Match Reports 4th November 2023

11 Nov 2023 by Crewe Vagrants Hockey Club

Christmas Party Tickets now on sale 🎉🎄🎅🏼

Ladies 1s v Alderley Edge – 6-2 win
Still undefeated in the season so far, Crewe Ladies 1’s weren’t going to let the damp weather ruin their stride. They started positively, with some good linked up play between the lines. It didn’t take long for this positive momentum to be converted into a goal, with Ola Jama finishing from a cross into the D. Crewe used this energy to step up their game, with players making excellent leads into the attacking half. Suzi Lawrence drove into the D and her hit toward the goal, allowing Claire Terry to deflect for a second. Despite a few breaks from Alderley Edge, Crewe’s defence of Ali Smith, Lauren McGurk, Georgie Holloway, Gilly Gibbs Blythe, Helen Glanville and Suzi Lawrence held strong and their relentless attack continued, with Emily Critchley scoring a third for Crewe. A momentary lapse in concentration saw Edge win a penalty corner and an unfortunate deflection from a Crewe defender saw the first half end 3-1. Crewe started the second half strong again, with some lovely connected team play from Zoe Franklin, Caitlin Oates and Juliette Le Guezec. Clinical execution of a penalty corner saw Ola Jama claim her second goal of the day. Some attacking play from Alderley Edge won them a corner which they converted to take the score to 4-2, but Crewe didn’t let this dampen their spirits, as they stepped up with some lovely passing play between lines allowing them to threaten more goals. This paid off when Jenny Evans passed the ball into Claire Terry, who rolled into the D, linking with Ola Jama, who then passed to Emma Buckley to finish for the fifth goal for Crewe. Not to be stopped here, Crewe continued to press and were rewarded with a final well finished goal from Becki Bundred. 6-2 to the Vagrants. A great win that saw Crewe ladies 1’s continue their impressive unbeaten run.

Mens 2s v Triton 2s – 1-0 win
North West men’s division 4 East match day 6 saw Crewe Vagrants men’s 2 travel to local rivals Triton men’s 2. Off the back of recent league and cup wins Vagrants were soon into their free flowing, controlled, structured hockey, building good patient phases of play from the back. The first half continued with Crewe dominating play, yet Triton created a few chances with quick aggressive attacking hockey, keeping the Vagrants defensive units on their toes. A great double-save from Harry in the Vagrant’s goal, from a well worked Triton short corner was the closest the home team came to breaking the defensive resolve of the visitors in the first half. Triton dominated the early exchanges of the second half but failed to break down the organised and dogged defensive units of Crewe. Vagrants responded with numerous waves of possession based attacking hockey built from the foundation of the Herculean defensive midfielder’s dominance. Newcomer Sang started to take the game to Triton, with some great solo attacking play, supported by the industrious Harvey, had Triton on the back foot for periods of the closing stages. Despite the inevitable lack of discipline from player coach Watson, which saw him sin binned, Crewe continued to build creative attacking phrases and were rewarded when Ticehurst was deliberately fouled in the circle when seeming through on goal. Watson, made amends for his earlier indiscretion and clinically converted the penalty flick into the top right-hand corner of the net. Crewe saw out the remaining 2 minutes of play to take home a well-earned 3 points.

Crewe Vagrants ladies 4s Vs Macclesfield 4s – 6-0 loss

We set off early for a 10.30am pushback in Macclesfield on a damp grey morning expecting a well-matched game with a mid-table team. We had some great possession initially and executed some awesome passes to keep possession of the ball. However, it quickly became apparent that Macclesfield had attacking forwards who were determined to score. Their talented forwards over ran our team’s defensive efforts. They were quick, organised 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. Liadan Wilkes made her presence felt as our Goal Keeper and made some spectacular saves. The attacking ball seemed to spend a lot time in mid-air whizzing past defenders faces but, Emma Stewart, ever strong on the goal line, made a spectacular mid-air save raising spirits. Lucy Howard was an absolute rock keeping the team structured and focused. She was everywhere distributing the ball, keeping our game flowing. In conclusion it was an unexpectedly tough game.

Mens 4s – Macclesfield -3-1 win
This was a test in the making; a strong Macclesfield side visited the Vagrants and we stood tall weathering the opposition, pressing high with a packed midfield. We hit on the break with Vlad scoring twice. The second half was the same with another break goal from Vlad. Macclesfield scored a late consolation goal, but this was a disciplined hard-fought win where the side with the greatest heart won! There were some excellent performances from the young players and a great hat-trick from Vlad. It really was a great performance and one that shows us we can beat anyone.

Mens 1s – Alderley Edge – 9-1 win
The Men’s 1s looked forward to facing Alderley Edge at home and the Vagrant’s pitch was perfect thanks to the overnight rain. Alderley provided a test for Crewe early doors, but the nerves were soon settled after a broken-down short corner was calmly put away by Keelan Sherwani. Crewe worked the ball into the D which saw Stanton Smith slot home at the back post. Alderley Edge soon replied halving Crewe’s advantage. Adam Robertson, on his long-awaited debut for the Vagrants, delivered 2 quick goals, with one thundering past the keeper at the near post. Crewe’s attacking link up play was in fine form again before half time, which saw Dan Budden attempted to gift Adam Robertson his debut hat-trick. However, an Alderley player nicked the ball before Roberston and saw the ball into his own net, meaning Dan Budden got his name on the scoresheet. Half time score 5-1 to the Vagrants. Crewe started where they finished with some of the best hockey played at the Vagrants in recent years. Their slick, simple passing cut through Alderley, which then saw Dan Budden score two quick fire goals to wrap up his hat-trick (with help from Adam Robertson’s honesty in the first half). Dan Budden saw himself in involved in the action again with some link up play with Jack Townsend and James Holt, with Holt scoring a tidy finish on the back post. The game was wrapped up by Jack Townsend to make it a 10 goal thriller. Final score Crewe Vagrants 9 – 1 Alderley Edge.

Men 3 vs Wilmslow 3s – 1-0 win
The morning started off with some light rain forecasted for the men’s 3’s match at home. Although it looked to be a miserable day with the rain and cold weather, the team didn’t let that dampen their spirits and put on a spectacular display of individual skill and teamwork. Their defence was solid and nearly impenetrable, managing to not concede any goals. Keith Jackson, Dean White and Fin Douglas all did well to cover each other in defence and spread the ball across the pitch when attacking. Ryan Spurrier had a phenomenal game, being strong in defence and being quick to counterattack, earning himself Man of the match. The midfield was well controlled by Harvey Taylor and Ben Jarvis, with their quick passes and utilisation of the entire width of the pitch. The forwards managed to maintain pressure on Wilmslow’s defence, never giving them a chance to rest or recover. CV 3’s managed to walk away with a narrow 1-0 win, with Ben Jarvis scoring off a short corner. CV played well together to create opportunities to score, and even though they were unable to capitalise on those opportunities, it was still an intense game and absolutely thrilling to watch. This was undoubtedly CV 3’s best performance of the season, and extremely promising for games to come.

Ladies 3 vs Wilmslow 4’s – 4-1 win
The morning was started with an enthusiastic and energetic warm up which carried into the game. Crewe began the game eager and ready to score goals, which was clear to see with the first goal from El Snelson within minutes of the first half. This prompted Crewe’s to dominate the first half of the match; communicating with each other to move the ball as a unit. Becky Miles had a brilliant game up front, relentlessly driving the ball forward towards the goal. We were fortunate to have a number of Subs which were seamlessly rotated into the game. Crewe continued to battle for goals and the defensive line worked tirelessly to stop Wilmslow’s attempts to score! Crewe worked the ball up the pitch making short and effective passes to each other reaching Amy Williams who scored our second goal of the game. A quick half time team talk with lots of positive feedback and pointers for the second half. Into the second half and Wilmslow were hungry for goals and straight on the attack. The defensive line worked together to guard the goal with Heather Patterson taking on some of Wilmslow’s women; whose aggression caused her to flip over the top of Keeper Rusty and the balls rebound, to give Wilmslow the opportunity to score. Crewe picked themselves back up and moved as a unit to drive the ball down the right-hand side to Becky Miles who scored the 3rd goal. Crewe’s drive for more goals was clear and the energy levels continued enabling El Snelson to score the 4th goal. Everyone had a brilliant game and it was great to see everyone playing together as unit. The game ended with Crewe on a high. Well done, Ladies! Let’s keep the positive energy up for next week’s game!

Ladies 2s v West Derby – 2-1 win – FRIENDLY
The ladies 2s meet Oswestry 1s away next week.