Hockey: Guildford get better of Chichester

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Chichester 2 Guildford 4

National League Conference West

Chichester failed to build on the momentum picked up by two wins the previous weekend when Guildford beat them at Kingsham.

The hosts began brightly with good possession and leadership. Fourteen minutes in, good build-up play from Matt Cox and Jack Lerwill resulted in Martin Gough expertly deflecting in to give Chichester an early lead.

The Chichester defensive line of Alex Thakore, Matt Sewell, Dan Brook, Ben Palmer and club stalwart Paul Wallis seemed happy to soak up the Guildford attacks. Unfortunately a misplaced pass saw the Guildford striker go through one on one with the Chichester keeper striking well to level shortly before half-time.

After the break Chichester regained the lead through a great strike from forward Sam Broadhurst.

The game opened up with chances falling for both teams. The Chichester defence were resilient against a number of Guildford penalty corners but in the scramble to clear one, they conceded an unfortunate penalty stroke, which Guildford converted to level it at 2-2.

Both teams had chances but Guildford gained momentum and several attacks found them scoring two goals in the final four minutes.

Chichester had to settle for a disappointing and frustrating loss in a game where they had the majority of the possession.

This week Chichester travel to London to face Indian Gymkhana.

CHICHESTER: Pacanowskiego, Brook, Thakore, Palmer, Sewell, Wallis, Lerwill, Cox, Blakesley, Emmett, Sparshott, Broadhurst, Gough, McCarthy, Baxter, Gibbons.

Chichester Ladies 0 Lewes Ladies 2

Chichester faced their toughest rivals yet, Lewes, with two of their strongest players out with other commitments, S Bradley and V Sambel.

Chichester started nervously and were on the back foot for the first ten to 15 minutes. They soon upped their game, and Livie Knight and Patty Hyla worked the ball to the back post but the chance went begging.

This opportunity put Chichester on the front foot, and the crowd began to get involved. But over-excitement saw Chichester lose their way and they gave away a short corner or two at the end of the first half, which they defended well.

Lewes took a chance just before the break. With wise words from the coaches, Chichester came back out in fighting spirit, but Lewes added a second.

Chichester kept ploughing on with effort levels and fitness extremely impressive.

The 2-0 result is one that Chichester believe didn’t reflect the way they played, but it was a performance to be proud of.

This Saturday, Chichester are set for another exciting but tough match on home soil at Kingsham, Worthing the visitors for a 1.30pm start.

CHICHESTER: M Goring, R Mealyer, N Kutze, A Giles, E Lerwill, N Halliday, L Knight, T Manyarara, F Hollyoak, S Jessop, P Hyla, A Cowley, L Greenlees, E Nixon.

Lewes 3rds 1 Chichester PP Ladies 2nds 2

Chichester had to prove to themselves they can play good hockey after last week’s performance –and they did.

Chi started with a positive mindset, and some great movement off the ball and accurate passing saw them pressurise the home side into making mistakes which nearly gave Chi an early lead – but they were denied by brilliant young Lewes goalie. Then against the run of play, Lewes took the lead.

Soon Rachael Trent saw an opening and with great speed and skill ran down the left wing into the opposition’s circle, spun away from her defender and passed across the circle to Sarah Pack, who placed it neatly in the Lewes goal.

Lewes were not going to lie down and attacked at every opportunity but player of the match Jenny Horton, who made tackle after tackle, stopped them in their tracks.

Chi’s second came midway through the second half. There was some pressure from Amy Chaplin and Julianne Doherty down the right, the ball went into the D and Pack was again on hand to tuck the ball away.

A Lewes penalty corner drew an excellent save from Claire Young.

As Chichester tired in the second half, a few mistakes were made and Young made a fantastic one-on-one save near the end.

Chichester showed great team spirit that hopefully they can carry forward into this week’s visit to Worthing.

CHI: Claire Young, Tracy Austin, Georgie Welch, Rachael Trent, Sarah Pack, Demelza Peake, Julianne Doherty, Lindsay Hauxwell, Harriet Gray, Jenna Greenaway, Amy Chaplin, Jenny Horton.

Chichester Ladies 4ths 0 Mid Sussex 2nds 1

Chichester started positively by keeping the ball predominantly in their half.

There were some great runs down the wings with some excellent passes considering most of Chichester hadn’t played together before. At the end of the first half, one of the Mid Sussex players took a ball in the ankle just as the whistle blew.

At the beginning of the second half, Mid Sussex started really well with a much more attacking format. This caught Chichester out, which resulted in the one and only goal of the match by Mid Sussex.

Chichester tried to step up their game with a couple of excellent shots on goal by Mandy Clarke, who narrowly missed an equaliser.

The game ended in a 1-0 defeat, with Chichester feeling a little frustrated but hungry to gel as a team and do better next time.

Player of the match was Clarke.

CHI: Dunster, Austin, Kane, Priddle, Whittington, Ashton, Soden-Bridger, Lillywhite, Willway, Cleghorn, Lafoe, Clarke.

Mid Sussex 3 Chichester Canons 4

After winning one of their first two games and losing the other, Chichester’s under-16s were keen for a strong start against a very well-drilled team.

They attacked for the first 15 minutes with no reward before Mid Sussex scored two quick goals.

Chichester regrouped and before half time equalised with Kate Rose and Jessie Gleeson scoring excellent goals. Molly Fulcher was unlucky to score and worked hard throughout.

From a quickly-taken 16-yard hit from Charlotte Stemp, Chichester found themselves in the lead with a deflected goal from Gleeson.

Hard tackling and passing from Georgina Wade, Rachel Horton and Molly Ayling kept the pressure on Mid Sussex with L Keys making it hard for Mid Sussex to break through.

There was a promising start from new players L White, A Eade, O Eade and E Eitel.

The whole team played a part in this much-deserved win.

CANONS: Charlotte O’Callaghan, Charlotte Stemp, Kate Rose, Jessie Gleeson, Olivia Eade, Annie Eade, Lottie White, Molly Ayling, Georgina Wade, Rachel Horton, Lizzie Keys, Ella Eitel, Molly Fulcher.

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