great defending from Ian Street. Unfortunately the pressure eventually told as the Leicester captain casually walked into the D unchallenged and flicked the ball into the net. Northampton started to get better organised as the half went on, and created several chances and started to put some pressure back onto Leicester.
At halftime the instructions were to keep it simple, mark the opposition captain tightly and exploit the gap between their midfield and defensive lines. Early in the half Jon Keep picked up a great pass from the left of pitch played into space to give him the time to thread the ball through to Charlie Graham on the P-spot who then casually flicked the ball past the advancing keeper. Northampton were taking more control of the game at this stage, but Leicester were still threatening, and managed to win 2 short corners in quick succession. The first was scored with a very slow ‘mishit’ shot that completely confused Dean Gibson and eventually trickled under his foot (earning the keeper several DOD votes!). The second was a very well struck shot to the bottom left corner. At 3-1 up Leicester seemed to feel they had done enough to seal the game, but Northampton were not going to give in so easily. Josh Pibworth and Paul Yates were finding more and more space on the left of the pitch and giving the defensive line a lot more work to do. The pressure from them yielded a short corner. Charlie Graham struck the ball well, but straight at the keeper – the keeper casually saved the first shot then Dave Kelly swooped in to collect the ball from the keepers pads and slot it into the goal.
With a minute to go a long ball was played to Jack Kelly on the right wing who ran hard to meet it before the baseline before sending a cross in towards the P-spot. The Leicester defence panicked and gave away a short corner. Charlie Graham stepped up again to strike the ball low and hard – this time into the left corner of the goal bringing Northampton’s score level with Leicester. The final whistle sounded as play resumed. A fantastic final result on the back of a great second half performance and a well-earned point for the 7s. The 7s travel to North Notts next week looking for their first win of the season.
MOM – Charlie Graham
DOD – Jon Keep (for winning the toss and not picking the right end!)
Squad: Dean Gibson (GK), Tim Riches, Ian Street, Nigel Riches, Stuart Mclaren, Jack Kelly, Dave Kelly, Jon Keep, Josh Pibworth, Sooraj Premsagar, Paul Yates, Charlie Graham