4th team

Match Reports

Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Howardian 3's - Saturday 17th April 2010

Saints got off to a slow start in the hot conditions. Howards and Saints battled for a while each resulting in equal amounts of short corners given. Howards managed to score leaving the Saints 1-0 down but nevertheless Saints weren’t going to allow themselves to lose on the last game of the season.

Into the second half and everyone was beginning to feel tired due to the heat but they battled on and before long Alex P scored a cracking goal is levelling at 1-1.

Still struggling to keep possession, Howards made two breaks, of which resulted in two almighty saves by our captain, Gaynor who bravely deflected the ball away off the stick and out of the danger zone. Saints then quickly got onto the ball and after a bit of a scuffle with the GK, Alex S managed to hit it into the back of the net. Saints were back in business leading 2-1.

About 20 minutes to go Saints still had the determination but couldn’t get anymore goals. Finally the whistle blew for full time and Saints were happy with the result. Well done to the whole team on this result.

Hopefully next season we will get a promotion that we all deserve!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Swansea Uni 2's - Saturday 13th March 2010

Saints started off with a great start, creating space through the strong line of Swansea University 2’s defence line, keeping the pressure up all the way through the game.

Sadly Swansea managed to score on one of their rare breaks from their hit outs. This meant that saints were 1-0 down. Saints knew that they couldn’t accept another loss, so continued to apply pressure on Swansea’s defence. Saints were constantly in their attacking D throughout the game but unfortunately the shots at goal were unsuccessful.

A short corner was given of which Molly injected to Gaynor who then took a straight strike at goal, it was a fabulous hit right on target for the right post but unfortunately it was too high and didn’t hit the back board therefore, the goal wouldn’t have counted, even if it wasn’t saved by the GK who hit it back out of the D.

Still 1-0 down into the second half and Saints new that they couldn’t allow themselves to be beaten so they kept at it and finally made another excellent break down the pitch. The ball was executed from Alex P swiftly across the D to Alex S who deflected it off the right post into the goal! Saints were now equalising with Swansea Uni 2’s. The final whistle blew at 1-1 and saints were happy with the final score even though they missed a few opportunities for more goals.

All the team played tremendously well with 100% commitment and determination; let’s hope we play like this next week but with more goals!

Player of the match was awarded to Molly so well done to her! Also, a special thanks to Elinor who played terrifically in goals with some awesome saves!

Next’s weekend’s game is against Rhondda at 2pm away!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v UWIC 3's - Saturday 6th March 2010

It was a lovely morning to be playing hockey and Saints were preparing to play against the top team within the division. Saints battled out well in the first half with a huge amount of pressure including a superb shot by Alex P, but sadly it was unsuccessful due to it bouncing back out off post. Saints were doing extremely well to hold off UWIC and preventing them from scoring thanks to the solid line of defence which stood in there way. Half time whistle blew and it was still 0-0!

Second half begun with a lot more pressure than what we had to begin with, which allowed UWIC to create a few lead runs into the D. Sadly this allowed UWIC to score 2 goals, it became 2-0 to UWIC. Nevertheless, there was still enough time to gain the goals back and Saints were determined not to allow the final result to be 2-0! Within minutes of these goals Saints began earning short corners, One of which Gaynor injected the ball to Vikki who then Straight Striking it into the right side of the goal. It then became 2-1! Saints continued to battle it out right until the end but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to grab another goal to equalize. The final whistle blew 2-1.

Everyone played extremely well and with so much determination. Even though we lost, the 100% commitment of the whole team for this game, made Saints feel satisfied with the results.

Player of the Match was awarded to Marianne so well done to her on behalf of all the team! Next weeks game is against Swansea Uni at Hawthorn, So come on girls we can win this one!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Cardiff Uni - Saturday 27th February 2010

Saints got off to a great start creating lots of pressure on Cardiff Uni. Amazing attacking from our forwards Molly and Maxine putting us in the lead 1-0. Saints held their heads high and kept battling it out on the pitch but sadly Cardiff Uni then later managed to sneak one past our great GK Rachel making it 1-1. A lot of tension was building at this point, yet the determination of our players kept us fighting. Sadly Cardiff Uni managed to score another two goals. The final whistle blew for full time and Saints were saddened with the 3-1 result of the game.
 
All the team played extremely well and hopefully next weekend they will play with the same determination that was shown within this match.
 
Player of the match was not named this weekend unfortunately and next weeks game is against UWIC at 10am, WHS. Well done to everyone!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Cardiff Medics - Saturday 20th February 2010

The Saints Started off with a flying start constantly attacking and creating a lot of pressure on the Medics GK. We kept pushing and pushing for goals but they were all unsuccessful until a short corner was given. Lucy injected the ball to Cat Jones who then struck it into the back of the net! Fantastic shot by Cat and Saints knew that they were back on track after two defeats.
With our strong defence lined up Medics had no chance to score as the ball was quickly fed back out to our flying midfielders who quickly moved the ball down the pitch. It was Sarah Lewis who then put pressure on the Keeper who went for goal and created an epic shot which fooled the defence including the GK and ended up in the back of the net off a defenders stick. It was 2-0!
Having to re-start at half way once again Saints new that they couldn’t afford to allow the Medics to score so immediately put pressure onto the Medics attackers. Suddenly there was a break and their left wing swiftly ran down the line causing pressure amongst our team. But she was no match for Kerin who stole the ball from her and fed it back up the pitch to the midfielders. The ball was executed down the pitch at such a fast pace that Medics found it hard to drop back and defend and before they knew it there was a fantastic cross by Cat straight to Clare who then hit it over the line into the back of the goal! It was such a great goal!

The whistle finally blew after 70 minutes of hard work and Saints were delighted with a 3-0 win against Medics!

Player of the Match was awarded to Sarah Lewis for the second week running. Well done to her!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Milford Haven - Sunday 7th February 2010

Whitchurch Saints fought a tough physical battle today in the freezing weather down in Milford Haven. Saints got off to a superb start leading the match with 1-0 from a fantastic goal from Fi.
As the game went on Saints were struggling to gain possession from the forceful team of Milford giving them a few open opportunities to score, which our tremendous goal keeper Rachel saved.
Saints were doing well to hold them off thanks to our strong line of defenders stealing the ball and clearing them out of danger or feeding them through to our midfielders, but unluckily after a few successful passes, one of the girls from Milford managed to creep through and score. It was an unfortunate goal leveling the result to 1-1.
Saints held their heads up high and battled again and again to earn some short corners but they proved unsuccessful.
Umpiring decisions went against Saints and Milford managed to get another goal making the final result 2-1 to Milford.
 It was an unfortunate loss against Milford however we still have many other games ahead of us which I’m sure there will be more victories to celebrate.
On behalf of all the team I’d like to say a huge thank you to Julie Campbell who offered to travel up from Fishguard to umpire our game for us, and a huge well done to our fabulous Goal Keeper Rachel for her amazing saves within her first ever league game as a goal keeper with the 4’s!
Player of the match was awarded to our goal scorer, Fi who had an epic game! Well done to you also !
Next game is home VS Brecon Let’s have a win next weekend girlies !!!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Rhondda 2's - Saturday 5th December 2009

On one of the wettest Saturdays of the season so far Saints 4s aimed to reverse the result of the last match played against Rhondda 2s which was a friendly at the beginning of the season. A good result in their last game of 2009 would make for a very merry Christmas!!!

However it was Rhondda that started off player better hockey and came forward with several good attacks with some very good play from their midfield players. Great defending particularly from Meg (and effortlessly again from Gaynor!) with some important tackles and interceptions kept the opposition at bay. Holly in goal made some excellent saves too, one of which was heading just inside the post but an impressive lunge kept the score at 0-0.

After soaking up rather a lot of pressure from the opposition, and definitely riding their luck for most of the first half, Saints started to make some good attacks with Nia (player of the match) being instrumental in a lot of the play. Sian burst down the right hand wing and cunningly lifted the ball from just inside the D which fooled the goalkeeper and headed straight into the goal. Saints were leading 1-0!!

The second half possession was much more evenly shared between the 2 teams both struggling in the difficult playing conditions. Several good shots on goal by Fi, with the whole team hoping she would score before she leaves temporarily for a spot of travelling, were well saved. Both teams defended well and the score remained the same until full time. So Saints enter the New Year in a great position in the table, let’s get to the top 4s!!!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Swansea Uni 2's - Saturday 28th November 2009

It was another victory for the 4’s this weekend in Swansea. Everyone played extremely well in the bitter cold which gave us the 2-0 win against Swansea University 2’s.
At the beginning of the match the 4’s were unsettled but nevertheless after the 3 missed opportunities for Swansea in short corners we knew that we had to get our heads into the game. Our first goal was a fantastic shot by Fi Tresseder who confused the Keeper by crossing the D and reversing the ball into the left hand side of the goal ! Fantastic shot !

Saints stuck to it but Swansea were still trying to get some goals and left our goal keeper in a difficult situation of 4 on 1. Holly stuck to the player with the ball and hassled her which led them to miss the goal ! Great save for Holly ! Suddenly Swansea made a break for it down the right wing, but Gaynor just effortlessly put her stick on the ground in front of her and stole the ball ! Great defending by Gaynor !

It was our time to get another goal and Gaynor hit the ball swiftly and accurately to one of our new members Miranda Hopkins who then popped it into the back of the goal. What a goal, it was fantastic ! We kept trying for another goal and by the end of the second half we had dominated the pitch and were beginning to break down the defensive wall by our quick short passes and our 1-2’s between Vicki and Maxine but unfortunately the whistle blew and we were unfortunate to get our 3rd goal.

I would like to say a special welcome to our newest members Rosaline and Miranda who made a positive impact on our performance throughout the game. A well done again to Holly for her tremendous saves especially with the 4 on 1 situation and a thank you to Vicki and Maxine for stepping in to play.
Man of the match was given to Vicki this week so also well done to her on that ! Let’s keep it up 4’s !!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v UWIC 3's- Saturday 21st November 2009

It was a wet and windy day for hockey and the whole of the team played with their best efforts during this disappointing defeat by UWIC losing 2-1 in the end.
Saints began with a flying start but we were struggling to get into the attacking half of the pitch. Having no goal keeper in the way, we knew that all we had to do was strike the ball into the D for someone to shoot, but the defence was just too strong.  Then we began some very quick 1 - 2’s and finally we had a break in the defence. A cross to Amie who had positioned herself in a fantastic spot to receive the pass on the post… but unfortunately too much pressure built up in the D as Amie hit and it was unsuccessful. It was still 0-0! Back in our defence UWIC struck back with almost the same tactics and took such a short quick pass that no one knew that it had gone into the back of the net. It quickly became 1-0 to UWIC.
Nevertheless Saints held their heads up high and knew that the game wasn’t over yet. Into in the second half we had a few more fantastic shots at goal but yet again they were unsuccessful. UWIC were getting dangerous too, as the ball was firing down the pitch and everyone having to rush to get back and defend. Luckily for us our defence was strong; they quickly stole the ball off them as they ran into danger and cleared the ball. UWIC then struck again at goal first hitting the inside of the post before striking it a second time hitting the backboard. It then became 2-0 to UWIC. Saints still fought a good battle and came back with Lucy James receiving a fantastic pass from the right, and then gave an excellent strike into the goal without anyone standing in her way. The final whistle blew 2-1 and everyone couldn’t wait to get in the warm!
I would like to say a special thank you from all of the team to Holly who played extremely well in such awful conditions and for stepping in for us in such short notice! And also thank you to Vicki for helping arrange the team during the game!
Well done 4’s, I know it was disappointing but we played the best performance so far! … So let’s hope we can keep our performance up for next weekend against Swansea Uni 2’s!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Cardiff Uni - Saturday 14th November 2009

Saints 4’s were forced to play hard at home in the worst weather of the year. Playing into the wind in the first half unbelievably in 1min 13 secs Saints Alex S snuck in front of the goalkeeper on the right post to nicely slot in a fast ball from Cat Jones (1-0). Cardiff University however brought the score in line by playing two high players and sneaking behind the defence (1-1).

Weather beginning to worsen did not put the Saints off with a second goal from Fi Tresseder (2-1). Again this was short lived as Cardiff matched the Saints’ effort (2-2). Saints maintaining majority possession and working well pushed hard into Cardiff’s D. With a spot of genius, FI T scored her second with an amazing chip past the goalkeeper into the top left corner (3-2). Unfortunately for Saints Cardiff’s tactics of leaving a player high led to a one on one with the goalkeeper and scoring. (3-3). Half time.

Both teams being drained, drenched and cold from the dramatic first half, led to a long drawn out second half. However the Saints capitalised on possession with a hat trick from Fi T (4-3). Saints fearful of an equaliser played a protective last 15 with Cardiff pushing all players high as a last ditch attempt. This was unfortunately to no avail as the full time whistle blew, Saints’ winning their second consecutive game.

Man of the Match for the Saints was deservedly given to Kerin Bowen. Although it has to be said that all 14 in the squad gave maximum effort and dedication throughout the worst weather seen this year. Away to league leaders UWIC next week.

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Medics - Saturday 7th November 2009

All of the team played extremely well today with 110% effort. Saints got off to a flying start having almost dominated the fist 10 minutes of the game in our attacking half. Within those minutes we had some fantastic breaks made by Fiona T, but unfortunately didn’t get anything out of it.

About 15 minutes into the game Saints were awarded with a short corner of which Gaynor scored the first goal. A perfect deflection that shot passed the left side of the goal keeper. It was 1-0 to Saints! Starting back up after that glorious goal took a bit of time but we managed to get straight back into the game and before long Alex P also scored with a fantastic goal as she swiftly passed through two defenders.

It was 2-0 to Saints! A lot of pressure was then created by the Medics and they were awarded with a short corner and with the help of our player Gaynor having accidentally deflected the ball in for them, it became 2-1 to Saints. By this time the players were starting to tire out alongside being cold and wet, but never the less Saints were still in the lead and were full of motivation and before long Cat Jones scored a superb goal having received the ball and striking it in to the back of the goal. It was 3-1 to Saints!

The final whistle blew and Saints cheered knowing that they were back on track! Player of the match was awarded to Cat Jones for her superb hits.

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Brecon - Saturday 24th October 2009

Saints this week had a disappointing result loosing 4-0 to Brecon in spite of some very nice play. For the third week running the saints had yet an entirely new team putting them at an immediate disadvantage to Brecon’s only Ladies team. However despite this, collectively the team played fantastically, and clearly individually the players were already improving.

The new formation also proved to be rather effective and considering the lack of subs and the 5 injuries incurred before, and during the game, the saints played especially well. We just hope all the players including player of the match Sarah Lewis get well soon.

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Milford Haven - Saturday 17th October 2009

Saints 4s played at home in the warm October sun against Milford Haven in a closely fought battle. The team was slightly changed from the team who played in last week’s victory due to some injuries to Sian Cleaver (no.1 supporter on crutches) and Bex Croft (who took the role as team photographer!).

With pressure on both goals early on, Milford took the lead with one of the Milford forwards sneaking in at the near post and getting on the end of a long pass. After this wake-up call, and a bit of a switch around in defence, Saints focused and before half time equalised when Ness McIntosh pushed it over the line after a bit of a goal-line scramble! The score stayed at 1-1 until half time thanks to several great saves by Ola Ashi and some solid defending.

In the second half Milford scored again after some good play but Saints came back and piled on pressure of their own and were rewarded with a great goal, scored from a short corner, by Cat Jones who had been working hard up front all match.

Unfortunately Milford Haven scored 2 more goals in quick succession leaving the score at 4-2 even after some gutsy defending particularly from man of the match Nia Haeton. Saints heads did not go down and they scored a slightly controversial goal in which Cat crossed the ball and it deflected into the goal off Ness’s outstretched stick. The goalie stepped over the ball as Cat had struck it outside the D and had not seen/heard it deflect. The referee then agreed that Ness had deflected it just inside the D despite complaints by the Milford defence. With the momentum now with the Saints unfortunately there was not enough time for an equaliser and the game finished a disappointing 4-3.

An away trip to Brecon next weekend hopefully will see the 4s get back to winning ways!

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Whitchurch Saints 4th XI v Howardian III - Saturday 10th October 2009

The 4s first league game of the year was played under a bright blue sky, with ample and welcome support from club members, partners, enthusiastic parents and a couple of dogs (Scout and Biscuit).

The game started well for Saints, with plenty of early possession and some missed opportunities to open the scoring, but Howards soon gained their composure to ensure that a well balanced first half ended nil-nil.

Following a constructive half-time team talk, delivered by Vicky Sutton, Saints strode out for the second half feeling confident. However the defense were caught napping soon after the whistle allowing Howards to sneak a cheeky ball past a stranded Ola Ashi, who was also battling against a lowering sun.

Going one nil down goaded Saints into action: with the midfield taking up wider postions, Jo Page was given free rein to hit the ball on to the waiting forwards who then began putting the Howards defense under pressure. Eventually Saints hard work was rewarded with an equaliser when some excellent blocking by Vanessa McIntosh  saw her steal the ball from a free hit and slot it calmly into the back of the net. Sian Cleaver then gave Saints the lead mid-way into the second half by deflecting in a superb cross from Vanessa.

Howards rallied and began to look threatening but good defensive play all round, combined with a scrambled clearance off the line and some great goal-keeping from Ola, allowed Saints to go on the attack once again. Excellent team work saw the ball being passed confidently around the pitch, leading to a frustrated opposition making some rash challenges for the ball; one of these resulted in Maria Cheadle being tackled dangerously just outside the D. Jo Page confidently slotted home a 3rd goal from the resulting short corner and Saints thought they were home and dry... Unfortunately Howards had other ideas and earned a well taken second goal towards the end of the game, but with youngsters Caitlin Rees (Man of the Match) and Elin Hughes working hard in midfield, the team saw the game through to a well deserved win.

The team would like to send special thanks to Gez Charles for managing the substitutions.

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The 4s played a friendly against Rhondda 2's this Sat and lost 0 -1.
Despite the disappointing result of 1-0 to Rhondda ladies 2’s it was clear that the saints 4’s had started the season with a great spirit and undeniably stronger. The team saw some new players enter this season, and hence the games first few minutes took on a slow pace as the players took time to gel together.
The Saints had the majority possession throughout the game, with the ball being played fantastically up field by forwards Claire Roberts, and energetic young newcomer Amy Fletcher. After 10 minutes in, the game really got going and took a swift turn when an unexpected ball was shot across the D and blasted in to a gap in the defence that placed Rhondda in the lead by 1 goal. Both sides were unsuccessful in scoring through the numerous penalty corners, and a great team effort was shown when Rhondda’s 4 in a row penalty corners were unsuccessful, due to the pressure placed on them by the swift and responsive Sian Cleaver, and Megan Thomas.
This didn’t dampen the saints spirits, as after discussing tactics in half time the defence was unstoppable and a mixture of beautiful saves by centre back Rebecca Croft, Gaynor Gierak and Goalie Ola Ashi kept the oppositions score at 1.
Lastly, a warm welcome back to Janet Burfitt, after having a year off for maternity leave- although the way she played seemed unaffected!!
Overall this friendly demonstrated the 4’s exciting potential for future games.

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