Saturday 18th March 2023

Ladies 4s Vs Deeside 4s – 0 – 7 LOSS

We expected a tough match against Deeside and that’s how it turned out. We had some great possession initially and executed some awesome passes. But as the game progressed Deeside had a lot of attacking chances. Their hungry forwards over ran our team efforts. Deeside 4s have not lost a game this season and it showed. They were quick and used every opportunity to turn and attack us. Our defence and midfield battled hard to regain possession and should be proud of their efforts. Rusty made her presence felt as our Goal Keeper and made some spectacular saves. A real team effort #working together. #only10players. 0-7 loss.

Ladies 1s vs Chester 2s – 4-1 loss

Crewe travelled to AbbeyGate college on a rainy Saturday. Chester pushed hard at the start and had several chances that were expertly saved by Alison Smith in goal. Great outletting from Gilly Gibbs-Blythe, Suzi Lawrence, Helen Glanville and Georgie Brown meant that Crewe could push forward. Crewe had several chances in the first half with Becki Burndred, Jennie Hewitt and Rachel Miller working the ball up the pitch. Unfortunately, a deflected goal from Chester meant they went into the lead at half time. Crewe came out hard in the second half with Sarah Hartley passing the ball to Ola Jama who carried through into the D and scored! Some great pressing from Bodge Jackson, Zoe Franklin and Claire Terry kept Chester at bay but after a succession of short corners Chester were able to convert. With a final score of 4-1. Crewe play Runcorn at home next week.

Ladies 2s v Whitchurch 1s – 1- 0 LOSS

The ladies 2’s came ready for this match after the loss to sandbach 1’s the previous week. We started off the first half with a strong front, we worked together and supported each other. Short quick passes made in midfield by Leanne Read and Jiaying Lin allowed us as a team to advance up to the D. Through our advances we were able to have several goal scoring opportunities. Mid way through the first half we had our first short corner, one of many, where Nova Wallace executed a strong hit which just came shy of a goal. However, contrary to our skill, Whitchurch came back strong and managed to have a solid attack resulting in a goal. Even after that unfortunate goal we did not become discouraged as we defended as best as we could against them. With Abi Axon and Erin Wray keeping a solid defence on the right. After half time, during the second half more goal scoring opportunities came, unluckily none of them amounted to a goal. Katie Gibbs-Blythe’s work in the D was one of the ways we got our opportunities, this was through her dribbling and control of the ball. Also excellent work from the forwards with getting the ball up the pitch with Maddie Lycett as she manoeuvred the ball to eliminate players. Toward the end of the match the rain started to become very heavy and the match ended with a sad 0-1 loss.

Crewe Vagrants Men’s 2nd XI were crowned league champions on Saturday after a 4-0 victory away vs Whitchurch 1st XI.
Pre-match nerves were quickly dispelled with Crewe’s first attack of the game giving the prolific Andrew Ashworth a chance which was clinically dispatched. Whitchurch did, however, grow into the game and Crewe found themselves under pressure after a yellow card for Harvey Briggs-Malkin reduced them to 10 men. In goal, Bill White rolled back the years to put in a man-of-the-match performance, producing some superb saves to preserve the lead.

Hard work from the Vagrants’ midfield gave them back control of the game, combining with dynamic attacking from fullbacks Chris Sorensen and Rob Featherstone to put Whitchurch on the back-foot. Eventually, one of the attacks resulted in a penalty flick which Nathan Watson confidently put into the roof of the net.

Despite the 2-0 lead at half-time, Crewe were unhappy with their general performance and a tough team talk focused on getting the basics right for the remaining 35 minutes of the match.

The Vagrants dominated the second half, quelling any potential threat from Whitchurch’s danger-men. The weather was as inconsistent as the umpiring but the 2’s kept their heads and the irrepressible Nathan Watson found space in the D to smash home a reverse stick shot and put the game beyond doubt.

Nathan was involved again as a driving run from midfield ripped the Whitchurch defence apart and gave captain, Bruce Forster, a well-deserved goal thanks to a composed finish under the keeper.

The discipline and organisation which has been the platform for Crewe’s success this season saw them keep the ball to frustrate the opposition and run down the clock. Youngsters Brett Howarth and Ryan Spurrier slotted seamlessly into the side and gave impressive performances.

Celebrations were in full-flow after the final whistle and an elated 2nd XI have two games to spare to start planning for next season. Congratulations and thank-you to all who have been involved in a fantastic season, both on and off the pitch.

Ladies 3s Vs Lymm – 5-0 win
Crewe headed off to a very sunny Lymm with high spirits of a win. With a change of formation Crewe started strong with great link up play between Rachel Evans and Penny Jones through the middle of Lymm’s defence, resulting in an assist from Rachel Evans to Elsbeth Leonard who pushed the ball sweetly into the goal in the first 5 minutes. Crewe held onto possession well with Lymm struggling to get through Crewe’s solid defence. Crewe’s link up play through defence to attack was slick resulting in another 2 goals scored by Elsbeth Leonard and Penny Jones. Second half Crewe continued to press strong and were awarded with many a short corner, unfortunately none were converted if nothing else it was good practice. Wing backs Amy Williams and Emma Doughty made some fantastic runs through to attack with plenty of precision balls down the wing passed into the D, one resulting in Lucy Howard running through to goal and scoring her fist goal this season. Penny Jones went onto score her second goal of the match resulting in a fantastic win for Crewe, the game ended in a 5-0 win for Crewe.

Crewe Vagrants M3s V Winnington Park 3s – 3-1 WIN

Following an unwelcome series of defeats Crewe were determined to return to winning ways in this away match. From the off Crewe were the stronger team and put all the pressure on Winnington defence. Crewe went deservedly 1-0 up through a well-executed drag flick by Greg Marshall. Crewe continued to pressure well especially down the right-hand side and could have been 5 up at the break. However, Crewe went into half time only 1-0 up and the half time team talk was to continue playing the same way and stay focused. The second half was once again dominated by Crewe but Winnington Park were more in the game. Crewe had to fend off a short corner with a stop on the line by Graham Stewart. However, pressure told with Paul Fowler pouncing on a poor pass and slotted it between the keepers legs and Nick Marshall slotted Crewe’s 3rd goal in the corner. A Winnington Park consolation couldn’t dappen spirits of Crewe’s 3-1 win. Special mention goes to Reece Bradley and Finn Douglas in making their debuts and having a great game.