Match Reports from 1st March
Men’s 2nd XI 6-1 Litchfield 2nd XI
Goals: James Knibb (3), Ben Northedge, Tom Lewington, Michael Williams
Saints hosted bottom of the table Litchfield on Saturday, on a sunny afternoon at Moulton College.
The squad was boosted by the returns of skipper Greg Summers and Harry Yorke after a mid-winter break skiing giving them a full 14 man squad for the first time in a number of weeks. With regular keeper Jay Worsfold missing, the team welcomed 3rd XI keeper Scott Bashford into the side for this crucial match, and he didn’t let the side down. A win for Saints would see them almost guarantee safety in the Premier Division, where as defeat would leave them with only a slender 3 point cushion from relegation.
After a shaky first five minutes, Saints found their rhythm and soon opened the scoring through a James Knibb drag flick off a penalty corner (via a kind deflection from the defender on the line). It was soon 2-0 as Knibb made a diving deflection from a Chris Reid pass that comfortably beat the keeper. Minutes before half-time a momentary lapse from the backline allowed Litchfield to score to leave it 2-1 at half-time.
The second half saw Saints come out all guns blazing, and Knibb completed his hat-trick with another penalty corner. The move of the match saw a quick fluid passing movement from the back to the front like, and resulted in Michael Williams picking the ball up inside the D to slot the ball past the keeper. With Northampton now in the ascendancy, the defenders within the team decided to get in on the act. Firstly with Tom Lewington scoring from a very casual reverse hit strike, and moments later Ben Northedge scored arguably the worst goal of the season as his shot bobbled and trickled in past the wrong footed keeper!
A vital win as Saints now face 3 of the top sides in their next 3 games: Beeston, Cannock and Birmingham University!
MOTM: Chris Reid – a commanding performance in midfield.
DOTD: Ben Northedge – for scoring an awful goal, and then looking incredibly embarrassed!
Squad: Scott Bashford (GK), George Roberts, Greg Summers (c), Tom Lewington, Ben Northedge, Matt Gausden, Chris Reid, Dan Whittaker, Tristan O’Connor, Sam Mitchell, Harry Yorke, Stephan Williams, James Knibb, Michael Williams.
Men’s 3rd XI 5-1 Nottingham Players 3rd XI
Scorers: Rose (2), Pibworth (2), Hillier (pc),
Saints came into the match ahead of 1st of 4 matches that will confirm whether Saints will get promoted or not. Nottingham Players were the visitors, and themselves had several crucial games ahead with survival their aim.
Saints took control early on and took the game to Players. After a couple or early misses, Saints took the lead after Dan Rose turned the defender in the D to squeeze the ball into the bottom corner. Soon after he had his second. Athiq Thamby played a hard ball into the D, Rose this time clipping the ball in ahead of the keeper. Thamby also looked to get in on the action, however 2 reverse shots would have matched a pole vaulter for height. Although in control, Saints let slip with Players finishing off after some excellent interplay. Saints weren’t finished for the half and after winning a penalty corner, Hillier got back to his shooting best, drilling the shot low into the corner. The 4th came just before half time with Thamby, once again, drilling the ball into the D, Pibworth on hand this time to deflect in.
The second half started where Saints had left off with Pibworth hitting home a loose ball in the D. However from here in Saints started to lose concentration and some sloppy play ensued. Chances still came with the post hit twice and a goal was disallowed after Dan Rose decided to lye on the keeper. The game petered out to a 5-1 win, which although not the goal fest craved was an even more important 3 points.
MOTM: Nigel Down- Keeping the game level headed (not just because of his birthday)
DOTD: James Miller – Primarily for leaving the captains paperwork in Warwick
Squad: Scott Bashford (gk), Steve Morris, James Miller, Jason Hillier, Luke Pibworth, Dan Rose, Nigel Down, Luke Howard, Harry Stobart, Ian McIlwaine (c), Athiq Thamby
Cannock 5th XI 1-4 Men’s 4th XI
Goals: Rob Huisch (3), Rob Tee,
Saints travelled to the home of the knockers full of optimism in a game that could go a long way to ensuring safety in the first season in the Premier. After an early shock finding that their lucky changing room had was being used by the ladies – it was that important that Candy Crush Chapman was sent into evict them!! Saints started the game slowly but in control of the ball for a large part – much of the passing took place in their own half and there was little end product. Cannock all hustle & bustle chased and harried but lacked any real composure to mount any serious threats to the Saints defence marshalled expertly by Chris Boyd, Jim Phipps and the born again Phil Preen between the sticks . Saints gradually grew more adventurous as the first half and were rewarded by two goals that definitely will not make Sky TVs greatest sporting moments – however for persistence Rob Huisch deserved them both.
At 2-0 half time all looked comfortable and early in the second half skipper Rob Tee rifled home to make it 3-0! What could possible go wrong? Well….a saints shaky spell where Cannock exerted some pressure and created some decent chances , luckily only converting one short corner in the process.
Instead of going into their shell Saints stormed back up and the pitch and Rob H finished off a richly deserved hat trick to give a final score of 4-1 (the hat trick in finishing terms must have been just short of 5 yards but valuable nonetheless). This was in reality a comfortable win with further chances spurned that could have made it more comfortable. – the midfield pairing of Naisan and Candy Crush Chapman again providing the heart beat for another strong away performance.
After the match the lucky changing room had been commandeered by the ladies – somehow with 3 points in the bag, the team basking in another good win, skippers xmas tree formation on hold for another week – it didn’t really matter !!
Coalville 2-1 Men’s 7th XI
Goals: Adam Wright
An unusually glorious spring day greeted the 7s for this weeks’ match. The numbers were bolstered this week by Finlay Chacksfield and Connor Rawlins both making their men’s hockey debuts. Coalville had a very similar young side and from the outset the two teams were very closely matched. The first half was an end to end affair with lots of frantic midfield action and both defences keeping their opposition out of the D. For all the action neither side ever really settled and took control of the match so going into half time the game could have gone either way.
In the second half saints appeared to take a much more dominant role, holding the ball well in the middle of the pitch and moving the ball round in a much more positive fashion. Adam Wright was key in this, holding the midfield well, and linking up with the left and right sides to create some strong attacking moves. The pressure was building on Coalville until captain Jon Keep found himself caught out on the ball – the fast counter attack and subsequent strike from the top of the D put Coalville 1 goal up. Saints picked up play once again and were making good forays into the opposition D but were unable to hit the mark. Nigel Riches returned to the pitch as a centre forward and picked up a cross to the right of the goal, and with the shot on too narrow an angle Nigel sent the ball across the face of the goal, and the subsequent scramble saw a determined Adam Wright push the ball over the line.
With only a few minutes remaining saints were pressing hard to get their second and again fell-foul of being over committed in the face of a quick counter attack. Nigel Wright unfortunately was unable to deal with a bit of a bobbly shot and the ball went in to take the win for the visitors, 2-1 in a very close run match.
MOTM: Adam Wright
Team: Nigel Wright (GK), Connor Rawlins, Martin Skinner, Jamie Cochrane, Nigel Riches, Jawwad Latif, Finlay Chacksfield, Jon Keep, Adam Wright, Rob Frost, Jonathan Adey, James Clifton.