Chichester ladies believe first hockey points will come soon

We have reports from SEVEN different Chichester Hockey Club teams this week - read them below. And get involved in our coverage. If you play for or watch a hockey team in Chichester, Bognor, Midhurst or Petworth, send your match reports and team pictures in. Contact details at the end of this round-up.
Chichester ladies line up ahead of their home game v Aldershot / Picture by Kate ShemiltChichester ladies line up ahead of their home game v Aldershot / Picture by Kate Shemilt
Chichester ladies line up ahead of their home game v Aldershot / Picture by Kate Shemilt

Chichester 0 Aldershot and Farnham 3

South Division 3B

Chichester are still looking for their first points after a home defeat to Aldershot – but are making progress as they adapt to life in a higher league.

Chi had the majority of possession during the first half.

Their front five showed excellent passing and running and player of the match Lottie Greenlees made several good moves down the right wing. Dutchie

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Max’s impressive stick skills allowed Chichester many great attacking opportunities, but they were not able to convert pressure into goals.

Chichester’s defence stopped many opposing attempts but near the end of the first half a long ball through the middle led to Aldershot going ahead.

The second half saw Chichester more determined than ever to even the scores.

The defence worked well to keep Aldershot out with Sam Munn, Demelza Peake and Vicky McAllister working tirelessly to win the ball back.

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Unfortunately an unlucky deflection to the A&F centre-forward led to their second.

Meg Goring made some runs and won short corners, but Chichester were still unable to put the ball in the net.

A lapse in concentration led to A&F securing their third.

The Chichester girls remain proud of the way they are playing in this league after being promoted and are certain of points to come in the near future.

Chichester travel to play Barnes Ladies twos this week.

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Chichester: M Goring, L Greenlees, M Dutchie, S Resink, A Chaplin, J Abson, V McAllister, S Munn, D Peake, R Mealyer, K Stevens, J Gleeson, K Rose, B Bradley, B Fiesta.

Oxford Hawks 4 Chichester 1

Western Conference

Chichester couldn’t make it two away wins from two when they visited Oxford Hawks.

They started strongly but failed to capitalise on a good initial spell of possession.

Oxford drew first blood with a contentious goal given despite the ball appearing to all but the umpire to have come off an Oxford player’s shinpad rather than his stick.

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This buoyed Oxford and in a ten-minute spell they scored twice more, despite good efforts from Chichester keeper Bristow to take the score to 3-0.

Chichester rallied before half-time, with some good link-up passing between the midfielders leading to Alex Holton scoring a rebound after a well-worked team attack.

The second half saw both teams miss opportunities. Alex Pendle went close with a drag flick from a penalty corner which went narrowly wide.

Oxford put the game out of reach with a fourth and final goal.

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Chichester are at home at Chichester College this Saturday against Olton & West Warwicks.

Chichester: Bristow, Brook, Henn, Sewell, Brown, Robinson, Lerwill, Holton, Baxter A, Messenger, Ryall, Baxter O, Pendle, Sparshot, Budgen, Thakore.

Chichester 2nds 0 Brighton and Hove 2nds 9

Chichester could not handle a team who are dominating the Sussex premier division and are big favorites for the title.

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Chi chose this match to try a new system with some new players. It was an experiment that didn’t go too well but is a work in progress.

Unfortunately Chi came up against a better-drilled side who over-ran the home side. As much as they tried and worked hard for each other, Chichester did not really have an answer to Brighton’s relentless attacks, and the scoreline tells a true story.

Chichester: Kane, Hattemore, Austin, Bennison, Hurd, Baxter, Woods, Oliver-Catt, Stemp, Goddard, Mundy, Parrott, Dell, Jessop.

Surbition 3rd XI 3 Chichester 2nd XI 1

Hampshire/Surrey division two

Chichester travelled to Surbition, the oldest hockey club in the country.

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They started slowly and went one down within five minutes from a short corner. Surbition continued to press for another but Stevie Doolan kept Chichester in the game.

Before half-time against the run of play Connor McLoughlin picked the ball up halfway into the Surbition half and, after beating three defenders, drove into the D before slotting calmly past the Surbition keeper, making it 1-1.

The second half saw Chichester defending against a well drilled Surbition side. However, the defence was breached halfway through the half when Surbition retook the lead from another short corner.

As Chichester pressed to equalise again, Surbition took advantage and scored a decisive third goal.

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Chichester hope for an upturn of fortunes when Wanderers arrive this weekend.

Chichester: Doolan, Collins, Gleeson, Grant, Ricketts, Peyman, Pendle, Van Iderstine, Stemp, Pacey M, Pacey O, McLoughlin.

Chichester Men’s 4ths 3 Fareham 0

Chi’s men’s fourth team produced another confident display to defeat Fareham0.

With a full-strength side, Kit Steely opened the scoring in the first few minutes. A precision pass from Tom Brixey located Steely’s run behind the defence, leaving him to calmly round the keeper and finish into an empty net.

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Chi peppered the opposition goal, but a number of fine saves kept it at 1-0. Fareham came back with two goalscoring chances.

One was expertly saved by young keeper Damian Ashton, who is impressing this season. The other chance was snuffed out by a superb tackle from Sean MacEnri.

Chi started the second half well and Brixey, pulling the strings in midfield all game, added the second goal with a powerful strike from a Rupert Fisk short corner.

Brixey finally put the game to bed in the last 15 minutes with another powerful drive from the top of the area and with it claimed the MoM award.

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Chichester: D Ashton, S MacEnri, P Carr, L McLaren, S Donaldson, M Trent, T Brixey, C Hindmarsh, J Whittle, T Garriock, J Lansdale (C), R Fisk, M Gammon, K Steely.

Petersfield Veterans 3 Chichester Friars 3

Wessex Masters Division 1

Friars give up the top spot in the league after a frustrating draw.

Friars went 2-0 up early. The first was created by Dave Walters from a fantastic interception and pass into the circle, with Adrian Strange finishing from close range. The second came on the break with a good finish from Tracey Boyce.

The Friars were unable to increase their lead and Petersfield were awarded a disputed short-corner just before half-time, from which they scored to make the score 2-1 at the break.

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The Friars missed a number of good chances before Danny Jaeger made a great tackle in midfield and picked out Andrew Savory in the circle. He made a great turn and smashed the ball into the corner.

Petersfield picked up their game and piled on the pressure. They had a number of short-corners, two of which were converted with decent drag-flicks.

Friars: R Torrance, D Walters, S Mercer, M Hughes, A Strange, A Savory, D Jaeger, M Green, C Smith, T Andrews, T Boyce, G Wharton.

Southampton Ladies 5ths 0 Chichester Ladies 4ths 4

Chichester Ladies’ continued their fine start to the season. Willway got the first before Clarke made it two. Willway again and Dale completed the win.

Chi ladies: Dunlop; Priddle; Whittington; Cox; Johnson-Bushnell; Ashton; Cruttenden; Howarth; Austin; Dale;

Clarke; Willway.

Send your hockey reports and team pictures to [email protected]