Celebration time at club for Mother’s Day
MACCLESFIELD Hockey Club saw 30 goals scored on Saturday as the Men’s 2s close in on promotion and we celebrated Mother’s Day with all of the amazing women who contribute to Club life.
Pushing back first on Saturday were the Ladies 4s who made the early trip over to Lymm 4s in a 2-1 loss.
Sarting evenly, both teams had chances and it looked to be a close match.
Macclesfield started to have the better of the exchanges, but the ball didn’t quite make it over the line and following a melee in the goalmouth, it was Lymm on the scoresheet first despite countless saves from Sally Hall in goals.
Continuing the second half using the width, a breakaway run from Holly Jones saw Player of the Match Leila Stoneley (1) cooly slot home the equaliser. Pressuring the defence, some great opportunities arose for the visitors as Louise Rogerson, Sophie Martin and Lucy Robey threatened the scoreline constantly and the Ladies 4s were extremely unlucky not to convert more as Sally Martin made a goal line save at the other end of the pitch.
With Lymm looking to pull ahead, a stunning save from Hall saw Lymm get their chance with a rebounded shot that gave the advantage to the home side, ending the match at 2-1.
Up next were the Men’s 3s who lost out to top of the table Crewe Vagrants 3’s 4-0.
The hosts took control from the first whistle, demonstrating patience, attacking only when opportunity arose. Macclesfield held firm, shifting play, and maintaining close marking to keep the league leaders at bay.
Short corners were gained by the home side, but keeper Isaac Collins deflected away the attempted flicks, but the defence were unable to keep out the rebounds as Crewe scored twice in quick succession short corners. Macclesfield’s play started to waver, and the hosts capitalised as they converted a third short corner to cement their lead.
Not letting head’s drop, excellent tackles were made against the advancing Crewe and Sam Ashton was brilliant in his first match for the Men’s 3s.
Stepping it up in the second half, Macclesfield looked to control territory and although a quick one-two saw a fourth and final goal for the hosts, they found less and less opportunity to increase their tally as Craig Roberts and Tim Laughton were barriers against the attacking play. With Macclesfield creating their share of chances as Paul Gleave, Cam Tebay and Adam Harrison linked up well with Ashton, the side were unable to secure a goal and the strong Crewe side moved to cement their promotion.
Successful at home were the Ladies 1s who took on Liverpool Sefton 3s in an 8-0 victory. Determined to maintain their 2nd place position, Macclesfield had an encouraging team talk as they set up to take on 4th place Sefton after narrowly beat 2-1 earlier in the season. Ready for a fight, the pace was fast and furious from the start as both sides looked to open the scoring. Keeper Jess Hughes made a great save as Liverpool pressed forward, but Sophie Carter-Bloor (3) was the one to put the home side ahead following a scrabble in the D. End to end play saw both sides pressurising the defence and it looked as though half time would sit at 1-0 until a final minute run from Ella Kenworthy (1) doubled the lead.
Knowing that they would be punished if they let up, the Ladies 1s were fired up after half time and it became a dominant performance and the next 15 minutes saw Player of the Match Liv Richardson (4) on fire as she racked up four more goals for Macclesfield.
Well worked passes, interceptions and playing into space saw the goals come easily as selfless passing and accurate shooting saw the Men’s 2s cheering on the fantastic display from the sidelines.
As Carter-Bloor completed her hat-trick, and Lily Brown making a goal line save, the Ladies 1s kept their clean sheet and were elated with the performance.
Returning with the win, the Ladies 3s had a close match against Whitchurch 2s with the end result 3-2 in Macclesfield’s favour.
With no subs, it was a tough match for the visitors and Whitchurch took an early lead, but heads remained high and the equaliser was gained as Edith Middlemass send a cross in which was neatly converted by Megan Behan (2). Despite good attacking plays from Macclesfield, it was Whitchurch who once again took the lead before half time.
Following the uplifting team talk, the Ladies 3s responded to being on the back foot as Caroline McKillop (1) found Behan in the D for another post tap in as the sides once again drew level.
With the defence absorbing a lot of pressure from Whitchurch, Player of the Match Poppy Houghton held the midfield to ensure the home advantage was not gained.
Both sides were deadlocked, but as the final minutes ticked down a precise ball from Liz Thomas found Middlemass who sprinted down the wing, feeding the ball once more across the D, this time finding McKillop who swept the ball into the near post securing the win and three points for the Ladies 3s.
The top scorers of the day were the Ladies 2s who put on a fantastic performance as they beat Wilmslow 3s 9-0 with Sarah Hinchliffe (1), Helen Saunders (1), Mia Ullmer (2) and Player of the Match Libby Allan (5) all on the score sheet.
Working well as a team, the lack of subs didn’t deter the Macclesfield side as the well set press saw great link up goals as the side continue to move up the table as the league winds down.
Also at home were the Men’s 2s, taking the three points from a well drilled Sandback 1s in a 4-1 win. The game started slowly as both sides tested the waters, building play from the back and occasionally breaking forward to attack the D.
Macclesfield looked set for an early goal but were denied by the post following a great play from the young forwards. Sandbach retaliated, winning a number of short corners as they sought to take the lead but were unable to break down the defence and Macclesfield began to sharpen up their game as the passed the ball around and out wide, finding the men in red with greater accuracy.
Will Roberts and Adam Herbert (1) continued to make stunning runs into the 23 and a won short corner in the dying seconds of the half saw the ball buried by Roland Alston (1) to take a slim lead.
It was a different game in the second half as Macclesfield were switched on, showing no mercy as they were clinical with possession and another short corner was cleanly finished by Simon Darlington (1) to take it to 2-0. Hungry for more, it was moments later when the third goal was volleyed in by Herbert.
Remaining in control of play, the link up across the pitch caused trouble for Sandbach with one such move culminating in Adrian McCullough (1) finding the back of the net for the fourth Macclesfield goal.
Despite the score, Sandbach continually pressured the
home side and were finally rewarded as a well-executed penalty corner dashed the hopes of a clean sheet and the final score was 4-1. With the Player of the Match votes split between seven players, it was reflective of the great team performance that was displayed.
Over at Clwb Hoci Eirias 1s, the Men’s 1s came home battered but victorious with a 5-2 win.
Setting the tone from the off, Macclesfield’s blistering pace allowed the hosts no time to settle into the game as the 5-minute mark saw the visitors 2-0 up following a great interception and baseline run from Player of the Match Ewan Campbell (2) and Jack Walton’s shot was deflected by the keeper into the path of Ben
Smith (1) who slotted it home.
Eirias were angered and tackles flew as Macclesfield backed off with play being allowed to continue. A penalty stroke was awarded to the home side following a lost possession giving the home side a chance to try and gain some traction in the game and despite keeper Brian Boardman saving this, it was rewarded to take the game to 2-1.
Shortly after, the home side were awarded another stroke which was saved by Boardman with no chance of leeway and Macclesfield pushed forwards once more as they maintained their discipline.
The second half saw Eirias take an early equaliser, but this only bolstered Macclesfield
and Eirias’ tactics only added fuel to the fire and the weak spots were soon exploited.
Turnover from Louis Saunders saw the ball fall to James Allmand-Smith (2) who outpaced the defence and sent home the third between the keepers’ legs, soon followed by the fourth.
The side weren’t done yet as Campbell once more left the defence behind as he sent home the fifth and final goal to take the 5-2 win.
If you are interested in getting involved with our club, whether by playing, coaching, officiating or spectating, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email at macchockey@ gmail.com or by searching for Macclesfield Hockey Club on our social media platforms!