Wisbech Town Hockey Club ladies’ 4s come from 3-0 down to win 4-3
Wisbech Hockey Club’s men’s first team carried on their good form with a comfortable 7-0 win over City of Peterborough 4s.
Ryan Jackson got the team off to an excellent start with a fine reverse stick strike, and Wisbech never looked back.
Sam Markillie and Scott Welcher scored further goals in the first half and the league leaders were well in control. After some blips in matches, the half-time talk was about keeping the pressure on and keeping a clean sheet.
This was what happened, and Wisbech dominated the second half with fine goals from Jonny Garner, Jack Bass, Ben Tarratt and a second for Welcher.
With second-placed March losing, it gives Wisbech a six-point lead as they approach the Christmas break. There are two games to go before that, starting with a trip to Ely City.
The ladies first team played second-placed Norwich Draggons on Saturday. With a 15 strong squad, the ladies were determined to remain undefeated at home.
With effective marking, impressive saves from Ali Beel and confident tackles, Wisbech held a clean sheet.
Attacking-wise, Wisbech threatened the Norwich defence and secured multiple short corners, but were unable to convert. The game finished 0-0 with the home side pleased to have gained a point.
The ladies have two more home games this season.
The men’s second string were away to Peterborough 5ths.
Their opponents started in the front foot, piling the pressure on in the first few minutes. However, Wisbech settled themselves down and started passing the ball better, which led to the opening goal at the seven-minute mark.
Jamie Hallett penetrated the D, slipping the ball to Jason Mallett, and he calmly finished.
Wisbech’s second goal came through a well worked short corner which was finished by Josh Porter. The away team didn’t take their foot off the pedal, quickly following with a third goal.
Jonathan Shippey threw a trademark aerial in to the opposition half, and slick passing between Oli Overland Matt Boyall led to Boyall slotting the ball in to the back of the net.
Peterborough were still able to create some chances in the first half, but Wisbech keeper Kevin Shippey showed his class, making a number of key saves which saw Wisbech go in to half-time with a 3-0 lead.
Peterborough opened the second half strongly, but Wisbech were up to the challenge with some good movement and passing across the pitch. Not long into the second half, Karle Belding smashed the ball home to send Wisbech 4-0 up.
This was quickly followed by another strong Wisbech short corner routine which was finished by Matt Boyall for a 5-0 lead.
Wisbech were thoroughly in the drivers seat at this point, dictating the play and creating numerous chances. Matt Boyle rounded off his player of the match performance by completing his hat-trick, quickly followed by a pin point drag flick from Kieran Hallett making the score 7-0 at full-time.
The ladies 2s were the first of the home games against Ely’s first team.
The team got off to a strong start and seemed to have good possession. Unfortunately, after 34 minutes, Ely managed to go 1-0 up heading into the break.
Going into the second half, Ely seemed more determined to increase their lead and made a break from the first push back, challenging the Wisbech defence immediately. However, they were ready and managed to clear the ball out straight back into their attacking half.
This just made Wisbech more determined, and after a short corner in the 44th minute Sam Pritchard managed to find the equaliser.
Player of the match Lexie made some fabulous saves and kept them in the game. Captain Swampy did a great job in leading the defence as well as supporting the midfield, with the final score 1-1.
The team travel to Spalding next week for a late game to take on their 2nd team.
The men’s 3s hosted bottom of the table Cambridge South 5s at Harecroft Road under lights on Saturday.
Any nerves were quickly settled by a trademark Calvin Bishop slap home in the first five minutes, followed by a thunderous reverse strike ten minutes later by captain Mike Lawrence.
Wisbech were making chance after chance throughout the first half thanks to excellent supply through the defence and midfield, but could not secure more goals and were caught on the break by the Cambridge side, leaving the game poised at 2-1 at the break.
The team persisted and those chances began to turn their way, with another from Calvin Bishop and a goal-line scrap by Mike Lawrence bringing the score to 4-1 with a bit more breathing room.
Wisbech, however, did not sit back – and a brace of goals by Ciaran Lowe in the final quarter left the final score a well-deserved 6-1 win. They remain second in the league with three games to go before the Christmas break.
The ladies 3s travelled to Nothstowe to face a strong Huntingdon development team – probably their strongest opposition so far this season.
Play was pretty even for the first half, and Huntingdon took the lead midway through the first half. Wisbech, despite numerous chances, were unable to find an equaliser.
In the second half, Huntingdon broke away and secured a second goal. Stand-in keeper Ali Monaghan kept the team in the game with some impressive saves and Wisbech were buoyed by this and able to fight back.
The first goal came via a rebound buried by Rachel Rivers. With only 15 minutes remaining, Wisbech found an equaliser from player of the match Yasmin Ibrahim with her first goal for the 3s.
Next week, Wisbech 3s face Ely at home in their penultimate league game before the Christmas break.
The men’s 4s travelled away to St Ives at the weekend.
Wisbech started very well and dominated the opening 20 minutes of the game, breaking forward time and time again and causing the home team some real headaches defensively. Wisbech took the lead in this period thanks to a strike from Brandon Ruff.
Had Wisbech been more clinical in this period they could have easily netted a couple more. St Ives drew level before the half-time interval, however, after a quick breakaway down the right-hand side which caught Wisbech napping defensively.
In the second half, the game was much more closely contested, with both sides trying to push forward and take all three points. St Ives were the ones to convert when their big opportunity came, making the score 2-1.
The men fought hard to get back into the game, but just couldn't get the all important goal they so desperately needed. Wisbech thought they had equalised from a short corner before the final whistle blew, but this was chalked off by the officials.
Man of the match this week was awarded to Harry Wiffen, who put in a commanding performance in the Wisbech defence.
The ladies’ 4s hosted near top of the table St Ives 4s at Harecroft Road.
The match, as expected, proved to be a tough one, with the ladies conceding three goals in quick succession mid-way through the first half.
Despite the scoreline, the team were making excellent progress up the pitch, creating their fair share of chances in the half. A motivational reboot at half-time saw the Wisbech ladies really take the game to the opposition in the second half.
This was rewarded by several short corners in quick succession, with both expertly converted by thunderous strikes from Fiona HP.
The belief was there and the whole team dug deep, with player of the match performances from Georgia Ward and Harriet Clark putting pressure on St Ives.
This led to an open play shot for Zoe Parsons getting the score to 3-3 with five minutes left to play.
Not content with the draw, the ladies changed formation, flooding the offense. This led to a well worked link-up goal smashed home once more by Fiona HP with just one minute to spare, earning a phenomenal result for the ladies as they came out 4-3 winners on the day.
