Hockey: Chirpy Chichester give Cambridge the blues

Chichester seconds, in white, in action at home to Bognor ladies Picture by Kate Shemilt C140971-2

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NOW Pensions’ Men’s Conference East

Chichester made the long away trip to Cambridge for a very tough encounter and were delighted to get back to winning ways.

Cambridge have been a well-established team in the national league for a number of years but despite losing their previous two league encounters, Chichester started very positively and moved the ball around with purpose.

Chichester’s back line of Kieran Henn, Gerald Cox, Dan Brook and Steve Spear set strong foundations and the team soon won their first penalty corner when Connor McLaughlin found a defender’s foot in the D with some neat skills.

Gerald Cox expertly converted a drag flick into the top corner to give Chichester the lead. Five minutes later Chichester doubled their lead when Martin Gough turned the defence inside out before firing a shot into the bottom corner for 2-0.

Chichester continued to dominate the remainder of the first half and made it three when Cox again converted a penalty corner.

After the break it was role reversal: Chichester started to get pushed back into their own half and struggled to keep possession.

Cambridge pulled two quick goals back with ten minutes to go, though Chichester could have put the game to bed had chances for Richard Blakesley and Dean Symons not gone begging.

With desperate defending, Chichester saw out the remainder of the game and took the three points. Chichester remain second in the league. They welcome top-of-the-league Holcombe to Kingsham on Sunday, November 9 – a great test for Chichester against a team featuring a number of full international players.

CHICHESTER: Godsmark, Henn, Brook, Spear, G Cox ,Lerwill, Thakore, Salmon, Emmett, Robinson, Sparshott, Gough, McLaughlin, Symons, Blakesley, M Cox.

Henley on Thames 3 Chichester 7

EH National Cup

Twenty-gour hours after winning at Cambridge, Chichester enjoyed another fruitful away trip.

Despite missing a number of key players, Chichester booked their spot in the last 16 and will welcome Peterborough to Kingsham on November 16.

Chichester struggled in the first half as Henley pressed. But Chichester managed to go into half-time 3-2 up.

After the break Chichester played some of their traditional free-flowing hockey and managed to take control. Connor McLaughlin scored a well-deserved hat-trick.

CHICHESTER: Godsmark, Henn, Spice, Salmon, Lerwill, Thakore, M Cox, Symons, McLaughlin, Gough, Blakesley, Robinson, Spear.

Chichester PP Ladies 2nds 1 Bognor Ladies 5

Chichester had a bit of a task on their hands and knew that from the off. With only one defender in the team and the ones taking five players, a new-look team were put together with players playing out of their usual positions.

The first half finished 1-1 with Jessop on target for Chichester – another stunning goal from her with a shot on reverse. A few near misses at the back post went begging for Chichester, and Bognor came back strongly towards the end of the half.

In the second half, Chichester won a few short corners but narrowly missed adding to their tally and Bognor figured out Jessop’s reverse-stick tactic.

The final score was 5-1 to Bognor after Charlotte Cox ran the second half with her England-level touch and ball skills.

It was an exciting game to watch and a fun one to play. Chichester have a weekend off this weekend but are away to East Grinstead on November 8.