Ladies 1’s v Hampstead and Westminster
Despite the scoreline Stortford goalkeeper Alison Martyn could be pleased with her game, producing a string of saves that prevented certain goals. Player of the match was sweeper Liz Egan-Evans and she, too, needed to be at her best on what turned out to be a torrid afternoon for Stortford Ladies, against a very impressive Hampstead & Westminster side who justified their position near the top of the table.
Kate Robinson worked tirelessly in midfield and was instrumental in Stortford’s best moments. Stortford are nursing injuries to key players and will be hoping they return to training sooner rather than later as they continue their hunt for points in this very competitive league.
Ladies 2’s v Berkhamsted and Hemel
Stortford’s perfect start to the season continued as they smashed 10 goals past Berkhamsted & Hemel to extend their winning run to 7 games and open up a five point lead at the top.
Stortford took a while to get into their stride, an early stoppage for a stick to the head of a Berko player holding up play. Fortunately it was one of Berko’s better players who left the pitch with a small bump. (great work Row). From the restart Stortford were on it, a breakaway saw the keeper making a dive at full stretch to save, the rebound falling to Darcy Edwards who hit it on the reverse from a narrow angle to open the scoring. Berko hit back minutes later, a smashed ball into the d taking a wicked deflection to take it past the keeper. From then on it was one way traffic, the speed of youngsters Malli Came and debutants Gracie Cowan and Rafaelle Roberts caused havoc amongst the Berko defence, Came and Cowan combining for Stortfords second with a breakaway goal, before a Swanny special from a short made it three, with Gracie Cowan netting her second, again with a devastating break of speed to leave Stortford 4-1 up heading into half time.
Just minutes into the second half Stortford made it five, Captain Beans with a thunderbolt from a short corner before Darcy completed her hat-trick with two goals in quick successions. The Berko keeper was clearly carrying an injury and Stortford exploited this, taking shots at every opportunity, Molly Brooks tipping in at the post, meant everyone in defence had scored. Eight goals and still Dutchie hadn’t scored 😲. Finally, fed up of feeling left out, Dutchie bagged the two final two goals taking the Stortford tally to ten.
To their credit, Berko didn’t let their heads go down and continued to look for goals up until the final whistle. The defence kept busy in the dying minutes, but they held firm for the win. A great performance from the A Team and a massive boost for the goal difference.
POTM: joint Minky, Malli Came, Gracie Cowan
Ladies 3’s v St Albans 5’s
Another match where the ladies 3s dominated possession and should have scored significantly more goals than they did. Jemma Pettit floated 2 balls across the goal mouth in the 1st half until finally Issy Hatfield got on the end of one of Jemmas passes to put the home side 1-0 up. Katy Motson was unlucky not to win a short corner in the dying moments of the 1st half so the game remained in reaching distance of St Albans. In the 2nd half St Albans caught the home side on the break and evened up the score fairly quickly. Bishops STORTFORD were unlucky not to have another couple of goals with Ali Chadwick shooting centimetres wide of the far post and Lizzie Motson battling on the near post. Player of the match Lydia Taylor making some vital interceptins and some great runs. Finally the home side were rewarded from a short corner which was pushed towards the far post by Issy Hatfield and popped away by Lizzie Motson. Another dominant performance in possession.
Archdeaconesses (4’s) v Letchworth
The Archdeaconesses travelled away to Letchworth to defend their position at the top of the table with a squad of only 11.
They were caught off guard near the start of the game and Letchworth took the lead early on. The ADs continued playing very defensively throughout the first half and did well to remain only 1-0 down by the break.
Some wise words from captain, Paula Frenzel, manager, Rachel Armitage and Pippa Bull at half-time and the ADs came out fighting in the second half. There was plenty of attacking play but shots from Frenzel Bull and Zoe Barford went wide. Letchworth continued to attack and it was pretty much end to end play throughout the second half. The ADs remained composed and kept putting the pressure on the Letchworth defence. Leaving it almost to the last minute, the ADs eventually scored. The goal came from a well worked short corner tapped in by Karren Jones with just 40 seconds left on the clock to earn a point.
The ADs remain at the top of the league.
Ladies 5’s v St Albans
The Ladies 5s played St Albans 7s at Hockerill on Saturday. With not much variation in their team from the previous weekend, the 5s showed another dominant performance.They quickly set up shop in their attacking half and rarely left after the pushback. This didn’t truly reflect itself in the score at the end of the first half – 3-0 to Stortford with goals from Charlotte Turner, Laura McBride and Nadia El-Zanfaly. After a halftime regrouping that involved Squashies, Haribo and conversations about leading onto the ball, the team returned determined to better their performance in the second half.And better it they did. With St Albans getting increasingly frustrated, the 5s went on to score another 7 goals. Some incredible timing and skilful shooting led to Vicky Cox scoring a hat trick and being awarded joint player of the match. All the midfield worked hard to retain possession and keep Stortford dominant, and this possession led to further goals for McBride and Turner, as well as Yolande Notley and Meg Maybanks – who scored in the last 10 seconds to bring Stortford up to the round figure of 10-0. Overall, the Ladies’ 5s again showed why they are top of the table (with a goal difference of 37) and will continue to push for promotion this season.PoM: Vicky Cox and Elizabeth Clune
Ladies Acolytes (5’s) v Upminster
This home game started with early Upminster pressure and an unusually quiet Acolytes response. The blues turned it around quickly though and the first attack was under way. The opposition showed that they had a strong defence and smothered out a good move which ended with Marni firing across goal. There was more good pressure with Charlie making an excellent drive, Jo had a shot and also passed well across goal. After a period of sustained pressure in the opposition half, Stortford were on the back foot due an excellent Upminster counter attack. Catherine defended well but the ball soon returned to the Blues D, forcing a short. This was superbly snuffed out. More Upminster pressure led to them shooting just wide. Immediately Stortford we’re back up the pitch, leading to a great reverse shot from Jo, just wide. At half time it was stalemate with Stortford having been really pushed.
The second half team talk worked it’s magic leading to a short. Marni hit the backboard but sadly only after the whistle had blown. Izzy converted the retake to lead 1-0. However Upminster responded immediately with pressure leading to a well taken shot and the match levelled at a goal each. From then on there was a great deal of mid field action as well as scares for the defence with Gemma holding well and Catherine making some excellent exits. Goalie Emma foot cleared really well on two occasions to hold Upminster out. Meanwhile, up front there were chances for Charlie, Jo Emily and Léa, several set up by Beth. In the closing minutes Léa pushed an Upminster attacker wide allowing one last push for Stortford. The attack couldn’t be sustained and the match ended in a draw which was a fair result in this very competitive game. PoM Gemma Leach.
Ladies 7’s v Broxbourne
This home game started with early Upminster pressure and an unusually quiet Acolytes response. The blues turned it around quickly though and the first attack was under way. The opposition showed that they had a strong defence and smothered out a good move which ended with Marni firing across goal. There was more good pressure with Charlie making an excellent drive, Jo had a shot and also passed well across goal. After a period of sustained pressure in the opposition half, Stortford were on the back foot due an excellent Upminster counter attack. Catherine defended well but the ball soon returned to the Blues D, forcing a short. This was superbly snuffed out. More Upminster pressure led to them shooting just wide. Immediately Stortford we’re back up the pitch, leading to a great reverse shot from Jo, just wide. At half time it was stalemate with Stortford having been really pushed.
The second half team talk worked it’s magic leading to a short. Marni hit the backboard but sadly only after the whistle had blown. Izzy converted the retake to lead 1-0. However Upminster responded immediately with pressure leading to a well taken shot and the match levelled at a goal each. From then on there was a great deal of mid field action as well as scares for the defence with Gemma holding well and Catherine making some excellent exits. Goalie Emma foot cleared really well on two occasions to hold Upminster out. Meanwhile, up front there were chances for Charlie, Jo Emily and Léa, several set up by Beth. In the closing minutes Léa pushed an Upminster attacker wide allowing one last push for Stortford. The attack couldn’t be sustained and the match ended in a draw which was a fair result in this very competitive game. PoM Gemma Leach
Men’s 1’s v Hertford
After an uncharacteristic loss away from home last weekend, Bishop’s Stortford men’s 1s returned to fine form with a 9-1 victory over travelling Hertford 1s.
Captain Harry Carpenter returned to the side after 2 weeks and led a rallying speech for each player to show heart, desire and prove to the league Beldam’s Lane is a fortress to be feared. Now fired up and with Ahmed Ewis providing clear instructions, Bishop’s Stortford were eagerly awaiting pushback.
Stortford started strong and aggressive, especially the forward line putting immense pressure on Hertford’s defence, winning countless turnovers to provide testing counter attacks, and eventually winning a short corner for Jack Wheaton open the scoring with a trademark drag flick rifled into the opponents bottom corner.
The second goal came from some intricate fast passing allowing Rich Heywood to drive the baseline and find Jon Taylor in front of goal for a simple tap in.
This was then duplicated on the opposite side, when Rich drove down the left baseline and cross the ball for Harry Carpenter’s heroic sliding finish.
Jack proceeded to score from short corners throughout the match, finishing with a total of 4 to his tally.
With further goals from Ollie Plummer, Keith Ansell and a cool penalty finish from Rich, Bishop’s Stortford finished the game clear victors to take the 3 points.
Top spot is now solidified with a 6 point lead in the East Men’s Division 1 South league.
Men’s 2’s V Shefford and Sandy
A youthful Stortford side travelled to Shefford and Sandy this weekend, hoping to build upon their victory from last week in an attempt to kickstart some form and start to move up the league rankings. Going into the match, Stortford were languishing in 9th place, 4 points behind their opponents for the day. A victory could propel Stortford up the rankings and give a boost of confidence to the team, who had so far experienced a mixed bag in terms of results in their highest division ever as a team.
The game started fast, with some slick passing moves and a few attempts at goal. And to reward all Stortford’s efforts, the breakthrough was eventually made midway through the first half by Harry McKerrell. With the ball bouncing around in the circle after several rebounds and the subsequent goalmouth scramble, it was Harry who pounced first onto a loose ball to calmly tap it into the net. A period of Stortford pressure ensued, but not without its warning signs. One of the oppositions better players lobbed aerials to the corners of the pitch, putting Stortford at risk of falling victim to a quick counterattack from Shefford’s agile frontline. Although throughout the first half these were masterfully mopped up by the very able fullback partnership of Sam Bampton and Aidan McMahon, the danger was clear to see and Stortford had to be cautious and avoid complacency at all times to hold on to their coveted clean sheet.
After a period of further dominance by Stortford, their worst nightmares materialised and Shefford and Sandy clinically equalised from a short corner to level the scores and intensify the contest. Later in the half, one of the opposition forwards forgot which sport he was playing and decided to kick the ball into the Stortford net, most likely with the upcoming World Cup in Qatar on his mind. Despite him so preciously feigning his innocence, the umpires were not fooled, and the goal was rightfully chalked off to leave the two teams level heading into the break.
During the interval, Alex Kirton congratulated the team on their performance so far and shared his words of wisdom as the captain for the day in Jeff’s absence. Drinks were drunk, most importantly sweets were eaten, and the reinvigorated team returned to the pitch confident and raring to go.
This excitement was not put to waste as almost immediately after the break, Miles Lax-Tanner played a beautiful pass on his reverse into the D, where Aaron W’s deflection fell just wide of the keeper’s goalpost. The crowd enjoyed this one, as they did for a lot of Miles’ sublime skill today, most notable causing one of their players to go flying and end up on their backside, Harry Maguire-esque, as their ankles were broken by Miles’ quick turn. This near miss seemed to act as a wake-up call to the Shefford Team, who now looked to finally play like the team they seemed to think they were. They began to suffocate Stortford and pounce on any loose balls, like lions hunting in a pack for their prey: the ball. Again, Stortford had a few close calls with one of the opposition’s forwards, despite his vertical challenges, providing a constant thorn in the wing-halves’ and the midfield’s sides. Mike Taylor continued to terrorise the opposition full backs with his speed as they prayed to not end up in a foot race with the man, who few can catch when he gets going. Although a combative build-up unit consisting of Robin Sutton, Henry Brooks, Henry Carr and Jake Anders managed to adeptly work the ball through the lines in a way that even Pep Guardiola himself would be proud of, the bullish opposition forwards had their chances, which were well saved by Simon M. Eventually, one of these chances were converted as their left-winger hit a scrappy backhand shot, which even he seemed to be surprised at pulling off. With 10 minutes to go, Stortford now had to give everything they had in an attempt to rescue a well-deserved point or three from the game. The Stortford team gave their all and continued their bombardment of the opposition circle, coming as close as one can be without physically putting in the net.
For all Stortford’s efforts, they struggled to find a breakthrough. Due to a fresh, new-look team forced by unavailabilities for the day, the connections that normally personify the Stortford Second team could not be found so easily and so although the forwards displayed skill in their possession play and came close, it wasn’t easy to make the final pass to get that goal that they deserved so much for all their efforts today. Sadly for the men (and boys), the scoreline finished 2-1 to the home side, although many will feel this wasn’t an entirely accurate representation of the run of play that day.
The players looked glum after the game, perhaps deflated by the frustrating manner in which they had succumbed to defeat. Although the blues struggled to be optimistic, there were lots of positives to take from the game including the brave and co-ordinated way in which Stortford had defended their goal, and the flashes of occasional brilliance seen up top displayed by the forwards. Man of the Match for the day was put to a democratic vote, and Harry Bannister prevailed as the recipient in what is his second season of regular fixtures at the back for the team. Stortford will hope to reverse this result in the home fixture, which should be well within their reach as a team that is constantly improving growing and improving as a force to be reckoned with who can be optimistic for the season ahead.
Next week, the Blues host bottom-of-the-league Blueharts 3s and can hope to pick up three points in order to close the gap to the top half of the table and to distance themselves from the bottom.
Men’s 3’s v Letchworth
After two good wins in a row, Stortford 3s travelled to face Letchworth 3s. It was a physical start to the game, however Stortford stayed strong and dominated the early parts of the game, and looked solid in defence with Letchworth not causing Taylor or Pettitt any issues. Stortford grabbed the first goal after great play from Bannister, who found Luksan who went round the keeper to make it 1-0. It was not long after that Stortford made it 2-0, after Luksan fired the ball into the D, where Bannister miraculously deflected the ball past the keeper. Stortford continued to dominate possession early in the second half, and had a number of chances to make it 3-0 but the Letchworth keeper kept them in the game. Letchworth then started to get momentum, with almost every decision given from both umpires going against Stortford. Frustration grew, and Letchworth managed to grab 1 back. The game opened up and Stortford lost their structure, allowing Letchworth to grab an equaliser. The last 5 minutes was scrappy, with Letchworth almost grabbing a late winner, before Stortford thought they had won it with a last minute shot from Nash which was brilliantly saved by the opposition keeper. Final Score 2-2.
Men’s 6’s v Hertford
Stortford 6s took on a strong Hertford 5th XI at the Herts And Essex sports centre. It was a tough contest with Hertford playing good hockey in the first half but the Bishop’s Stortford defence held firm. A half-time Stortford reorganised and up their work rate creating some chances but failing to score whilst Hertford continue to press at the other end and players of the match Marcus Taylor and Ollie Plummer helping to keep scores level. The game finished 0-0 well fought for point for Stortford and lots of good lessons learnt for younger players.
