Chichester ladies don't find Hill too steep - Friars' fire goes out - Edwardian drama

Chichester Ladies II 3 Burgess Hill Ladies II 2

Sussex Ladies Div 1

After a layoff of a couple of weeks Chichester returned to action with a narrow win.

From the start Chichester laid out their intentions and put the opposition under pressure. Passing was good and the inter-play between the midfield and forwards was excellent, with Alex Hurd dominating the centre of the midfield.

Chichester were rewarded with a penalty corner. Tracy Austin hit it to Sarah Jessop and she passed to Vicky Oliver-Catt, who sent it back to the penalty spot where Austin was waiting to make it 1-0.

Burgess Hill did some attacking but Chi’s defence were up to the task. BH were awarded a penalty corner and after some desperate defending they scored.

Chichester were still the stronger team with Rosie Smith coming up from the third team to make a very good impression.

Jessop held up the ball, creating a pass, and Gabby Crisp scored from a few metres out.

In the second half Chichester’s anticipation of where the ball was going was tremendous and Jessop received a pass from Smith and in one movement , from the top of the D, put the ball pass the BH keeper.

BH got a second which put Chi on tenterhooks for the last five minutes but they held on for a much deserved win.

Chichester: Abson, Austin, Oliver-Catt, Baxter, Jessop, Mundy, Hurd, Smith, Hauxwell, Woods, Crisp, Rice.

Andover II 4 Chichester Friars 1

Hampshire Area Div 4

Friars battled hard, but eventually went down to the runaway league leaders.

Andover took the lead on 16 minutes but the Friars levelled five minutes later when Martin Hughes fired in a low shot from a short corner. Despite losing Adrian Strange to an injury, the Friars kept working hard but with only seconds of the first half to go, Andover regained the lead after some defensive mix-ups by the Friars.

Andover started the second half strongly and increased their lead on 48 minutes. Another injury meant the Friars now only had 11 fit players, which was soon reduced to ten when a third player had to leave the field while another stayed on but was restricted by a knee problem.

It was inevitable Andover continued to enjoy more possession and scored their fourth on 54 minutes. The Friars still fought hard in defence, Rob Torrance made a number of good saves and t Hughes hit the bar with a reverse-stick shot.

This was a hard-fought game that was closer than the score line suggests. Great credit goes to the whole team for their attitude and fighting spirit. Dave Horton and Mark Hoult stepped up to help out – and both played very well.

Other results went against the Friars, who slipped to fifth in the league, but it’s all to play for in the last three games.

Friars: Torrance, Andrews, Jaeger, Mercer, Walters, Boyce, Pacey, A Savory, L Savory, Strange, Horton, Hoult, Hughes.

* Chichester’s men’s first team are nine points behind the Conference East leaders following a 2-1 loss at home to London Edwardians. They aim to return to winning ways with a trip to Bromley and Beckenham on Saturday.