Thank you to everyone who joined us for the fabulous Boxing Day Hockey. This is a yearly event so put it in your diary’s for next year.

Mens 3s vs Northern 2s – 7-1 win
This week, Top of the League, Crewe Mens 3s travelled away to Crosby, North Liverpool, to play Northern 2s for the first game of 2024. We went in with high spirits and a very strong side. Crewe started off strong, keeping the play in the oppositions half and applying pressure to win the ball high up the pitch. After a few attempts, Harry Price drove through the left-hand side and calmly lifted the ball into the back of the net. Following this, there was a chain of goals with Dave Freeman scoring two, although one was questioned whether it was Tom Gould instead. Throughout the first half the Crewe defence stayed solid with controlled plays from defenders Keith Jackson and Chris Gibson. Goalkeeper Evan Bowyer also made the save of the game with a dive to the right keeping a clean sheet for the first half. Going into the second half 3-0 up, we had the aim to keep the possession and play into the gaps in the opponent’s D. However, Northern came back strong, wanting to put up a challenge which resulted in an unfortunate goal against us. This didn’t stop the Crewe attackers with George Leak immediately responding with a deflection through the goalkeeper’s legs. The list of goals continued after Dave Freeman found the Backboard on a short corner, claiming his Hattrick! Not long later, Dave drove the ball towards the baseline and found Brett Howarth in front of the goalkeeper and Brett added one more to the increasing score. As the game progressed, many chances came up with dribbles from Ryan Spurrier and good plays from midfielders Sam Holloway and Ben Jarvis. In the final minutes of the game Andy Howard claimed his well deserved goal making the score 7-1 before the final whistle was blown. Man of the Man was given to Harry Price after consistent strong play, many successful tackles and good positioning throughout the game which was topped off by his goal. A very successful game to start the year and Crewe Vagrants 3s secured their position as top the league earning an extra 3 points with a 7-1 win.

Mens 2s v South Manchester 1s – 1-1 draw
This Saturday, Crewe made the 40 mile trip to Chorlton to take on South Manchester. Despite the thick fog and a semi-frozen pitch, Crewe started strongly, moving the ball around in a composed fashion and probing for a weakness in the South Manchester defence. As the first half progressed, it became clear that the home team’s plan was to defend with all 11 players behind the ball and counter attack with long balls forward as soon as they won possession. After ten minutes, a green card for Crewe midfielder Paddy O’Brien after a ludicrous challenge put the visitors on the back foot with a player down, but normal service was resumed after his return to the fore. Crewe managed to create a couple of half chances for their forwards and could, probably should, have had a penalty stroke given for an illegal South Manchester clearance off the line following a short corner, smartly won by Andrew Ticehurst. Crewe remained on top until half time, despite the game remaining goalless, with the only clear chance from South Manchester being cleared off the line by Man of the Match Stu Raw. Crewe began the second half with the majority of possession once again. Pressure soon began to tell on the South Manchester backline with their goalkeeper forced into a sensational save from Crewe forward James Capper’s driven effort. However, the breakthrough soon followed as Crewe skipper Bruce Forster latched on to a through ball following excellent work from fullback Chris Sorensen. A smart low finish to beat the keeper put Crewe into a deserved 1-0 lead midway through the second half. Despite the efforts of veteran midfielder Steve Bourne, Crewe were not to have it all their own way. After a scramble in the defensive third and with Crewe failing to clear the ball properly, South Manchester capitalised and equalised very much against the run of play. With the game finely poised heading into the final ten minutes, another, but slightly more controversial, green card was given to Crewe’s mercurial forward Harvey Briggs-Malkin. Despite being reduced to ten once again, Crewe kept pushing for a winner but in the end had to settle for a draw. Captain Forster was pleased with the Vagrants’ efforts and mentality, despite the challenging conditions and some very questionable umpiring decisions against his side. “The South Manchester captain suggested after the game that he thought a draw was a fair result. I’d never agree with that and felt we were the better side throughout but we maybe lacked a little execution in some areas. A few things for us to work on this week in training but definitely a step in the right direction.”

Ladies 4s v Lymm 4s – 5-0 loss
It was a cold foggy day worthy of a Lord of the Rings set, when top of the table Lymm came to the home of Crewe Vagrants. Stand in captain Emma Stewart was blessed with having 15 woman squad, which was an achievement in itself so soon after Christmas. Crewe were under pressure from the off but stout defence and sharp goalkeeping ensured that they entered half time only two goals down. Half-time team talk focused on positional play and linking phases of play together and this was in evident in the second half. Crewe continued to work hard despite fog almost ending the match early! The match ended with a 5-0 win for the away team. The ladies’ 4th team look forward to the match against Warrington Development Team next week.

Mens 1s v Prescott 1s – 8-1 win

Crewe Vagrants Men’s 1s welcomed very bottom of the league Prescott. Crewe got themselves off to a flying start with some great work down the right-hand side before Freddie Nixon opened the scoring in the second minute of the game. Crewe carried on applying more pressure to the Prescott defence however they struggled to produce a second goal. That was until they won a penalty flick, which, in the absence of Wolfenden, saw Chris Regan step up to the spot. Regan coolly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to increase Crewe’s lead. The half time whistle blew after a very scrappy first half. A stern word at half time a from coach Mark Bateman aimed to get Crewe fired up for the second half. Of which, Tom Davies must have taken personally with him scoring two goals within the first 4 minutes of the second half. One of which being a goal of the season contender. His reverse stick shot from the top of the D couldn’t have been placed any better. Unfortunately for Davies, the glaring sun meant he couldn’t even witness his own world class finish. Pre-Christmas break, the trusty wide deflection short corner routine was out of sync. Thankfully for Crewe they blew off the cobwebs which allowed Jack Townsend to deflect the ball into the goal. Chris Regan scored his second of the game from another short corner to give Crewe a 6-0 lead. Unfortunately for Crewe their hopes of a first clean sheet of the season was shattered due a comical chain of errors, where the ball almost went across the line in slow motion. Crewe’s 6 goal lead was restored through a second Jack Townsend goal. Andrew Ashworth returning to the men’s first team after a number of years away from the fold to give Crewe their eighth goal of the game. This now means Crewe are half way through the season with 11 games played and 11 wins to their name. Final score Crewe Vagrants 8 – 1 Prescott.