Chichester edge nine-goal hockey thriller

Chichester 5 Olton & West Warwicks 4

National Conference West

Chichester righted a few wrongs when they hosted Olton & West Warwicks at Chichester College after a disappointing performance and result the previous weekend.

They started on the attack, going close a number of times before Oliver Baxter snuck into the D to slot home Chichester’s first goal.

Olton worked their way back into the game, flicking in a penalty corner midway through the first half.

Chichester regained the lead when Alex Pendle drag-flicked home a bullet flick from a well-worked short corner. They defended the lead until the half-time break.

Chi began the second half poorly, allowing their opposition to hit home two early goals and go 3-2 up ten minutes into the second half.

They were able to steady the ship thanks to some solid defensive work before working to get back on top with some good periods of pressure on the opposition.

Their dominance was rewarded with an excellently executed penalty corner flick from Alex Messenger – followed by another top-class drag flick from Alex Pendle putting Chi back into the lead.

Andrew Sparshot finished off a well-worked team move, handing Chichester a 5-3 lead going into the final five minutes.

Chichester’s opponents threw everything they had at them in the final stages of the game and managed to pull one goal back. But Chichester held on to the final whistle, winning 5-4.

They are spending the week building on this gutsy performance in readiness for a local derby this weekend against Havant.

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

Chi ladies keep the faithIt's not ship-shape for men at BristolBarnes Ladies 2nds 3 Chichester Ladies 3

South Hockey League

Chichester travelled to London to meet Barnes for the first time in many years and battled to a point.

A change in formation saw Chichester gain an early foothold with the pace of Lottie Greenlees and Meg Goring always providing a threat on the counter-attack.

Despite the early pressure Chichester couldn’t make the important breakthrough. Meg Hattimore joined Jess Gleeson in front of the back three, releasing Rachel Meayeler further forward.

A swift exchange of passes saw Katie Rose in possession on the penalty spot and she converted with a deflection off the Barnes keeper. Chichester doubled their lead a few minutes letter with Rose again guiding the ball home.

Chichester should have seen the 2-0 lead out to half-time but three frantic minutes ensued. First Barnes stole possession in the Chichester half and scored on the break before a mix-up in the Chichester defence saw Barnes level.

Chichester pressed forward again crossing the ball to player of the match Rose who scored on the reverse.

The second half was a cagey affair with Chichester seeking a fourth and Barnes pressing for the equaliser, which they found with ten minutes to go.

Chichester secured a series of penalty corners in the dying minutes which they were unfortunate not to convert with Sam Munn’s shot saved on the line in overtime. The draw earned a well-deserved first point of the season.

Chichester: Absom, McAllister, Peake, Munn, Meayler, Gleeson, Rose, Goring, Greenlees Hattimore, Trent.

Chichester 2nds 7 Wanderers 2

Hampshire/Surrey div two

Chichester picked up their first win of the season with their best performance to date.

The first ten minutes set the tone with Chichester getting their noses in front through Connor McLoughlin’s double.

Chichester took their foot of the gas and came under pressure but remained firm and scored a third goal through James Stemp.

Wanderers won a penalty corner which was precisely placed beyond Stevie Doolan in the Chichester goal. Chichester went up the other end and McLoughlin completing a fine first-half performance with his hat-trick goal.

The second half saw Chichester press high and put continuous pressure on the Wanderers defence before an altercation resulted in Stemp and a Wanderers player both seeing red.

Chichester found that the pitch suddenly had more space for them to move the ball around and create more problems for Wanderers and Oscar Pacey and Marytn Collins scored.

Wanderers got another consolation from a penalty corner. But Chichester moved the ball quickly up the other end through a precise overhead pass from Collins, who picked out Neil Pendle who drove into the heart of the Wanderers defence before blasting the ball into the top corner of the goal.

Chichester face Havant this weekend.

Chichester: Doolan, Collins, Ricketts, Grant, Gleeson, Gibbons, Pendle, Burroghs, Stemp, Frost, Pacey, Wallis, McLoughlin.

Horsham 3rds 3 Chichester Ladies 2nds 1

Sussex Ladies premier div

Another match, another defeat for Chichester – but a definite improvement.

With Chichester still learning a new system there was a more positive team out on the pitch after a lot of hard work in training.

Chi shot themselves in the foot by playing around the back and after some mis-control, Horsham pounced on the loose ball and scored.

Emma Bennison and Vicky Oliver-Catt patrolled the midfield and Chichester were getting to grips with the play. But Horsham got their second after some frantic defending.

In the second half Chichester were pushing up and confidence was growing. New face Bella Festa was having a brilliant impact.

Horsham broke and, despite hard work from the Chi defence, scored their third. Chichester’s heads were down but they got a consolation from a penalty corner from which Festa scored with a little help from a defensive deflection.

Chichester can now go forward in a more positive mood.

Chichester: Kane, Austin, Bennison, Hurd, Woods, Oliver-Catt, Stemp, Goddard, Mundy, Festa, Trueman, Bradley, Parrott, Jessop.

City of Portsmouth 2 Chi Ladies 4s 0

From the off, Portsmouth played a physical game, using a couple of key players to make their attacking moves – helped from the sidelines by a very verbal coach.

Chichester conceded the first goal through a strike at a difficult height to stop. At half time Chichester took stock and came back out marking tightly.

Chichester had some good attacking play from Heidi Dunster and Mandy Clark but the Portsmouth defence were strong and Chichester couldn’t score.

Portsmouth took a second goal from a baseline angle but Char O’Callaghan saved others, including all shots from short corners. Chichester’s defence worked well together, especially player of the match Elaine Cruttenden and Hayley Johnson, to frustrate Portsmouth and keep the scoreline as 2-0.

For Chichester this was their first defeat – but they maintain their mid-table spot.

Chi ladies: O’Callaghan, Cox, Ashton, Johnson, Cruttenden, Whittington, Austin, Litchfield, Dunster, Dale, Clark, Willway.

Southampton 3rds 1 Chichester 4ths 5

Chi’s men’s fours continued their impressive run of form to make it four wins from four as they swept aside Southampton threes.

Tom Brixey started where he left off in his MoM performance last week as he scored with a powerful finish within the opening 30 seconds.

Chi dominated possession, with their midfield trio of Will Gammon, Craig Hindmarsh and Tom Brixey pulling the strings. However, it was Matt Gammon who took the plaudits this week, scoring Chi’s remaining four goals and scooping the MoM award.

Chi are at Salisbury this week and hope to make it five wins from five to stay top of the table.

Chi fours: Ashton, McEnri, Carr, Trent, McLaren, Donaldson, Hindmarsh, Brixey, W.Gammon, M.Gammon, Mercer, Strange.

Chichester U12 8 Haslemere U12 0

Wessex Under 12 division one

After a convincing 7-1 win against Bournemouth the previous weekend, Chichester under-12s were looking to secure a top-three position with a good win against a travelling Haslemere side.

It only took 15 minutess for Anton Pearson to slot home two goals, with Sam Wilmot adding a third into the top corner with a reverse stick shot.

Simon Pietersen commanded the back line and nothing looked like coming through Max Kerr and Noah Wharton down the wings, while Bartholomew rmade a fantastic goal-saving tackle.

Finn Weller, Wilmot and Gran linked up well to present Pearson with his hat-trick goal and the team’s fourth.

After the break, Wilmot again dribbled through the defence and slotted in his second for 5-0. Then a lovely pass from Charlie Gran to Jamie Edwards, in acres of space, ended up being smashed home.

Oliver Christiansen and Harry Wheeler were commanding the wings, leading to a fourth Pearson goal.

The final goal was a peach, with a lovely passage of team play with multiple passes bamboozling the defence and resulting in Fuller scoring the team’s eighth goal.

Chi U12s: Pearson, Gran, Rustell, Weller, Harry Fuller, Wheeler, Bartholomew, Clemens, Edwards, Kerr, Wharton, Christiansen,Wilmot, Pietersen.