Edge sparkle in league and cup
ALDERLEY Edge HC had a full weekend of fixtures and lit a few fireworks of their own on the pitch with some fantastic league and cup results.
The Mens 1s led the way this weekend with an emphatic 7-0 away win against Formby in the North Premier League. Billy Healey broke the initial 0-0 deadlock, chipping in a great pass from Oli Parker. This gave Edge an injection of confidence and they started to dominate possession, which lead to Simon Parr scoring Edge’s second, followed by Whitehead netting their third on the stroke of half time. Angus McCormick roofed two balls into the top right of the goal in the second half to extend the lead, with James Warburton also scoring a brace. The Men now sit fourth in the table ahead of their home game against University of Durham next weekend.
By coincidence, the Ladies 1s also face University of Durham next weekend and also sit fourth in their North Premier League. They also won their match on Saturday, defeating Kendal 1s 2-1 at The Edge. The visitors opened the scoring and Edge initially struggled to find a way to break down Kendal’s defensive style of play.
Sarah Hopkin and an on-form Lexi Archer eventually did so, securing the three points for Edge with Rachel Humpherson receiving Man of the Match for an outstanding performance in goal.
The Men’s 2s won well for the second week running beating West Derby 7-1 in North division 2. Edge got off to a great start winning a penalty corner in the first minute which Chris Hardy duly dispatched.
It was soon two as Joe Coxon got on the end of a raking pass to finish crisply.
After Jack Smith had broken clear and added Edge’s third it looked plain sailing. However, a mixture of poor discipline and a determined opposition lead to West Derby being awarded a string of penalty corners, one of which eventually lead to West Derby pulling a goal back. Edge regrouped in the second half and controlled the majority of the play. Matt Hardy cheekily turned in a ball from outside the post and then added another as a deflected cross sat up nicely for a close range volleyed finish. Hardy then completed his hat trick after good work from Ed Fluck when confronted by West Derby’s keeper. Andrew Wood rounded off the match firing into the bottom corner of the goal after making a good run from defence.
The Ladies 2s continued Edge’s winning form with a comfortable 2-0 win over Northop Hall 1s and now sit top of Cheshire league division 1, ahead of Bowdon s on goal difference. Brogan Tennant and Lois McTiffin the scorers.
The Mens and Ladies 3s both lost their respective matches. The Men went down fighting 1-3 against North West division 3 league leaders Timperley 2s while the Ladies lost an action packed match against Chester 2s 6-5, despite a hat trick from Michelle Fletcher and one apiece for Gaby Marfarni and Emily Short.
Rob Marks, Ben Sharrock and Finlay Turbull’s goals secured the Mens 4s 3-0 win over Oxton 3s in North West division 4, while the 5s dispatched Oxton 4s 5-0. Luke Stevens had an eventful game, scoring a hat trick before finding himself in A&E after an accidental collision. Alisdair Smith and Tom Curran also found the back of the net.
The 6s came back from trailing 0-1 at half time against Bowdon 6s to eventually win 2-1 in division 7, while the 7s lost 2-4 to Urmston 3s.
The Ladies 4s were beaten 1-4 by Buckley 1s in Cheshire league division 3, but it was better news for the 5s, 6s and 7s who all enjoyed good wins. The 5s beat Lymm 4s, a team six places above them in division 5, 6-3 while the 6s beat Crewe Vagrants 4s 6-2 in division 7. This win sees the 6s one of four teams in the league on 12 points behind leaders Golborne 2s so there’s certainly all to play for going forward. The 7s beat Oxton 4s 3-0.
Two goals from Reuben Frodsham secured Beavers As 2-2 draw against Macclesfield. The Cs lost 1-4 away against Southport and the Badgers lost out to a much more experienced Neston squad.
Sunday saw an array of age group squads in cup action in their respective England Hockey Championships. The Ladies over45s took on last year’s finalists, Timperley, and were unlucky to lose 1-2 despite some great goalkeeping from Karen Ogden and a goal from Lindsay Taylor.
The U14 girls A team drew their regional cluster game against Beeston 1-1, the same full time scoreline as the B team’s home game against Matlock.
The U16 girls A team lost 1-2 to Brooklands Poynton in their cluster game in what was an extremely high calibre match with some fantastic hockey from both sides. Caitlin Polley scored for Edge, as did Ella Oakes, Tally Smith and Amy Worsley in the U16 B team’s fixture against Stockport Bramhall where Man of the Match was went to B team goal keeper Lucy Stead.