A Super Saturday at the Vagrants

1 Oct 2018 by Crewe Vagrants Hockey Club

Mens 2s v Knutsford 3s – 3-2 Loss

Men’s 2s played their second game of the season away at Knutsford. The game was a disjointed affair with both teams struggling to find a rhythm. Knutsford eventually found the break through to take the lead. Crewe continued battling but struggled to clear their lines and conceded a string of short corners and eventually Knutsford put another away. Crewe clawed a goal back before half time through a combination of Iain Ford and Greg Marshall. In the second half knutsford looked to take advantage of their lead and put the game beyond a doubt. They managed to grab a third goal but Crewe fought hard and set the game up for a nervous finish after Bruce Forster converted from a short corner routine. Time ran out too soon and the game finished 3:2 to knutsford. Man of the match: Dan Read for another solid performance

Mens 3s v Urmstons 3s – 2-1 Win
Crewe got off to a shaky start with a strong Urmston midfield making a quick push and break to the D catching Crewe unawares with a quick ball to back post for a deflected goal within the first 10 minutes. This invigorated Crewe to start playing a more strategic game with stronger passes utilising the full width of the pitch. Crewe applied pressure and had a couple of close misses within the first half which finally came to something towards the end of the half with Jamie Escott making a fast ball to James Fearnie who scored from a clean deflection. At half time Crewe regrouped and came into the second half with a plan which brought a second goal 4 minutes into the second half with James Fearnie giving Jamie Escott the same treatment; setting him up beautifully for a clean hit to give Crewe their second goal. The remainder of the game was a lot of back and forth but as Urmston started trying to push hard for an urgent equaliser Crewe were able to defend strong with Bill White in goal not letting even the strongest hit through. Overall an excellent performance from Crewe who are finding their stride this season. MotM James Fearnie for his relentless effort in centre mid.

Mens 1s v Lytham St Annes 1s – 3-1 Win
The men’s 1s travelled with 11 men to Lytham this weekend. A new experienced back 4 of Chris Regan, Woodhart, Morrant and Robinson kept the ball with patience early on. That patience warranted an early goal when Jack Townsend pounced on a loose ball in the D. 1 was soon 2 when Chris Regan converted a short corner won by Matt Hodgson. Lytham converted a short corner of their own to leave the score 2-1 at half time. A very tight second half ensued, but Nathan Watson slipped the ball to Andrew Ticehurst who rounded the keeper and put the game beyond doubt.

Ladies 4s v Deeside 4s – 5-0 Loss
Looking at previous form, Deeside seemed an even match for our ladies but it was apparent from the start that our young opponents were intent a win. Despite the sterling efforts of our defensive line, we found ourselves 2-0 down at half time; one being a conversion from a short corner, flicked neatly into the bottom corner.

Strong connections were made once again between Lily Gorman and Anna Bates; a solid player in the midfield throughout the game. Amy Smallman made some impressive runs down the line with accurate passes to her teammates.
Tanya Downes, strong in defence, made her presence known on the pitch and displayed true fighting spirit. Her powerful hits shot past many of the opposition and successfully reached our forwards. We were active across the whole of the pitch with a number of opportunities in the attacking zone but were unlucky not to convert, whereas a couple of misfortunes led to Deeside scoring.

Subs, to relieve tired bodies, were most welcomed on this extremely warm day with gratitude to the first team captain, Zoe for her management and invaluable advice. As always, it was encouraging to have an army of supporters on the side-lines.

For the entirety of the game, Jayne Sharpe’s fervour saved us from a loss in double figures; confidently directing play and deflecting many a strike with all aspects of her kit. Rightly so, she was awarded man of the match.
At the end of the game, Anna provided some sound guidance. We are learning every week and improving by putting this knowledge into our games, we’ll be ready for Bowdon 6s next weekend.

Ladies 3s v Sandbach 1s – 1-1 Draw
Crewe hosting Sandbach 1s who had not lost a game so far this season. Crewe went out hard and were committed straight from the start making some great breaks down the right from new addition to the team April Roome showing her pace and skills on the ball. An early short corner to Crewe was hit by Paula Bourne with Lucy Morris getting a touch but unfortunately it went too high. Sandbach fought back on the attack but were no match for the Crewe Defence of; Kate Humphrey , Erin Wray and Cat Whittaker, who were clam and decisive making every tackle count. Sandbach had a break and Keeper Amanda Kimber confidently came out of her goal to ensure the ball was cleared before the player had chance to shoot. Crewe reacted with confidence and the ball was driven down the left with Melodie Wilson making some lovely moves and passes with Tricia Boffey and Penny Jones resulting in a short corner for Crewe. Paula Bourne injected to Nova Wallace who slipped to Penny Jones who then passed to the far past for captain Paula Bourne to place an accurate slap hit into the bottom corner. 1- 0 at half time. Both teams came out eager for points at the second half. Great work from Beth Atwood giving Sandbach a headache with her determination and battling, linking well with Lucy Morris to create some great opportunities for Crewe. Sandbach managed to get an early break and evened the score to 1-1. This did not stop Crewe who continued to battle and win tackles throughout. A great team performance and a well-earned 1 point. Well done April Roome on receiving Player of the Match.

Ladies 2s v Triton 1s – 3-0 Win
Travelling all of 5 miles to play Triton Ladies 1’s proved to be successful trip for the Ladies 2nd team! The school pitch has a couple of sets of lines…a yellow set and a white set. Knowing that this may cause some confusion we used our warm up to get familiar with the right ones…only one mishap during the game was a good outcome! Vagrants started as they had finished the previous week – passing the ball around and building attacks. Laura MacLeod broke the deadlock close to half time with a strike that went into the far-left corner of the goal. Bringing back her glory days was Bev Jackson…a ball hit in from near the 25 yards with the right pace for Jackson to angle the ball passed the GK’s head. Laura MacLeod made it 3-0 taking advantage of a free hit near the 25 yard line and striking the ball at the earliest opportunity. It was a very different game for our GK, Grace. The defensive unit of Louise Crosbie-Potter, Helen Glanville and Katie Gibbs-Blythe did such a great job that Grace did not touch the ball once! And Triton had 2 penalty corners! A home game next week against Northrop Hall.

Ladies 1s v Oldham 1s – 2-1 Loss
Both teams came out hard, with Oldham setting up a strong defensive line making it hard for Crewe to press. With the ball going from end to end through the first half, Oldham managed to convert from open play in the first half taking the lead 1-0. The second half was soon underway with Crewe winning a penalty corner early on. From a quick injection from Shez Marsden and strong work from Georgie Brown on the Top D Crewe equalised with a straight strike. The hard work continued with goal scoring opportunities arising from both teams, however with a minute to go before the full-time whistle Oldham quickly won another penalty corner. With a well-practiced routine, injecting straight to the left slip player, the ball was sent across the D and unfortunately found the back board giving Oldham the lead once again, finishing the game with a score of 2-1. A tough loss for Crewe but onto next weekend vs Wrexham.