HOCKEY- 10TH OCTOBER (Gameweek 2)

Holmes Chapel get the better of CHS

Tonight (Thursday 10^th October) saw CHS’ hockey teams battle it out with Holmes Chapel at CHS. The fixture against Holmes Chapel is one that the player’s most look forward to due to the close encounters, the return of former players and the rivalry (if there is any!).

Year 11 were hoping to set the record straight having lost to Holmes Chapel 3-1 last year but they were without two of their key players Louise Forster and Hannah Tatton who perhaps would have given CHS more of an attacking threat. Instead CHS were forced to call up year 10 Mia Hopkins and year 9 Rebecca Barlow. CHS could have done with Forster and Tatton in the opening 5 minutes as it was that time that CHS took to venture into Holmes Chapel’s half. There were no real chances for either side in the 1^st half. Robyn Houston had the first shot of the game and one of the few shots that CHS managed in the course of the match when her on-target shot was deflected behind and nothing came of the long corner that followed. Holmes Chapel’s best chance saw CHS’ goalkeeper, Emily Hockenhull’s foot come to the rescue in a scramble by the near post. At half-time, the CHS coach told the team to exploit the space on the wings more as CHS became squashed in the middle of the pitch and were not able to trouble Holmes Chapel’s defence. The game finished 0-0. CHS did improve in the second half and showed determination especially captain Emily Hammand who led from the front and despite being only in year 9 Rebecca Barlow put in a great performance and as a result was awarded player of the match, the same award she won last time she played for the year 11 side.

Barlow then joined her usual teammates in the year 9 side but saw her team concede a goal in the opening minute of each half. After only a few touches of the ball CHS found themselves behind following the normally reliable Hollie Massey losing the ball inside CHS’ half and Charlotte, the CHS sweeper, couldn’t stop the ball from rolling beyond the line. 1-0 Holmes Chapel. Their second goal came seconds after the restart after un-organised defending by CHS, Holmes Chapel found a breakthrough in the defence their attacker’s shot was on-target and the only thing that could have stopped it was CHS’ sweeper but she jumped over the ball before turning around to see CHS two behind. 2-0 Holmes Chapel. CHS had the chance to pull a goal back in the second half when Massey surged down the left wing before cutting in on the end line, the referee, may I add from Holmes Chapel, said that ball had crossed the line but from my position (similar to the referee) it appeared the wrong decision. There were no appeals/complainants from CHS perhaps because they are good sports. CHS dominated for the majority of the match with Holmes Chapel only entering CHS’ arc on a few occasions. Barlow and Massey had several chances on target but the difference being that Holmes Chapel had a fixed goalkeeper with pads compared to CHS’ rush goalkeeper which meant that the goalkeeper always stood in their way and it may have given CHS some confidence in defence if they had a fixed goalkeeper behind them.

The year 7 and 8 team were also in action but it was Holmes Chapel who came out on top in a 5-3 thriller with CHS’ goals coming from Lydia Bennett, Charlotte and Megan as well as a stand out performance from player of the match, Paige Tingle.

Written by Adam Bailey