Georgian times aren't happy ones for Chichester

Chichester were unable to reverse their poor run of pre-Christmas form as they lost 2-1 at home to Old Georgians in south open premier division one.

OGs immediately applied pressure on a young Chichester side, but good tackling and passing from Jason Collins and Gerald Cox saw Chichester maintain possession better.

Luke Matthews was a constant threat down the left, combining well with the forwards but a poor pass and sloppy defending from Chichester meant OGs earned a short corner.

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A good save was made by Dan Godsmark, but the rebound was smashed in.

A penalty flick was awarded to Chichester through a good attacking move by Matt Cox and Alex Baxter. Matt Cox converted the flick.

Chichester created good attacking opportunities, but a poor final pass let them down and OGs took the lead again from a well-worked short corner routine.

Chichester continued to have the majority of possession but weren’t helped when Matthews went down with cramp.

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OGs defended well and although Andrew Sparshott was a constant threat, Chichester missed late chances.

Chichester have slipped down the league and hard work is needed for them to climb the table and maintain the club’s reputation.

Middleton & Bognor 2 Lewes III 4

Middleton & Bognor were outgunned as they went down to Lewes. Bognor struggled to impose themselves on the visitors.

In a bizarre turn of events, the home side failed to find the net at all themselves but were helped out by two own goals.

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A hard-working performance from under-strength Middleton was not enough against a more athletic Lewes, who are challenging for promotion.

The home side relied on their counter-attacking style but against a solid defence and rigid midfield, chances were few and far between.

Middleton dominated the first half and at half-time, both sides would have been happy with the 2-2 scoreline.

Early second-half opportunities were not taken and as the game wore on, the youth and fitness of Lewes began to show.

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A lapse in communication led to Lewes taking the lead with 20 minutes left.

Middleton never had a sniff of a comeback and Lewes scored from a short corner in the last play of the game. For much of this season Middleton have been plagued by a lack of potency upfront and this again proved their undoing.

The Royals, tipped for glory at the start of the season, now find themselves embroiled in a battle against relegation.

City of Portsmouth 2 Chichester II 8

Chichester started strongly and played some of their best hockey of the season. Chances were created and taken with regularity and two goals from Strudwick and one each from Brixey, Pendle and Woodruff saw Chichester go into half-time with a 5-0 lead.

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The second half started in the same fashion with Strudwick scoring a fantastic reverse-stick goal to complete his hat-trick.

Tired legs and complacency allowed Portsmouth to grab two goals via short corners but good work in goal from Gotham prevented further strikes.

Pendle grabbed another a goal and Lunn finished off the scoring after a neat short corner move to see Chichester home with an 8-2 win which should give the side great confidence. Chichester entertain Croydon & Old Whitgiftian at Kingsham this week (1.30).

Chichester Priory Park Ladies 2

East Grinstead II 0

Chichester are still energised by their December form and put the pressure on from the start and kept their composure.

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A short corner came to nothing but Chichester were the better team for the majority of the first half.

In the second half Beth Marks and Lottie Greenlees contributed immensely.

Soon Sally Thew scored from good work down the right by Marks, beating the goalie at the near post.

EG pushed on and were awarded a short corner, but the ball was stopped on the line by a Chichester leg. A penalty flick was awarded which bought an excellent save out of Elena Hylanski.

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Thew scored her second by beating the EG defence in the circle and beating the EG goalie hands down.

CHICHESTER: Hlynianski, Banks, Rich, Marks, Helme, Austin, Hudson, Thew, Greenlees, Chaplin, Holden, Howarth, Bourganell, Dutch, Van der Boon.

Chichester Ladies II 1 Worthing Ladies 2

Chichester had an outstanding first half and a combination of a sturdy defence and confident attack brought a goal by Heidi Dunster. Short, sharp passes by Tina Finn and Kate Ratcliffe aided Chichester’s play.

Worthing came out after the break with drive and Chichester’s lead was cancelled out.

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Solid defence conducted by Emily Ursell kept Worthing at bay, but as the second half drew to a close a sneaky shot at goal by Worthing slipped through the defence and concluded the game.

CHICHESTER: Howarth, Burley, Finn, Black, Hibberd, Bennison, Medhurst, Dunster, Ursell, Ratcliffe, Marquason, Strang, Young.

Chichester Chipmunks 2 Penguins II 1

A hard-fought game saw fifth-placed Chichester beat fourth-placed Penguins at Chichester College.

The experienced Penguins pressed early on but Neame lead the back-line well to protect Donaldson in goal.

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Eventually the Chipmunks’ range of passing improved and Sowden struck from the right-hand side. While the goal was against the run of play it settled them.

With the forwards rotating from the bench Chichester aimed to stretch the Penguins defence and created a number of chances which they could not convert until the ball fell to Hindmarsh, who struck home.

Injuries forced more changes on Chichester and with seven minutes to go Penguins produced a moment of brilliance with their centre-forward making the most deft deflection to put them back in it.

But Chichester saw the game out to reinforce their position in the upper half of the table.

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