Chichester score seven but still aren’t in heaven

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Chichester 7 Teddington 7

Now Pensions Conference East

Chichester and Teddington shared the points in an amazing 14-goal thriller at Kingsham.

The hosts knew they had won 7-2 at Teddington earlier in the season but with Teddingon in a relegation battle it was going to be a battle.

Teddington set out their intentions early with some strong breakdown tackles which went unpunished – until the tenth minute, when the first of three yellow cards was shown to a Teddington player.

Chichester made their numerical advantage pay when Ollie Baxter was on hand to finish a quick counter-attacking move. With Teddingon back to full numbers, they put pressure on a laboured Chichester defensive display and scored two in quick succession to take a 2-1 lead.

Soon Chichester scored two in quick succession through Jack Lerwill to make it 3-2. Chichester made it 4-2 before the break when Alex Thakore converted a well-worked penalty corner.

Teddington got themselves well and truly back into the game with two quick second-half goals.

The pressure was starting to show on both teams with easy possession being turned over and sloppy play, but it was Teddington who caved and were shown two more yellow cards and two green cards in some unsightly encounters which were not nice to see on a hockey pitch.

Chichester took advantage of another numerical advantage and once again scored two in quick succession through Alex Thakore and Connor McLaughlin.

They could have scored more but were unable to finish off some fine attacking play. With Teddington back to full strength Chichester showed their National League inexperience and were unable to retain possession.

In a quick Teddington attack a high cross was fired at Kieran Henn, which resulted in a broken hand and a lengthy spell on the sideline.

In a nightmare five minutes for Chichester, Teddington scored three goals and took a surprising 7-6 lead going into the final two minutes. With one minute left, a fine interception from Dean Symons led to Martin Gough being found in space to fire home a late equaliser

Chichester will be disappointed giving away so many cheap goals, but they will learn from it – and it puts them another point closer to securing their national status for next season.

The Chichester players can hold their heads high for playing the game in the right spirit in a match with six cards being shown, all to the opposition.

Chichester welcome second-placed Bromley and Beckenham to Kingsham this Sunday (1.30pm).

Chichester PP Ladies 0 Lewes II 2

The pressure this season is telling on the first-XI players and they lost a game crucial to their hopes of surviving in the Premier league.

Lewes are just above bottom-placed Chichester and both teams were up for the fight.

Chichester began brightly and pressed Lewes high up the pitch but couldn’t trouble the opposition goalie. The passing was good and movement off the ball was industrious.

Chichester deserved a goal but it was not to be and at half-time it was 0-0.

The break seemed to unsettle the flow of Chichester’s game and Lewes put more pressure on the home side. They broke into the Chi half and with a few missed tackles, Lewes almost walked the ball into Chichester’s net.

This put Chichester on the back foot and although they were working hard, they were also giving the ball away too many times. This led to a penalty corner from which Lewes scored.

Horsham III 5 Chichester PP Ladies 0

On Sunday, Chichester travelled to Horsham to play a rearranged fixture. They played some excellent hockey but the home side were just too strong and won 5-0.

CHI PP LADIES (squad for both days): Claire Young ,Rachael Mealyer, Meg Goring, Livie Knight, TendoManyarara , Karen Versteegh Demelza Peake, Natalie Halliday Sally Bradley, Amy Chaplin, Izzy Dodds, Emily Ursell, Nikki Kuntze, Sarah Jessop, Tracy Austin, Rachael Trent.