Ladies 2s v Chester 1-0 Loss

The ladies 2s travelled away to play 8th placed Chester 2s hopeful of some pints. The day didn’t start to well with confusion over change and time of venues, left both sides with no Umpire.

A big thank you to Bodge, as our only Level 1 approved umpire fore-fitting her game to umpire on her birthday weekend.

Chester started strong and after 15 minutes of pressure scored a questionable goal from the very top of the D with an open strike high into the top left side of the goal. A fired up Grace Leonard was adamant it was struck from outside, but Chester’s umpire wasn’t having any of it and awarded the goal. The team rallied and shortly after got a diving Shami Ahmed goal disallowed after reports the back of a stick may have been involved.

After a positive half time team talk, Crewe stepped back out on the pitch and keen to fight back. The defensive line of Katie Gibbs-Blythe, Kate Humprey and Grace Newman were solid and mopped up any further Chester advance with Grace Leonard making some more amazing saves keeping Chester at bay.

Some great team work linking the defensive with a new and determined midfield of Mel Brooks, Anna Bates and Helen Glanville created some slick 1-2 passes with the wings of Morgan Zwijnen, Lucy Morriss and Cate Whitehouse. Crewe moved the ball around and utilised all players on the pitch. With the determination of our attackers; Shami Ahmed, Jennie Hewitt and Nat Stevenson, they faught doggedly to win short corners and Crewe came so close to scoring with a cricket style hit from Shami excellently saved by Chester’s keeper. However, it wasn’t meant to be for Crewe & the final whistle blew without us being able to convert an equaliser. A fantastic effort by everyone. More like that next week hopefully when Crewe take on Triton at home.

MOM Anna Bates

Men’s 3s v Bowdon 6s won 3-1

Men’s 3s were at home v Bowdon today. Crewe came in with the attitude to apply pressure and control the game and that’s just what they did. Playing the ball with pace and into space Crewe quickly found Steve Douglas on the front left, a strong hit across the D had too much power for the defense and Neil Gibbons was able to deflect in to out Crewe ahead. Crewe kept the pressure up and had a few more chances that amount to nothing. Andy Gadsby found Rod Thomson at backpost with some clever stick work beat the keeper to out Crewe two up. A missed penalty flick and a Bowdon goal before half time kept Crewe focussed and not to relax. The second half was a much closer affair with Neil Gibbons recieving a quick ball through the defense from Ben Wilson which put Crewe up at 3-1. Neither team could find anything else from that. Return to form for the team ready for a rearrangement with Macclesfield on Sunday. MotM: Neil Gibbons for his upfront work & goals

Ladies 1s v Timperley 2s 1-1 draw

After losing to top of the league last week Crewe were ready to come out hard.
That they did & came out strong with lots of good passing throughout the team.
The solid defence consisting of Emma Bostock, Gilly Gibbs-Blythe and Georgie Brown transferred the ball well allowing the midfield to create opportunities for the forwards in the D. This led to a long corner being awarded to which Marianne Hunter took in her stride. The ball was slipped left to Jenny Zwijnen who one touch fired the ball into the D finding Emily Ford who got a deflection scoring her debut goal for the first team.
After a positive first half performance, Crewe went into the second half hoping to maintain their lead. Timperley came out really strong, pressing hard & managed to convert after a string of short corners despite amazing goal keeping by MOM Alison Smith.
Both teams desperate for the win played some hard fought hockey with some great runs down the wing from Izzy Escott, Lisa Holland & solid mid-field play from Laura Macleod. Both teams had to plenty of chances with forwards Becky Burndred, Zoe Franklin and Sheridan Marsden making the runs. Neither teams could convert leaving the final score a fair 1-1. Next week : Lymm Away.

Crewe Vagrants Ladies 4s v Bowdon Ladies 6s 2-1 loss

Sixteen players, two sideline managers, inspiring team talk from our captain Dawn & off we went!

Short & long passes, tackling, changing direction of play all created the perfect atmosphere for a potential win.
Hannah Chesters displaying a confident & determined approach; fabulous marking, shadowing & sheer volume of area covered on the pitch was second to none. It is hard to believe that this was her debut in the ladies’ league. Tanya Downes, from the sideline, provided superb subs’ management & much encouragement to the ladies. The nimble Becks Eaves attacked, with vigour, up the pitch. In one such instance, she entered their D but after a small mishap released the ball to her waiting hunting partner, Becky Holman who scored!

Bowdon’s practised & set routine of playing up the centre then out wide was soon apparent which led to quick decision making & employing varying tactics to break down their play. Defender, Adele White made a couple of crucial saves; most notably on a short corner, stopping the ball just before the line and denied the attacker, who was poised on the post, of a goal. Jenny Huxley made some fantastic contributions with her marking, interceptions & covering spaces.

By half time, the score was 2-1 & we were very much still in the game. The teams possessed contrasting skill sets but were equally matched. Bowden had their chances which were broken down nicely in the D by goalkeeper Jayne Sharpe who received player of the match. We performed well in a number of short corners. Alison Kellett & Lauren Berresford impressed once more with their dribbling skills.

Despite the loss, we were happy with the score line. We have a great team spirit & a positive attitude. Bring on Deeside Ramblers 4s away next week.

Men’s 1s v Windermere 3-1 Loss

Crewe took the long travel to wet and Windymere, which turned out to be a scrappy affair. Windermere took an early lead in a well contested first half. Crewe dominated from then on however they didn’t test the Windermere keeper. Windermere capitalised on Crewe’s failure to draw level by increasing their lead to 2-0. When everyone else stood still, James Cappers diving deflation into the roof of the goal pulled one back for Crewe. Despite the Crewe pressure for the rest of the game Windermere again increased their lead with the match ending 3-1 as the weather turned for the worse. All players left the pitch wetter than an otters pocket. Massive thank you to Nathan Watson who gave up his game for the match to go ahead by umpiring.

Ladies 3s v Timperley 5s 5-1 Win

Crewe hosted Timperley 5ths; a determined 3rd team set foot on home turf to chase their first win of 2019. Crewe took time to settle into the game which showed as Timperley got the 1st goal of the game from open play, unfortunate to say the least but gave crewe the focus they needed to press on into the first half. With great vocals from the solid back including Tanya Down’s debut to the 3s; the defence stopped Timperley in the attack many times throughout the game. Crewe’s first goal came from a great angle strike which Aoife Purcell captured brilliantly which earned her MOM. With the scoreline even it gave us the confidence to drive the ball into the attacking area including some great balls from the centre midfield. Crewe certainly soaked up the pressure for Penny Jones to get the second goal from open play. Crewe showed beautiful passing and quick runs on the wings which created great position into the D for Rachel to get her first goal of the season from the post, very well deserved indeed.
Crewe continued to defend solidly into the second half frustrating Timperley who did not have many shots on goal. Crewe passed well the whole match backing each other up all over the pitch which created lots of great attacking opportunities including Aoife Purcells second & 4th goal for crewe from lightening reaction from a short corner. The 5th and final goal was chipped away from Penny Jones reflection for Lily Gorman to get the touch swiftly into the goal. Great team effort and passing which provided plenty of goal scoring opportunities of the season.

Mens 2s v Bowdon 6s 4-2 Loss

Men’s 2s faced Bowdon away on a very cold and wet Saturday evening. With a bare 11 Crewe faced an onslaught of attacks from a very different Bowdon team to the one they had faced earlier in the season. Bowden struck twice before half time. However Crewe came back and forced several opportunities before Bruce Forster capitalised and found the back of the net. At 2 -1 Crewe were pushing forward and this left gaps at the back which Bowdon exploited to make it 3. Again Crewe continued the pressure and Bruce again found the target. Going into the last 10 minutes at 3 2 down Crewe through men forward. Unfortunately a swift counter attack from Bowdon finished the game off with a 4-2 loss for the vagrants 2s. Man of the match Lewis Ward for his work rate at both ends of the pitch.