Mens 3s v Sale 3s – 2-0 loss

Men’s 3s hosted Sale. With a different side Crewe were up against it today and the opposition started strong applying a lot of pressure early in the game. However, Crewe quickly adapted and play became much more even with both sides trading opportunities in the midfield.

Neither side could find anything in the first half thanks to excellent defending on both sides of the pitch. The second half saw Sale grab a quick goal after several excellent saves. Crewe turned the pressure on with multiple scoring opportunities but seemed to be unable to find the magic upfront. With 10 to go Sale found a deflected goal after an extended play. Crewe kept pushing until the last but was unable to find anything, not for lack of effort. Final score Crewe 0 Sale 2

Men’s 2s vs Knutsford 3s 6-0 win Ladies 4s v Brooklands Poynton 4s 5-0 loss

Sixteen ladies versus bottom of the table Brooklands; what could go wrong?! The dynamic duo of Becky Holman and Becks Eaves got into the D but at the eleventh hour, were always intercepted by a steadfast Brooklands’ defence. Playing outfield, Jayne Sharpe had a good match: handing over the goalkeeping duties for the day to the more than capable debutante Christina Langley. Diving and sliding took place as well as smothering the efforts of the small opponent who dared to attempt a shot on goal. Christina’s relentlessness prevented numerous goal scoring opportunities for Brooklands. Grita Vilutyte, our midfielder was all over the pitch, making tackles and intercepting balls, resulting in player of the match. After some serious reflection, the second half was a more sophisticated affair with neat and accurate passes, meeting the ball quicker with a hunger for goals. Dawn Price and Adele White showed off their goal-scoring prowess; the latter with an impressive aerial deflection but a shame they weren’t in the opposing goal! Dawn made up for the error with powerful hits out of the danger zone and Adele with some gutsy ball clearances. Nic Ticehurst, our other debutante, speedy and agile, showed exciting potential for future games. Lots to think about in preparation for our match next away to Alderley Edge

Ladies 2s v Alderley Edge 3s 1-1 draw

The Ladies 2’s travelled away to Alderley Edge Ladies 3’s. En-route to the game, a last minute (12pm for a 1.30pm push back) change of venue due lead to a frantic panic to confirm all team members and the umpire knew the new location. Crewe gathered together with true team spirit to ensure that everyone had some form of warm up and the right kit on. Crewe won the toss and first push back, which pleased goal hungry strikers Morgan Zwijnen and Lucy Morriss. With a steady but positive start to the game, the first half was very much equal possession and end to end play. Crewe’s new defensive line up of Abi Axon, Kate Humphrey and Grace Newman held strong throughout, supported by the sterling goal keeping from Grace Leonard who was rightfully awarded MOM for her ninja like prowess. In the final quarter of the first half AE managed to slip a goal in, despite valiant defensive pin-ball like efforts from Crewe. The half time whistle blew and Crewe huddled for a tactical and positive team talk complete with a Haribo fuelled pick me up courtesy of Anna Bates and Morgan Zwijnen.

Crewe were a bit slow to get going in the second half and felt the pressure of AE. After some slick 1-2 passes between Anna Bates and Mel Brooks through the middle, Crewe started to pick up the pace with more attacking drive. Both wings; Cate Whitehouse, Jennie Hewitt and Molly Pheasey, worked tirelessly to channel the ball to the forwards in hope of a goal. Special mention to Molly for once again stepping up for only her third game with the Ladies 2’s and making a highly valuable contribution to the whole game. With less than 10minutes to go, Crewe found their 6th gear. After successfully defending a short corner, Crewe went on the attack. Following a long corner, the ball met the end of Helen Glanville’s stick to be superbly passed into the D for Lucy Morris to bring home the glory and Crewe to get a well-deserved equaliser. With minutes to go AE were back on the offensive, but Crewe remained calm until the final whistle blew. A very valuable point for the Ladies 2’s and an extremely positive performance from the team. Home at 2.30pm next week and hopeful for a win vs Lymm Ladies 2’s.

Mens 1s v Liverpool 1s – 2-1 loss

Crewe travelled to the uni of Liverpool with a varied side due to a difficult week availability wise. Amongst the changes was a debut for Dan Read who settled in really well, getting man of the match. A balanced opening 10 mins ended with Crewe going 1-0 up with a drag flick into the bottom corner from Ben Read. Crewe worked tirelessly but couldn’t avoid an equaliser from Liverpool before the break. Liverpool then went 2-1 up in the second via a deflection from a long ball into the D. Crewe pushed for an equaliser but couldn’t convert their late chances. Lytham at home next week

Ladies 1s v Bolton 1s – 3-1 loss

First half Crewe were caught on the back foot very early by Bolton’s front 4. Some quick passing from Bolton saw them take the lead but Crewe kept their heads high and had most of the play until half time. This included a well drilled short corner which was switched to the left, struck goal bound by Zoe Franklin and deflected into the goal by Jenny Zwijnen. Second half was end to end hockey. Crewe playing some lovely link up play with Dionne Johnson, Georgie Brown and Isabella Escott linking up well on the right and with Lisa Holland, Emma Bostock and Jenny Zwijnen on the left. The Crewe defence switched the play from side to side beautifully with player of the match Vicki Lee in the centre of the action. But Bolton took their chances scoring two further goals and walked away from Crewe with all 3 points.

Ladies 3 v Buckley 1s – 2-0 loss

Crewe hosted Buckley 1s at home and were keen to put their training into practise and get some points on the table. We showed great commitment and determination from the whistle, knowing it was going to be a challenging game. Unfortunately, after some chances from Crewe; Buckley got the better of us and got the first goal of the game to go 1-0 up from an unfortunate opportunity in the D. It didn’t faze Crewe and we reset to keep the score line at just 1-0 at half time. Going into the second half Crewe were solid which upset the opposition and saw our first chance of the game when Aoife Purcell (man of the match) dribbled the ball on the line to strike into the D for it to just go wide. Another Solid performance from Crewe was our defensive team which frustrated Buckley’s attack to the point of animal noises and diving Neymar Jr would take pride in, Crewe were the better side and didn’t go down to their level. It was a tight second half in which it could have gone either way with Crewe chasing a point with extreme effort. It wasn’t meant to be however when Buckley got there second goal from a break and strike into the D resulting in a 2-0 loss at home.

Sunday 10th February Ladies 3s v Sandbach – 4-0 loss

Crewe Ladies 3s had another games at 11:15 on Sunday against Sandbach. Crewe started with first push back but took Crewe time to settle of which Sandbach took the advantage to get three quick goals from open play. This was very unfortunate for Crewe when we knew we could do a lot better. As usual Aoife Purcell, with 3 player of the match’s in a row, was running all over the pitch up in attack and then back in defence. Until she gallantly left the pitch shortly before halftime blood stained and bruised to be bandaged up by Lily’s mum and escorted off to a&e to be stuck back together. Hope the head isn’t banging too much Aoife, we are thinking of you all and 3s certainly need to top up the ice packs in the first aid kit. But, the show must go on and going forwards we talked more and gelled as a team supporting the defence well to keep it 3-0 at half time. In the 2nd half Crewe came out more composed and troubled the Sandbach defence leading to a MOM performance by their goalkeeper. We were back playing the hockey we know and took plenty of short corner practise but unfortunately couldn’t put them in the goal. Claire who played to her strengths, stayed solid in midfield, winnning her player of the match. With minutes to go we were hopeful to keep the score line 0-0 in the second half with Amanda diving and saving great strikes but unfortunately Sandbach took a great hit out into the attack to pip a 4-0 finish.