Results
Ladies 1’s v East London 1’s 3-4
Ladies 2’s v Bedford 4’s 4-1
Ladies 3’s v Berkhamsted & Hemel 2’s 1-1
Archdeaconesses v Royston 1 5-1
Ladies 5’s v Royston 2 (W/O) 5-0
Ladies 6’s v Basildon 4’s 6-0
Ladies 7’s v Potters Bar 2 (W/O) 5-0
Ladies 8’s v Hertford 4’s 2-5
Ladies 9’s v Harpenden 3 (Away W/O) 0-5
Men’s 1’s v Brentwood 1’s 8-1
Men’s 2’s v Bedford 3’s 1-5
Men’s 3’s v St Alban’s 4’s 2-5
Men’s 4’s v Potters Bar 3 0-4
Men’s 5 v Bedford 5’s 2-1
Men’s 6’s v Bedford 6’s 2-1
BSHC 1’s v East London 1’s (away)
3-4
Vitality Conference East
Playing under floodlights in the Olympic Hockey Arena Stortford Ladies made a flying start to their game with East London scoring in the third minute when Abbie Barrett waltzed round the ‘keeper to tap the ball home.
Playing with great confidence and conviction Stortford dominated the early stages of the game even though the hosts equalised against the run of play.
Lexie Guthrie restored the lead from a short corner and again East London equalised leaving the sides level 2-2 at half-time.
Stortford regained the lead for the third time when Martha Hoult scored her first goal for the club after 45 minutes but were unable to add to their tally. East London rallied to score two goals in the last 15 minutes to seal victory (4-3) leaving Stortford at the foot of the table and still without a win.
Coach Mark Surridge said, ‘We have been ahead in three of our four fixtures, losing games by the odd goal but playing well. The team is a work in progress but is finding the reality of life in the top-flight is challenging to say the least.
The short corner count (12 -5 ) in East London’s is an indication of which team had more circle entries. But all things considered it was a great game of hockey, fast and skilful, played in great spirit in a wonderful arena even if the result went against us.’
BSHC 2’s v Bedford 4’s (home)
4 – 1
East Division 2 South West
Stortford maintained their 100% start to the season with 4-1 win over newly promoted Bedford.
Straight from the start Stortford, in the traditional deeper shade of blue shirts, were camped out in the visitors half, putting sustained pressure on the defence and testing the keeper with some early chances. The opening goal came within the first 10 minutes, Chucks, in a heartbeat, took a quick free hit from just outside the 25 yrd line, firing it into the ‘d’ for Dutchie to add the slightest touch, deflecting it through the keepers legs. This sparked a chain reaction, a second soon followed, Chucks once again with the assist, injecting in from a short corner to Darcy Edwards who unleashed an unstoppable shot to double the lead, Player of the match, Lucy Robinson, added a third before the break to give the hosts a comfortable lead at half time.
Stortford’s hopes of adding 5,6,7 or even 8 to their tally were dashed, as Bedford came out from the break much stronger than the first half. A tragedy in defence early in the half, saw a moment better best forgotten, a two-on-one, with the Bedford forward taking an early shot as she entered the ‘d’ to reduce the deficit. The goal gave them more confidence, taking the game to Stortford and enjoying more possession. Michelle Titcombe-Rogers put in a shift in midfield, chasing down balls all over the pitch. Up front, Stortford were struggling to find a way past the Bedford keeper, who deservedy was awarded their POTM. Finally some inspired play from Rowena Rickett saw her initial shot scrambled away, only to fall at the feet of Dutchie for a tap in from close range. Final score 4-1.
Stortford top the table going into the half term break. They’ll face a tough test in their next match, away to Saffron Walden 1’s on the 29th.
BSHC 3’s v Berkhamsted and Hemel 2’s (away)
1-1
East Division 3 South West
Bishops Stortford started brightly but it took almost until half time to break the deadlock. Lizzie Motson drove down the right and across the baseline pulling it back to where Freya Sweeney was waiting on the penalty spot. The ball leapt up into the air heading towards goal for it to become trapped in the goal keepers pad. A penalty flick ensued and Katy Motson calmly slotted it into the bottom left hand corner. 1-0 at half time and Stortford recognised that our possession was not being translated into shots. Charlotte Smith superbly took this on board and within minutes fired one just wide of the left hand post. Jemma Pettit was working hard creating the runs up front & Suzy Fletcher was battling hard in midfield but unfortunately the visitors could not put the ball away. With about 15mins to go Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead broke through and managed to put away the equaliser. A tough physical battle which the home side (Berkhamsted) were very happy to draw.
BSHC Archdeaconesses (4’s) v Royston 1’s (Home)
5 – 1
East Division South West
The Archdeaconesses continues their unbeaten run as they beat Royston 5-1 to retain their spot at the top of the table.
All four of the AD’s goals in the first half were from well drilled short corners with two goals from Captain Paula, Frenzel, one a piece for Zoe Barford and Pilar Montu . Roystons only goal came after the AD’s third, making it 4-1 at half time.
The win was secured with final, fifth, goal from Marni Cochrane on her debut for the side.
Another brilliant team effort.
BSHC Acolytes (6’s) v Basildon 4’s (Away)
6 – 0
East Division 5 South East
From the off Stortford moved the ball well and put pressure on the opposition. An early shot from Jo Sullivan was followed by a good midfield run from Elizabeth with Sarah giving a great wide option on the right. Basildon made a foray into the Stortford half leading to a free hit in a dangerous position. However the defence was well marshalled by goalkeeper Lis Foote and the ball was cleared by from danger by Catherine Clune. The blues pressed high and forced Basildon to give away a lot of possession. However the home team defended well in the D and with some solid keeping, continued to frustrate. Eventually a well worked move and a pass across the D led to the opening goal for Mary Sanders. More good defence from the opposition followed. However, some individual brilliance from Sarah Tough split Basildon open and the pass into the D was well finished by Kate Barham. Just before half time, a great pass from Sanders put Barham through, her shot saved but an excellent follow up by Charlie Woodrow made it 3-0 half time score.
Within 2 mins of the restart, Woodrow drove down the right hand side, feeding Sanders in the D who finished superbly. Her brace earning her PoM award. The pattern of Stortford possession continued with multiple attacks. Savannah Taylor applied significant pressure leading to a short corner and a fine shot from Sullivan that only just missed. The blues won the ball back and Sullivan scored with an impressive hit from the top of the D. Minutes later she scored again to make it 6-0. Acolytes remain unbeaten at the top of the league.
BSHC 1’s v Brentwood 1’s (Away)
8 – 1
East Division 1 South
The men’s 1’s continued their fine form to record their fourth win in a row, leaving them top of Division 1 S
The Mens 1s first goal was scored by Richard Heywood who ran into the D after beating his man. Richard was then able to take the ball round the fallen keeper and on his reverse side score a quick goal passed two Brentwood defenders waiting on the line.
As a quick response, Brentwood shortly after were able to score their first goal from from a short corner where the ball ball popped up to catch Keeper Ryan Cruwys off guard.
Stortford keen to get back on top continued their attacking form with Tom Frenzel receiving an ariel from Jack Wheaton at the 25. After beating his defender, Frenzel gave the ball to Ali Charlton for a quick one two past the Brentwood defence to then slot the ball bottom left.
An important weapon in the Stortford sides arsenal is their short corner routine. With a saved first attempt from Brentwood Keeper, Coach Ahmed provided the key information on where to put the ball to drag flicker Jack Wheaton. With the ball quickly out Jack found the mark scoring bottom left passed the keeper.
Craig Smith got his first goal of the season after receiving the ball from a slap across the D. Craig under pressure to get his first touch right was able to slot the ball confidently past the keeper.
Man of the match, Matt Jackaman keen to assert his dominance on the pitch ran past his opposing man to find himself at the top of the D under pressure. Quick thinking led to Matt passing the ball to Ali Charlton who was able to roll his man to strike the ball confidently into the top left corner.
Tom Frenzel was able to score his second goal of the season with a ball passed across the top of D after finding himself in space. With the defenders closing in, Frenzel was able to push the ball in to the bottom right corner of the goal.
After a failed Brentwood counter the ball fell to Jack Wheaton, who with his head up was able to see Richard Heywood on his own behind the Brentwood defence. With a quick and accurate pass this gave Richard Heywood the whole Brentwood half on his own which led to a one on one with the keeper. With the keeper banging his pads to try to put off the approaching attacker, Heywood with a cool head, was able to step around the keeper to score.
With the end of the game looming and the Stortford side not letting off the pressure, a shot rebounded off the keeper fell to Jon Taylor who flicked it back on target only for it to be blocked by a defenders body. The umpire awarded the flick, Taylor stepped up to take it confidently slotted the ball past a heavy footed keeper. Final score 8-1.
BSHC 2’s v Bedford 3’s (Home)
1 – 5
East Division 2 South West
The men’s 2s welcomed a strong Bedford 3s side to Beldams lane. Despite some excellent attacking play and work rate, with missing personnel in key positions the experienced opposition front line were able to create several goal scoring chances. Ross Butler scored the hosts only goal at the second time of asking, and Ollie Foot (player of the match) ensured the tally was as low as possible with a good display in goal. Ultimately the visitors were too strong and came away 5-1 winners
BSHC 3’s v St Albans 4 (away)
2 – 5
East Division 3 South West
Stortford took the away trip to St Albans in good spirits off the back of a couple of good wins, but with reduced numbers to usual and lots of changes in personnel it was always going to be a tough trip. Nonetheless after a hectic opening, Stortford took the lead after some nice stick work down the left from Paul Tomlin allowed Michael Walton to apply the finish at the back post. St. Albans hit back immediately and scored two in quick succession after some lapse defending from Stortford. Then came the turning point in the game when an Albans player inexplicably decided to wrap his stick round Greg Pettits thigh after the game had stopped. The game was halted for nearly 15 minutes whilst the umpires appeared unsure what to do until they eventually came to the conclusion, they had to show a red card. Their hesitancy around what appeared a very simple decision seemed to make all players uneasy and resulted in a fractious affair from then on. Half time came and went and Stortford immediately drew back level at two all after Luke Farmer finished from close range. Stortford needed to keep calm, keep quiet and let their superior numbers do the talking, but instead they got embroiled in petty squabbles with more experienced Albans players and the umpires’ perceived inconsistencies. Stortford then received a flurry of needless cards which gave Albans the lift they needed to sit back and hit Stortford on the break which they did successfully on 3 further occasions to win the game 5-2. A really disappointing result but a harsh lesson for this young side that when you’re up and have the advantage you must keep calm and keep it, not allow outside forces to decide the game.
