Hockey: Five in a row for Chichester - now bring on the students

Chichester 7 Old Georgians 4

South open premier div one

With both teams having won their previous four games, this was always going to be exciting.

Chichester made an electric start and immediately put OG under pressure. Stephen Spear hit the post with their first penalty corner but it was Martin Gough who put Chichester ahead when a flowing move down the right left Gough to neatly flick the ball into the top corner.

Andrew Sparshott soon made it 2-0 when a change of pace took him past the OG defence and calmly slotted in for Chichester’s second.

Chichester continued to play attractive flowing hockey but paid the price for over-committing by being caught on the break and allowing OG to win a penalty corner.

The resulting corner deflected of a Chichester defender on the line and a penalty flick was awarded and converted. Alex Thakore found Jack Lerwill in space and he rounded the OG keeper to make it 3-1.

The second half continued where the first half finished off. Chichester continued to put OG under pressure and created more chances, Gough scoring twice more to make it 5-1 and complete another well-constructed hat-trick.

Chichester again paid the price for taking their foot off the gas and conceded two penalty corners, and some unstoppable flicks left it 5-3.

A nervous five minutes followed before Richard Blakesley, Lerwill and Sparshott linked up with the latter coolly lifting the ball over the OG keeper to make it 6-3.

OG came back with another from a penalty corner before a quick break from Gough found Lerwill in space to make it 7-4.

That’s five wins from five and Chichester welcome top-of-the-league Oxford University this week for a 1.30pm pushback at Kingsham.

Chichesters Ladies 0 Horsham 9

Sussex Cup

Chichester were up against Horsham, who are a national league side.

The city ladies didn’t have their regular team but battled well.

They lost 9-0 and had only a few chances.

Chichester were were overrun by Horsham’s superior play and gave away some cheap goals. But it was a worthwhile trip as Chichester will now go into the Sussex Plate.

Centurions 1 Horsham II 13

Ladies’ Sussex League Cup

Centurions faced strong opposition in the first round of the cup.

Despite Horsham dominating the first half, Taryn Pollock and Louise Harris put pressure on Horsham midfield.

Claire Mealing and Nicki Williams had goalscoring opportunities but were denied by the Horsham goalkeeper. Despite tough defending by Centurions, Horsham had scored seven goals by half-time.

A change of formation in the second half gave Centurions renewed vigour. Smooth passing by Horsham resulted in four more goals, yet Centurions continued to work hard for possession.

Dawn Brooker seized a chance to push forward, taking the ball from the defending area up to penetrate the Horsham defence. Mealing pounced on the ball and Louise Thew flicked the ball past the keeper for a well-earned goal for Centurions.

Horsham scored again, securing a place in the second round, while Centurions look forward to the first round of the Sussex Plate, hoping to build on previous successes.

CENTURIUONS: M Harbord, N Edge, C Mealing, L Harris, M Johnston, D Brown, J Phillips, L Hurford, T Pollock, D Brooker, Anna Pordage, L Thew, N Williams.

Chichester Chipmunks 3 Crawley III 2

Sussex division three

After initial probing by both sets of forwards, Chichester calmed their nerves with an opening goal from Neil Pacey from a penalty corner.

Crawley were not deterred and harried the Chichester defence, notching up two quick goals and striking the crossbar from a rasping shot from the edge of the D.

Chichester goalkeeper Colin Ball was the busier, making a number of key saves.

The Chipmunks levelled again before half-time with Pacey again slotting home. The second half was a cagey affair with Chichester closing down the Crawley playmaker and finding more control in the middle. Pushing forward, they created chances but could not put the ball away.

Chichester had the benefit of youth and experience on the bench which allowed them to freshen the side.

They finally bundled the ball over the line through Sturdey after they had squandered a number of further chances and Crawley had failed to convert a series of penalty corners.

After the goal was scored Crawley had time to get the ball to the halfway line to restart the game before the final whistle blew.

The result cemented Chichester’s place in the league.

CHICHESTER: Ball, Gleeson T, Creswick R, Gleeson J, Woodruff, Kathegesu, Hindmarch, Pacey, Lowther, Sturdey, Creswick A, Stemp, Dannatt, Andrews.

On a windswept Sunday, Chichester travelled to Eastbourne to compete against 11 other sides from around the county in the Ron Easton tournament.

Chichester were in good spirits and started their group positively against Lewes. With control of the midfield, skipper Rachael Trent plundered a hat-trick to see Chichester run out 3-0 winners.

The same scoreline followed against Burgess Hill B with goals from Trent, Jenni Horton and Daisy Lock.

Chichester then faced tougher opposition in Horsham A and Eastbourne. In the first game a change in formation saw Chichester stifle the Horsham play and a last-second goal gave them a 1-0 victory.

A point from a 0-0 draw with Eastbourne after a hard-fought game saw Chichester top their pool and progress to the knockout stages without conceding a goal.

Chichester were tiring and losses to Worthing and Horsham saw them finish fourth from the 12 teams, with Burgess Hill A the eventual winners.

CHICHESTER: Rhianna Batchelor, Charlotte Stemp, Jenni Horton, Rachael Trent, Daisy Lock, Jessica Gleeson, Katie Rose, Tabitha Trend, Georgina Wain, Rebecca Stone.