Hockey: Chichester on their marks - and Spencer have no answer

After two consecutive losses Chichester's men's first team bounced back at home to third-placed Spencer, winning 5-2.

Despite a positive start with a ball cleared off the Spencer goal line in the first 30 seconds, Chichester faced an undeserved short corner and found themselves a goal down within the first ten minutes.

They rallied and a long ball which cut through the Spencer defence from Gerald Cox to Martin Gough brought an equaliser.

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Chichester put pressure on Spencer for the rest of the half. A well-worked ball into the D saw Jack Lerwill slip the ball between the keeper’s legs to Martin Gough, who put the ball in from close range.

Just before the break Baxter finished off a fine Chichester move to make it 3-1.

Chichester came out for the second half like a bat out of hell and continued their dominance.

Matt Cox walked past a Spencer defender with the ball and made the score 4-1.

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Chichester pushed forward once again and a rare overlapping run from Steve Spear found him on the shoulder of the Spencer D in space and he passed to Gough, who set up Andrew Sparshott for the fifth.

Spencer did score a consolation goal to make the final score 5-2.

Trojans 0 Chichester II 2

Chichester continued their impressive start with a win against Trojans’ first team, giving them 12 points from four games.

Twenty minutes in, Pendle’s sweetly-struck reverse hit at waist height flew towards the goal and an incredible save from a Trojans’ defender on the line denied Chichester the lead.

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Chichester showed their dominance after the break but it wasn’t until the ball fell to Hayward on the penalty spot and he flicked it above the keeper’s reach to give Chichester the lead.

Five minutes from time, a blocked Chichester shot rebounded into the D and after both teams frantically trying to get the ball, Pendle flicked the ball up and Strudwick ran through to place the ball into the net.

Chichester II 5 Alershot & Farnham II 0

Chichester made a bright start against Aldershot & Farnham, resulting in a well-taken goal within 32 seconds by George Farr, who skilfully beat his marker before putting the ball into the bottom corner.

The second was a precisely-placed bouncing-bomb shot by Richardson.

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Aldershot came out flying after the break, only to over-commit in attack – allowing Chichester to convert a short corner, nicely taken by Palmer. Chichester added two more from Farr and Dan Moon.

CHICHESTER: A Hagell, F Hagell, G Farr, T Farr, D Moon, B Richardson, B Palmer, T Strudwick, C Adams, M Trent, J Odell, J Robbins, H Jenkins.

Centurions 1 Lewes 3  

Centurions welcomed back Nicki Williams from injury but were without attacking forward Louise Thew.

Lewes wasted no time passing the ball forward skilfully but Centurions counter-attacked strongly, which resulted in a fine goal by Lisa Proctor.

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Play was end-to-end but Lewes pounced on attacking attempt in the D to slip in the equaliser.

Despite four short corners over the next 15 minutes, Lewes were unable to penetrate the Centurions defence again.

Centurions began the second half with determination but a Lewes attacking run on the left resulted in a goal. Lewes began to dominate but Centurions battled to win a short corner, which slipped just past the post.

Goalkeeper Chantelle Hedge showed insight and speed to deflect several powerful shots by Lewes. A fast break by Lewes sealed the win.

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Centurions are looking for new players – if you are interested, contact team captain Louise Thew on 07825 829616.

CENTURIONS: C Hedge, M Harbord, A Skinner, N Edge, L Hurford, N Williams, L Proctor, D Brooker, N New, L Harris, A Pordage, C Mealing, Molly Johnston, D Brown.

Lewes 1 Cardinals 1

While a share of the spoils may have been a satisfactory conclusion to a hard-fought match at Falmer, the fact a scrambled equaliser came with only seconds to go left a certain degree of regret in the Cardinals’ dressing room.

Resolute but sometimes frantic defending led by Mike McCartain and Kevin Stevens had held Cardinals at bay until the closing moments.B ut while there could be no faulting the commitment, the Chichester players failed to retain possession to relieve the pressure.

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The possession and territory the hosts enjoyed in the second half had been matched by the West Sussex team in the first.

They gained the lead halfway through it when Newman turned home Henry Robinson’s cross.

Man of the match was Garry Grant for a committed goalkeeping display which nudged out an impressive debut at left-back by Bradley Bereford.

Chichester Bad Habits 2 Crawley Ladies II 0

Bad Habits worked well together and goals by Abi Darke and Blaise Murphy made the half-time score 2-0.

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Despite an increased attack by Crawley in the second half, the Chichester defence held and both teams kept a clean sheet.

BAD HABITS: Teresa Willway, Chris Priddle, Kim Medhurst, Sheena Lake, Elaine Cruttenden, Sarah Pyewell, Abi Darke, Lyndsey Mckie, Emily Halterman, Blaise Murphy, Charlotte Vincent, Frankie Vincent.

Bournemouth U14 8 Chichester U14 0

Chichester travelled to Bournemouth for their first match as a team and started nervously. They could see their opponents were a tight unit and had played together for some years.

Newton-Young in goal had an outstanding match. Undaunted by the home team’s giant forward, he made some spectacular saves, making the forwards work hard to score.

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In the second third the boys started to come together as a team. Woodruff worked his socks off and supported his team-mates with strong defending and passing.

Troy, Habersham, Mcleish fought well in the centre and finding forwards Applebee and Thomas, Chichester put Bournemouth on the back foot. Unlucky not to score, Chichester never gave up and looked stronger as the match progressed.

The defenders had their work cut out and Munro, Hetherington and Taylor never got a moment’s rest but never gave up.

CHICHESTER: McLeish, Taylor, Munro, Thomas, Applebee, Jolley, Futcher, Hetherington, Stemp, Newton –Young, Woodruff, Robson, Troy, Habershon.