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Ladies 2s v Winnington Park 1s – 4-1 Loss

The Ladies’ 2nd team played against the table topping Winnington Park yesterday. With 6 wins out of 8 games a tough game was expected and Winnington Park took the lead very early, only for Vagrants to equalise more or less straight away. A move started by Katie Gibbs-Blythe to Laura MacLeod (Player of the match) who found Cate Whithouse near the baseline who then crossed the ball for Becky Burndred to put the ball across the line without any challenge. Winnington won a series of penalty corners and converted from 2 of them and added a 4th goal through open play.

In the second half Vagrants rallied and created a few opportunities to score as well as defended solidly against one of the attacking teams in the League. Kate Humphrey making her debut for the 2nd team played very well in the back 3 with Vic Lee and Grace Newman. Morgan Zwijnen pushed up high to support the forward trio of Bev Jackson, Becky and Jennie Hewett which made Winnington work hard for the win. Grace Leonard made some cracking saves to keep a 2nd half clean sheet.

Deeside at home next weekend.

Ladies 4s v Wrexham Glyndwr Ladies 2s 7-0 loss

Another tough match this week to a team in the second place of the division. Wrexham were like lightning, slotting home their first goal within minutes of the start of the game. This gave us a taste of what the match could be like; it was going to be a long 70 minutes!

Tanya Downes took centre stage, beating off players and winning the ball. Her confident and powerful strikes took the ball up the pitch to meet our waiting attackers but Wrexham were quick to break down our play. It stayed 1-0 for quite some time and we believed that we could equalise before they could score again but this was not to be and they broke through and scored more by means of their goal-hangers and rebound shots. Our defence had to work hard not to get caught up with these ladies and thanks to the half time talk by Katie Gibbs-Blythe, we gained in confidence and started to set the press much higher up the pitch. This is certainly something we look to build upon in the next match which is away to Macclesfield.

Amanda Kimber in goal, whose body was flying around the goal mouth, was confident and smothered balls much to the disappointment of the Wrexham side. A few Argentinian blocks were executed and many a dive stopped them in their stride. A number of short cornered were awarded to Wrexham which, as always, we defended well. Throughout the game, Dawn Price, our captain kept us going with her ever positive and constructive feedback. Another great match for Dawn who put in some great interceptions and whose calm and accurate hit-outs allowed lots of movement up the pitch. Our quick-paced midfielder, Georgie Mascarenas had a fantastic game and is coming into her own in what is her first season playing in a ladies’ side. Week on week, the team is improving in lots of ways, in particular getting used to how individuals play and forming strategies in two’ and three’s. This bodes well for the remaining games before the break.
MOM – Tanya Downes

Ladies 3s v Lymm 4s – 1-0 Win

Crewe 3s were away to Lymm this week and we were ready to fight for a second win on the trot! In all honesty once arrived it took us a while to find the pitch; having initially requested the floor to be swept, it soon became clear there was actually a pitch under all the leaves and we were poised to start of confidently to show the opposition our great skill set of hockey play! From the second we started, we played strong showing some great passing and working well as a team to create great chances early on to keep Lymm defence on their toes. We had great communication and Crewe dealt with some solid defending and midfield distribution towards the forwards. At one point during the first half Nova tested out her face mask to its full capacity but Lymm failed to capitalise on their penalty corner attempts through our strong defence. Our lovely hockey skills paid off when our first and only goal of the game executed from the defence to the midfield to a pass to Lily in the D to strike a goal pass the keeper on her debut to the 3s; a fantastic team effort and was a great finish with 10 minutes remaining of the first half. Leading into the second half Lymm had the push back and were determined to score with countless opportunities but Crewe held strong and Amanda Kimber refused to coincide any goals to keep a clean sheet for crewe. Sadly in the second half we were up against it having let our standard of hockey slip down to their level but everyone showed true grit and determination to deny Lymm a chance to score so tremendous effort by all and a special well done to Molly for player of the match. But overall we worked well as a team all the way through to the end, a tough and well fought match against a team fighting for their first win of the season but a valuable 3 points for crewe! Onwards and upwards to Chester next week – another away game at 12:30pm for the ladies 3s.

Ladies 1s v Didsbury 2s – 3-2 Loss

Crewe Vagrants Ladies 1st team travelled to Manchester to play Didsbury Northern at the Armitage centre. The Vagrants started the first half of the game strong and took an early lead with some fantastic passing, the ball seamlessly moving up the pitch from Dionne Johnson in the middle, up to Izzy Escott on the wing, a jab tackle from Sheridan Marsden making a pass to Marianne Hunter who completed the combination with a furious strike. The Vagrants continued to dominate the game as Lisa Bebbington and Izzy Escott attacked the wings and pressure was piled on by Jenny Zwijnen, Emily Ford and Dionne Johnson in the middle and Zoe Franklin and Marianne Hunter upfront. 1-0 up after half time the Vagrants were unable to keep Didsbury strikers at bay who took advantage of a momentary lapse making it 1-1. This did not stifle Vagrants spirts or weaken their discipline, with some emphatic ball skills from Marianne Hunter saw her put away an unstoppable strike to beat keeper. Despite the hard efforts of the Crewe Vagrants defenders Emma Bostock, Georgie Brown and Helen Glanville Didsbury managed to pull the game back to a draw and then sneak a last minute goal past keeper Ali Smith. Full time result Didsbury Northern 3 – Crewe Vagrants 2

Mens 1s v Preston 2s – 5-1 Loss

The men’s 1s travelled to Preston this week. Crewe started the brighter winning 3 short corners in the first 5 minutes, however Crewe failed to convert, Preston then replied with 2 corners of their own which they converted to sneak a 2-0 lead. As Crewe pushed for a reply Preston found space in the D to put the score at 3-0. Chris Regan fired home a short corner in the last minute of the first half to give some hope. The 16 men of Preston got a firm grip of the game in the 2nd half scoring a 4th and putting the game out of sight. Final score Preston 5 Crewe 1

Mens 2s v Stockport Bramhall 2s – 3-3 Draw

Men’s 2s faced Stockport Bramhall away on Saturday in a top of the table clash. Both sides having had very successful starts to the season was reflected in the game. Crewe and Stockport traded attacks in the first half with both sides looking vulnerable on the counter. Crewe struck first through Jamie Allen finding space on the right of the D to dispatch clinically through the keepers legs. Stockport fought back and found the goal twice on the counter before Crewe equalised through Greg Marshall at a short corner. In the second half little could seperate the teams until Bramhall found a goal that somehow sneaked past John Minshull. Cue a hectic last 20 minutes where Crewe threw the kitchen sink at the Bramhall defense without joy. With 2 minutes left on the clock Crewe won a short corner, Simon Childs finding space at left slip dragged the ball in towards goal before it clattered off the inside of the post. Luckily Iain Ford was on hand to scramble the ball home. Final score 3 apiece and a fair result. Whole team man of the match for commitment across the pitch.

Mens 3s v Wilmslow 5s – 1-1 Draw

Men’s 3’s hosted Wilmslow 5s. With both teams undefeated and top of the board this was set to be a tough and intense game. As soon as pushback happened the energy was high from both teams with everyone well aware with what was at stake. It was a very back and forth game with both teams having strong plays, Wilmslow using speed and Crewe being more methodical. Crewe had a couple of chances that didn’t amount to much and some excellent balls from Phil Meaning from just past half way that were hitting the back post uninterrupted, Crewe were just a pace behind so unable to find something. The effort soon paid off with a well placed ball to a foot in the D gave Crewe a short corner. Martin Woodhart pushed in and a strong well aimed hit from Dave Watson secured Crewes opener. Crewe went into half time and identified what needed to happen. Crewe controlled the ball and made a push after push but the defence held strong a quick ball down the right gave Wilmslow a chance, the ball came in higher and faster than expected and sailed past all Crewe and Wilmslow players but a quick stick on back post knocked it past the keeper bringing it to one all. With 10 minutes left both sides wanted to get another but dare not commit to a risky play, with the whistle gone final score is 1-1 with both teams remaining undefeated at the top of the board. MotM goes to both Martin Walford and Mike Fowles from excellent centre back plays in keeping Crewe safe and well in the game