 After 2 tough matches Chiswick Ladies' 2s were hungry for a win this weekend in their game against Aces 1s. The dreary weather conditions must have got to Chiswick as it took them a few minutes to get the blood pumping and their heads in the game. After the slow start Chiswick were quick to turn this around and put pressure on Aces' defence. Chiswick's Sarah Blackburn showed off her skills as she drove the ball into the D, dodged past a few defenders and put the ball into the back of the net to give Chiswick their first goal of the game. 10 minutes later another goal from Blackburn followed giving Chiswick a solid lead.
Aces, beginning to become wise to Chiswick's tactics changed their style of play and cut out the long passes Chiswick had been using to make quick breaks earlier in the game. This sudden change surprised Chiswick and combined with a few sloppy plays led to Aces getting a goal back. Chiswick were determined not to let Aces close in on their lead and a minute before half time Alize King-Harman scored Chiswick's 3rd goal assisted by Kate Murray. Lauren Templeton also showed great composure on the ball and was quick to shut down any further Aces advances. Coach Nick Richards' half time team talk made it clear to the Chiswick ladies that, whilst they were in the lead, if they played to the level they were capable of the goal differential could be a lot wider. Motivated by Nick's words Chiswick went out on a mission and the goals soon followed. Throughout the second half Alize King-Harman got another 2 goals giving her a hatrick. Sarah Blackburn had another fantastic goal after dribbling the ball past half of the Aces side to also earn her a hatrick. Wanting to get in on the goal action Kate Murray scored 2, one from the most amazing reverse stick strike from the top of the D (obviously been listening to Nick's advice at training). To give Chiswick their 9th goal Tara Feeney also had a great shot that whizzed the ball past the Aces' goalie. Throughout this goal scoring masterclass there were only a few times Chiswick found themselves on the defensive. Aces managed to get a short corner but Tara Feeney soon put an end to that with a clear from the left post. Aces also had a break where Lindsay Forbes was left to cover two strikers- Forbes managed to hold up play by causing a minor 'distraction' at the top of D by losing her balance, doing a little pirouette in the air and landing flat out on her back. This move may have stopped Aces getting a shot on goal but it did earn Forbes DOD. On the final whistle the score was Chiswick 9 Aces 1 - Chiswick 2s best result of the season to date! Man of the match went to Kate Murray for her unbelievable goals, several assists and strong play in the midfield.
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It was a great day for a game of hockey at LVSG on Saturday as the PHC ladies 1's looked to continue their good run of performances.
Chiswick were on the score sheet early through Harriet ("hat-trick") Stevenson following some great passing play down the right side of the pitch. Chiswick continued with much of the possession and territory in the first half, although had to wait a bit longer for the second. It came off a penalty corner following a great strike from the top by Rhianna Buchanan and some fearless post positioning by Harriet Stevenson. The end of the first half was characterised by some great defensive work and brilliant goal-keeping by Kylie Burnett, making sure Chiswick went into the break up 2-0. The second half started evenly, with Maidenhead getting players behind the ball on defence and looking for break always through fast forwards on attack. However, Chiswick worked hard for opportunities and Rhianna Buchanan broke the second half deadlock with a well deserved goal, showing great skill to work her way through Maidenhead defenders and put a shot high into the net. Maidenhead had the better of the next part of play, and despite some very determined defending from Chiswick, managed to score a nice goal from a straight strike at a penalty corner. Chiswick then picked up the pressure again and following a storming run from Laura Patterson down the left wing and baseline, Ceilidh Walker put Chiswick's fourth away. The last say was left to Chiswick, and a great pass from Rhianna Buchanan was followed by a brilliant cross from Helen Taylor for Harriet Stevenson to complete her hat-trick. It finished 5-1 to Chiswick, leading in to a big game next weekend away to Whitney. MOM: Harriet Stevenson (hat-trick), Kylie (brilliant in goal) DOD: Rhianna Buchanan (if you are going to be late at least have a better excuse than gardening) After a few early morning field trips as a result of a misleading post code our 2’s met in Southgate’s changing rooms for a charged and focused team talk as we prepared ourselves for our toughest game of the season. Unfortunately Danni Petticrew’s metaphoric contribution of “working as a unit as do the Romans in “300” with their shields“, finishing neatly with “We will not let them penetrate us!” instantly earned her DOD for the 2nd week running.
It was feisty, everyone wanted in on the action and everyone fought hard to get it. We looked strong, we looked confident, we had a token supporter Ian Freeland and we played our best hockey. But this was not enough. 20 minutes in and Southgate tucked 2 goals away within 2 minutes. On reflection our Captain Lindsay Forbes was close to bursting with pride when she pointed out how we did not let this ruffle our Polly feathers; if anything we dug our claws in and fought even harder as a unit. This was rewarded by a truly splendid goal of upmost composition with a drive by Laura Patterson down the right to the baseline then a pass to Sarah Blackburn who was far post and a slap stick later that ball was nicely boxed up. One can imagine our half time team talk with a 2-1 score; the possibility of victory against a team not yet defeated this season was not a far cry! The idea was to earn a few more shorts as we were convinced Lindsay had scared them with her near decapitating first strike. But Southgate too must have had a team talk of note as they were quicker and all the more persistent. We had a quick lesson in Spanish thrown into the mix as our Argentinian Clara Balfour expressed her panic when they had a succession of near heart stopping breaks but we quickly caught onto this and closed down the culprit keeping Southgate them at bay. Disappointingly with around 10 minutes to go Southgate scored again, and even though we had a number of brilliant drives with and rebounds off goal posts far and near, we just didn’t get it in the net. A final score of 3-1 to Southgate. But not all was lost; our goalie Millie Lang brought happiness to teas with her batch of freshly baked cupcakes. MOM Laura Patterson for outstanding midfield play creating gaps, driving and passing DOD Danni Petticrew for talking dirty  Goal scorer and top dog Laura B, with DoD, Green Ladies 4s vs. Old Uxonians 1s
Old Uxonians were one of only two losses for the ladies 4s during the first half of the season...a devastating 3-0 loss which the whole team was determined to reverse this time around. The 4s were extremely pumped for this match... Given the context this was one of the 4s most intense matches of the season and immediately from pushback the game was tense and cagey. The opposition told us afterwards this was their best performance of the season and it showed. They raised their game considerably in the first half to give us a challenging time and keep the defence busy. Both Yssie Richards and Renee de Lepper were called upon to chase down some fast breakaways and super keeper Alice Taylor-Bennett kept us in the game with two fantastic reaction saves from 1-on-1 situations. The first half wasn't all defensive however. Jen Holman and Alex Joss worked brilliantly with the midfield to bring the ball up and there were some great near opportunities for Kate Cato on the right post in particular. The match went into the break at a goalless 0-0 and a rousing half time talk followed. We knew this could be one of the defining halves of our season and we went back out determined to find some goals. We decided to focus on our passing and making space for the forwards to get the goals they promised would follow. The forwards didn't let us down. Although we sadly lost Kate Cato for the second half due to a back injury the forward trio of Gemma McIntosh, Laura Bryant and Fay Pullin hustled brilliantly to create opportunities. Tireless work from Emma Milton, Stacey Nevin and Sophie Green kept the ball in the attacking half with some brilliant runs and passes into the forwards. Chloe Hole also worked brilliantly as a pivot to free up the congestion in the D. This was a real team effort with everyone playing their part in some good movement and some excellent switching. Goal number one came from an excellently worked short corner which Laura Bryant slotted into the goal with confidence. Goal number two came thanks to one of the hits of the season as Alex Joss fired one in from deep which Laura Bryant managed to connect with for what is fast becoming her signature not-looking-at-the-goal-but-scoring trick shot! With seven games left to play and us sitting at the top of the table by just one point this is set to be an exciting time for the ladies 4s. Many thanks to Cookie from the Ladies 1s for stepping in to umpire before her own game - it was much appreciated. PHC Chiswick Ladies 4s - 2, Old Uxonians 1s - 0 Scorers: Laura Bryant x2 MoM: Laura Bryant for a sterling performance up front and two fantastic goals DoD: Sophie Green for late arrival due to poor kit preparation, only for co-captain Chloe Hole to steal the crown when she gave the oppo the win on the post match paperwork.  Mother Nature clearly wasn't in the mood for hockey last week. PHC Chiswick L6’s v Eastcote L4’s
A week’s wait for a hockey match was finally over following last week’s match being called off by Mother Nature in the form of a frozen pitch. Eastcote’s turf was definitely a far cry from the white icy turf we had last week. Chiswick rocked onto the pitch with plenty of gumption; we were ready to put up a good fight against top of the league for the 3 points to take home. Chiswick 6s held up pressure for much of the first half. It could have been anybody’s game with the ball moving up and down the pitch. Eastcote kept piling on the pressure with their slick stick skills and surrounded Chiswick 6s at every chance. A short corner was awarded to Eastcote that broke through our defence and netted in the ball with a flick that caught our debut keeper Talwyn Whetter off guard. A chance for Chiswick to equalize broke when a beautiful run and pass from Freya Crossley up to Helen Lee into the D… but failed to convert into a goal with it hitting Lee’s foot on the way in. Another opportunity came for Chiswick with an award of a P.C, but Eastcote were hot on it. Even though Chiswick still had possession outside the circle, it was a desperate scramble for the ball between the two sides and the girls in blue lost the chance to capitalize on a shot on goal. Half time score 1-0. Coach Norma Bonnell’s half time talk and far too many sweets later for much needed energy, had us ready to go and make our mark on the match. The second half saw a nail biting start with Eastcote attacking our D time and time again, with the last (Wo)man standing in the firing line Talwyn Whetter, displaying her newly acquired goal keeping skills by pushing and kicking the match ball away with ease. But with much of the play in our D, it was only a matter of time. Two further goals unfortunately slipped in by Eastcote’s perfectly executed deflections while hanging onto post. Finally, Chiswick got some possession with some brilliant runs up the pitch into oppo’s D, but failed to make a mark. The Eastcote defence crowded their defensive D and were onto the Chiswick attackers like moths to a flame. Eastcote didn’t falter and kept pushing into the D. AChiswick foot and a P.C. later resulted in a fourth goal hitting the backboard. Chiswick held their heads high and fought till the very end, but when the final whistle went, there was nothing left to do but accept the loss, look forward to a fun packed training session and prepare for the next match. Wo(man) of the match: Talwyn Whetter for taking one for the team and for a fantastic debut as GK! DoD: Helen Lee for missing the clear shot on goal with some skills best left for the football pitch. Saturday 17th January 2015
Chiswick won 9 -0 Chiswick narrowly missed out on a perfect ten this week with an emphatic 9-0 win over Hampstead and Westminster Ladies 3 where hat trick avoidance appeared to be the order of the day until Ceilidh Walker stepped up and took one for the team. In a clichéd ‘game of two halves’, a rather underwhelming first 35 minutes meant the blues had a slim one goal lead at the half time break. A trademark Harriet Stevenson post prowler goal was the highlight of a rather uneventful half until Helen Taylor added to the team’s injury woes by taking a painful ball to the shoulder ruling her out of the rest of the game. Having already missed the team talk and set off the changing room fire alarm, Taylor cemented her front running in the day’s DOD nominations. Chiswick turned on the style early in the second half with Katherine Duncan firing two short corners home in quick succession. This was quickly followed by the first glimpse of the blossoming womance between Becky Smith and Rhi Buchanan, with Buchanan dribbling past the H&W defence to lay off to Smith who struck home a bullet shot from the top of the D. Smith was scorer turned provider for the next goal, once again finding Harriet Stevenson on the post for her to slot past the keeper. Buchanan then added her name to the score sheet with a tenacious run from the top of the D, riding a number of dubious tackles to eventually force the ball over the line. Leaving it late to open her hat trick account, Walker was in sweeping form from close range to capitalise on Lili King-Harman’s hard work by powering the ball past the keeper from the left post. Walker’s second and third were almost carbon copies, with Smith setting up both to ensure that calls from the side line of jug avoidance were silenced. MOM: Ceilidh Walker for a second half hat trick. DOD: Helen Taylor for setting off the fire alarm in the changing rooms  After some initial concerns about a possible frozen pitch the game was given the go-ahead and the mighty fours went about pursing a home win.
Due to some availability problems we had co-captain Gemma McIntosh leading by example and stepping up to be the emergency goalie - well played captain! The game started with good attacking intent form Chiswick and lots of early opportunities. Laura Bryant in particular led from the front, playing high up the pitch and receiving many good crosses from the players out wide. Although it was a very crowded D, with BA Hayes playing very defensively, Laura Bryant scored two superb goals to take us into half time with the score line at 2-0. Although rarely troubled, the defence stayed remarkably calm and unruffled when called upon - with solid play between Jen Holman and Sinead McGeever keeping it tight at the back. Our youngster, the very speedy Yssie Richards, did a good job of chasing down any breakaways and provided a number of good injections for our short corners. The second half came with a real team focus to spread the play out more and make greater use of the space. This led to some fantastic movement of the ball and switching the play from one side to the other when needed. Sophie Green and Stacey Nevin provided some strong driving hits in from the left to give the forwards something to use. After having a short corner disallowed, Grace Glendinning responded in the best way possible by firing in the re-take with a ferocious first strike from the top of the D. Kate Cato then wanted in on the action. With the ball being turned over deep in the Chiswick defensive half by Clare Ormerod it was moved quickly down the line by Glendinning and crossed into the centre for an awaiting Cato. Cato went one on one with the keeper, took a tidy clip hit and fired the ball into the left corner! Taking the girls in blue to a healthy 4-0 lead. Chiswick weren't finished just yet, with yet another ball nicely worked up by the mids, Emma Milton found herself near the P Spot with the ball being crossed in from the left. The goalie stepped out from the centre, as Milton calmly caught the ball on her reverse stick and slapped the ball into the right hand corner, putting Chiswick 5-0 up at the final whistle. Ultimately - a good team win for the fours - with our forward line deserving particular praise for driving the result! The fours remain top of the division by one point.... MoM - Kate Cato, for a great goal and some excellent fighting attacking play.DoD - Gemma McIntosh, for not touching the ball, yet being the loudest player on the pitch!  Following their solid start to the second half of the season last week Chiswick Ladies’ 2s were looking for another win at home to Staines Ladies’ 2s this weekend. Coach Nick Richards made some changes to the normal structure to allow for a strong defensive line-up and quick breaks up front (or as Danni Petticrew interpreted it- 1 defender and 4 forwards?!) Chiswick started well and their speed outmatched the skill and experience of Staines for the first 10 minutes. The tables soon turned though with Staines getting their first goal 15 minutes in after causing confusion in the Chiswick defence with their quick passing in the D. Chiswick tried to fight back but Staines managed to get a second goal before the half time whistle.
After Staines scored their 3rd goal in the second half it looked like it could be the worst defeat yet for the Chiswick Ladies’ 2s, however, the team dug deep and changed their tactics to allow for a more attacking play. Laura Patterson used her speed to get several strong breaks down the wings and Kate Murray showed great persistence in winning the ball off Staines players in midfield. A Chiswick goal eventually came after the initial strike from a short corner was saved by the Staines’s goalie and Lindsay Forbes put the second rebound away between the goalie’s legs. A second goal nearly followed with an impressive play from the forwards that took the goalie out but was stopped on the line with a rather impressive reverse stick from Staines defender. In the last 10 minutes of the game Staines had a few strong attacks but Tara Feeney soon put an end to those with her skillful defending and composure on the ball resulting in the final score being 3-1 to Staines. MOM went to Laura Patterson for her great attacking plays and speed in the midfield and Danni Petticrew earned herself DOD for a variety of reasons….. but mainly for thinking we were playing with 1 defender! Whilst it was a disappointing result, the ladies are up for coming out stronger in next week’s match and being the first team to take points off top of the league Southgate 2s. PHC Chiswick Ladies 5s v PHC Chiswick Ladies 6s
Having previously beaten the 5s earlier in the season, the Ladies 6s went into this week's game hoping to match the previous result, but were aware that the 5s would come out fighting to win this game. Unfortunately, the 5s had the upper hand in the first half, with the score 2-0 by half time, after goals from Kate Backhouse and Margaret Palmer. Despite some top tips from coach/player Norma Bonnell and co-captain Katie Scott (who stepped into the breach and did a fab job in goal), the 6's didn't manage to get an equaliser in the second half. Although the 6s did step up the pace in the second half and moved the action further down the pitch, the 5s played a solid game. Thankfully, with a solid defence, and Fay Bradley being seemingly un-passable (and winning MoM), there were no further goals for the 5s in the second half. Although a disappointing start to the second half of the season, the team were buoyed by still being in the top half of the league (mid-table) and only being one point behind the 5s in the league - it's all to play for in the next couple of games. Nonetheless, the team enjoyed the game and take it as a good post Christmas warm up! MOM - Fay Bradley for stellar all around game. DOD - Vikki Ommanney for arriving late (after having to go home to collect forgotten shin pads and gum shield!) and getting injured within 5 mins of being on the pitch. Final score: PHC Chiswick Ladies 5s: 2 PHC Chiswick Ladies 6s: 0 First match after Christmas saw the 3’s trekking off for a late game against Hendon &Mill hill. First game of the season in Away kit meant yellow socks- special thanks to Laura Bryant for mass buying in sports direct en route!
After brushing off the Christmas cobwebs we began the first half well in our new formation and a good spell of passing resulted in our first goal from Laura Bryant. We continued into the second half, with excellent defending and many more shots on target. We retained possession well and a second goal from Laura Bryant sealed the game. Mom votes confirmed it was real team effort, with Angela Li winning for good defending and impressive runs. Unanimous Dod for Charlotte Cooper, who's unaided fall once receiving the ball caused much amusement! |
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