Match reports 12th January 2019
 
Mens 1s v Deeside 2s – 2-2 draw – friendly
 
This week the men’s 1s hosted Deeside in a friendly in preparation for the league to resume next week. Over Christmas Crewe have recruited Mark Bateman who soon put Crewe 1 up on debut, Deeside then hit back with a well taken short corner to leave the score 1-1 at the break. The game was a tight affair with not many clear cut chances coming for either team, Crewe took the lead with a well worked short corner through Chris Regan. Deeside put the pressure on and managed to steal a 2nd goal with 5 minutes to go. Final score 2-2.
 
 
Ladies 2s v Lymm 2s 2-0 Win
 
The Ladies 2nd team picked up a vital win in the first game after Christmas. Despite not playing a competitive game for a month the team, with 2 debutants in Molly Pheasey & April Roome, absorbed some earlier pressure, & reorganisation, to create plenty of opportunities. The defensive unit comprised of Grace Leonard, Grace Newman, Katie Gibbs-Blythe (plus Helen Glanville for a short period) and Kate Humphrey kept things under control & distributed the ball out from the back well. The first goal came from a move down the left hand side – Cate Whitehouse finding Laura MacLeod in the D who found space to shoot & score. The team went into half time pleased with the way they gelled together. The second half seemed to fly by. 5 mins from the end a long ball found an unmarked Bev Jackson around the 25 yard line, who took the ball into the D & sealed the victory for the Vagrants. Lymm has a very late goal ruled out. The debutants Molly Pheasey and April Roome demonstrated their potential and ability by slotting in seamlessly. Molly controlling the ball well and looking to link up with Jackson and Jennie Hewett. April ran the right wing well with skill and pace. Our other youngster, Grace Leonard, continues to learn from each game. A solid save from a one on one & a full length dive to prevent the ball from sneaking in a the far post. Macclesfield at home next weekend & if it’s anything like the last encounter it should be a thriller!
 
 
Ladies 4s v Alderley Edge 4-2 Loss
 
With Turkey & tinsel now in the seemingly distant past, focus and determination was resumed for the first game of 2019.
Having finished 2018 with improvements week upon week, there was only one approach we could execute and we did it! The first half Alderley did not get much of an opportunity to show off their skills. Players were marked out of the game and balls were intercepted by defence. We communicated & made accurate passes which led to us being intruders in their D, with many a shot and success coming from Becky Holman’s confident goal. No, we hadn’t won the game but our rapturous response showed just how much we wanted a victory. Half time saw us winning 1-0 much to the dismay of the Alderley coach who had made his presence known to the girls. Sister duo, Lauren and Georgia Griffiths made their debut; comfortably slotted into the team and made great contributions. In fact, six sisters were playing today, Issy Berresford played a successful first game, joining her sister Lauren who slotted home the second goal. We look forward to welcoming our debutantes in future games. Sisters, Becky & Laura Holman, regulars to the team worked well together, creating opportunities & making confident decisions. As the second half progressed, Alderley made a comeback & scored four goals in quick succession with one being from a short corner. Despite the loss, this was our best game yet! Under the strategic planning of our captain Dawn Price, we are sure to build upon our abilities next week when we face Neston away. MOM – Grita Vilutyte
 
 
Mens 3s v Sandbach 3s
 
Men’s 3’s went to Sandbach for a friendly to warm up after the break. With only 10 men available Sandbach showed true hockey spirit & gave Crewe an extra player so a good game could be had. Crewe started strong playing the ball well but all too soon fell into some bad habits which resulted in a very quick and young Sandbach team capitalising with 2 goals on quick succession. Crewe pulled themselves around & had several chances in the D with Nick Marshall and Lewis Ward testing the keeper but unable to find anything. A quick turn around from Sandbach gave them a 3rd. With halftime coming up quick Crewe turned up the pressure and started playing much better, with Nick Marshall able to take it through their defense and juked the keeper out into a well deserved goal. After half time Crewe found their stride with more pressure applied & Steve Douglas was able to find 2 more to bring Crewe level. Sandbach were quick to apply more pressure & found two more goals. Crewe struggled to make anything happen in the D with the opposition having a strong defensive game in the closing minutes. A short corner awarded at the last moment in Crewes favour gave the borrowed Sandbach played Will the opportunity to slip one past the keeper putting the final score at 5-4. Despite the loss Crewe found form & played a strong game, more goals could have been had barring the strong keeper of Sandbach. MotM goes to Nick Marshall for consistency in centre mid
 
 
Ladies 1s v Didsbury 2s 2-1 win
 
Crewe started the new year with positivity keen to get a win under their belt against Didsbury. It was a slow start, however, Emma Bostock, Gilly Gibbs-Blythe & Georgie Brown passed the ball around the back and utilised Jen Zwijnen, Emily Ford and Marianne Hunter in the midfield. Didsbury started to threaten early on but Crewe were patient passing the ball around the back and switching play. Lisa Holland on the left passed to Marianne Hunter in the middle of the pitch who then made a run and picked out a pass to Zoe Franklin who had made a perfect run to sweep the ball sweetly into the back of the net. Didsbury managed to pull one back & it was 1-1 at half time. Second half Crewe came out wanting that win. Some Speedy runs down the right by Isabella Escott put their defence under pressure. Becky Brundred was working hard trying to create space upfront. Crewe appeared to up it to another level & everyone was working hard. Lisa Holland took a sideline ball and to passed it to Gilly Gibbs-Blythe who in turn hit the ball into the d. The ball hit the post and rebounded but Shez marsden was there to tap it in to the goal. Final score 2-1. MOM – Jenny Zwijnen
 
Mens 2s v Winnington Park 1-0 Win – friendly 
 
Crewe 2s faced Winnington park in a friendly game this weekend. Both sides showed signs of rust following a prolonged Christmas break however Crewe found their footing slightly faster and created several chances in the opposition D. Some outstanding keeping from the Winnington keeper kept the scoreline goalless until in the last ten minutes a short corner fell to Jimmy Farschi who rocketed the ball through the diving keeper to give Crewe the lead. Crewe defended resolutely yielding no opportunity for Winnington to level and the game finished 1-0. A good competitive warm up for the second half of the season & a proper friendly friendly played in good spirits!
 
Ladies 3s v Oxton 3s 5-2 Loss
 
Crewe 3s home game of 2019 was against Oxton, we had plenty of players on the team sheet this week which was positive to see the development coming through the club.

Amazing effort by all & we started off with first push back and controlled the ball well executing the play in midfield. Oxton pressed hard to give our defence and keeper the first real test of the game early on but with great precision it was all level in the first quarter with plenty of goal opportunities from both sides. Oxtons first two goals came from open play where crewe were unfortunate not to keep them out but it didn’t knock our confidence and vocally as a team we grew into solid play with some impressive skill set. Oxton got the 3rd goal from a penalty corner leaving the score at 3-0 going into the break.

From a positive half time team talk crewe were soaking up the pressure well and got a great chance early on from a short corner which Nova stroked beautifully into the goal. Unfortunately Oxton were quick to respond & got there other two goals from open play again. Crewe battled on which was rewarded with a goal when Daniek got on the end of well executed drill to get Crewe’s second of the game. Crewe 3s welcome Aoife to the squad this week who fitted in really well which showed with receiving player of the match for such an outstanding performance. Unfortunately the scoreline didn’t reflect everyone’s great performance and energy on the pitch but onwards and upwards for next week.