Win some, lose some: Chichester score plenty but concede a few too

Chichester 4 Old Loughtonians 5

Chichester 4 Bedford 2

Conference East

It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for Chichester’s first XI that left them third in the table, a point behind second-placed Cambridge.

Having established a commanding lead within ten minutes of the start of the game against Old Loughtonians, courtesy of goals from Alex Pendle and Richard Blakesley, they managed to squander their two-goal cushion within five minutes of the start of the second half.

Sadly, the writing had been on the wall throughout. The team had been careless in the way they looked after defensive duties throughout the first half, and while they had scored another goal through Ollie Baxter, they had also conceded a number of penalty corners and an eventual goal.

The second half was a horror show, the like of which have not been seen at from Chichester’s men for some time but which was clearly hiding in the shadows.

The team never re-established control of the game, and while Alex Pendle notched a second for Chi to go into the final quarter 4-3 up, Old Loughtonians continued to create good opportunities to score.

When they eventually did, it came as no great surprise, but there will be some head scratching going on in the Chichester camp about how they contrived to turn a solid win into a gut wrenching loss.

Fortunately, the team had learned some lessons when they retook the pitch against Bedford on Sunday. They again started well, and created some territorial advantage and controlled the game before they lost Alex Baxter to an erroneous yellow card.

Bedford are staring at relegation and tried hard to make this the most physical battle possible, and for a while Chichester struggle to cope.

They succumbed to a deflected penalty corner, but went into half-time with the team restored to 11 on the pitch.

After half-time it was one-way traffic. Wave after wave of Chichester attacks washed over the Bedford defence, who were hanging on for dear life.

Ollie Baxter might have scored during this period and Pendle might have done better from penalty corners.

With the pressure rising, former captain Alex Thakore stepped up, deflecting the ball into the top corner to level the scores. Within minutes, Alex Holton capitalised at the end of yet another strong forward move to put Chichester ahead, and when Alex Baxter riffled a reverse stick shot past the Bedford goalkeeper to make it 3-1 normality had been restored.

Bedford, however, clearly had not yet given up hope and withdrew their goalkeeper to give themselves an extra outfield player. While this gave them a little more territorial advantage, and a bit more control, Chichester might have scored more than the one the Pendle put away towards the end of the game.

Chichester Friars 4 Fareham V 1

Hampshire Area Div 4

The Friars bounced back from a 6-1 defeat the previous week with an emphatic victory to hold on to third place.

The Friars enjoyed most of the possession, but despite good hockey and a number of chances, it took 27 minutes to break the deadlock.

Bryan Locke took control of a great long ball from Andrew Savory, went round defenders and the keeper to push the ball over the line.

A lack of concentration in defence allowed Fareham to equalise, but the Friars maintained the pressure and retook the lead when Locke fired in his second goal on 31 minutes.

It was great to see Danny Jaeger take to the pitch for the first time this season – the legend returns.

The Friars started the second half strongly and on 39 minutes, Luke Savory found Chris Pacey with a defence splitting pass, allowing Pacey to glide past the onrushing keeper to find the net.

Fareham created chances, but with a combination of strong defence and saves by Rob Torrance, the Friars remained in control and on 54 minutes, Locke completed his well-deserved hat-trick.

Mark Green had to leave the pitch to visit A&E after being hit with a stick on the hand. Andrew Savory was then hit in the forehead with a stick and took no further part in the game.

Despite losing players, the Friars remained strong and continued to frustrate the opposition for the rest of the game.

This was a very hard-fought game, but the all-round team performance by the Friars again showed the desire to compete in a difficult league.

Friars: Rob Torrance, Trevor Andrews, Danny Jaeger, Steve Mercer, Dave Walters, Tracy Boyce, Chris Pacey, Bryan Locke, Andrew Savory, Luke Savory, Mark Green, Colin Smith.