Cannock M1s 3 - 2 Preston

   Cannock Men's 1st XI fought hard for their first National League win of the season. Despite an early set back with Preston taking the lead against the run of play the young Stags took the game to their Northern opponents & soon dominated play. 
   Conrad Willars equalised with his first NL goal quickly followed by a Matt Wilson goal after a defensive mix up. As the first half closed Conrad Willars shot was saved by a defenders foot & a penalty stroke awarded. Callum Stacey stepped up to slowly roll the ball into the corner as the goalkeeper dives the other way.
   Cannock going into the break with a 3-1 lead.
   The second half started with more dominant Cannock play but as the Stags failed to capitalise on the pressure Preston get back into the game by scoring a he next goal. This spurred the visitors forward & put pressure on the home side, however, the Stags were determined not to let their lead slip & repelled the threat to take the points.
MoM: Conrad Willars
Goal Scorers; Conrad Willars, Matthew Wilson, Callum Stacey

Cannock M2s 4 - 2 North Staffs 

   After a slow warm up the Cannock boys looked like they were all suffering from freshers flu. The game was firmly in North Staffs control with attempts from the away side all leading up to the first a goal from a short corner. Cannock had there moments in the first half with short corners and the occasional break but north staffs managed to find the net again before anything could be seized. A goal before half left the score line at 2-1
   The second half was a different story. Aza managed not to fall over and with the annoyance to the north staffs keeper loved him off a short corner to finish the game with 2 goals. Strong link up play from defence to midfield allowed the side to build on the level score and with a tap in back post from rich parker. A fourth goal coming from DSI. New keeper Gavin kept the boys in with several strong saves and a commanding voice from the back. 
   A scrappy game at times with need for more width and patience but a second win in 2 weeks to take cannock into the first league match next week

Cannock M3s 5 – 3 North Staffs - *Team of the week*

   Cannock 3s travelled to North Staffs for the final pre season game before the league starts next week. North Staffs 2s looked keen and had a large squad. Cannock with the bear 11 took to the field with some confidence from last weeks performance. A couple of new faces in the team with Paul Minall & Joe Stuart making their 3s debut.
   The game started with pace and aggressions from the opposition but Cannock were composed and held the ball well rarely giving away possession. A couple of chances fell North Staffs way early on and they were taken, admittedly the second was a slip up from new keeper Joe, but still new to the game it was a good learning experience.
   Cannock responded well and soon found themselves back level at 2-2 with some well worked goals by Ed Martin & Lewis Micheals. Cannock soon started to dictate the game through a number of well worked moves and created numerous short corners. A third soon came from a corner and we went in to the break 3-2 up.
   The second half saw Cannock dominate even more with the opposition starting to make mistakes. Martin took advantage of a misplaced pass in the opponents D and put a 4th in. A 5th followed soon after from James Girffiths.
   North Staffs grew more frustrated and decided to chuck everything the had at us and they eventually found a last chance to make it 5-3. A good performance all round and put us it a good place moving it to the league next week.
   MoM: Ed Martin

 

Cannock M5s 3 v 5 North Staffs

   Cannock 5ths travelled to North Staffs in their final pre-season game before the league season begins next week. In a game that was played mostly in driving rain, the spectacle on the pitch offered little to brighten the mood. Cannock didn't play with the cohesiveness of previous games and at times appeared as though they'd never met each other before. Through a combination of poor communication and good finishing, the visitors found themselves 3-0 after 20 minutess. Gary Stacey pulled 2 back, one from a penalty stroke and one from a penalty corner. At the end of the first half, N.Staffs scored again from a penalty corner that was saved but not cleared. 4-2 down at the break.
   Harsh words were spoken at half time and Cannock put in a better performance, creating more opportunities that unfortunately weren't taken. Another penalty corner goal saw the home side extend their lead, before Bruce Alcock fired home to make it 5-3 at the end.
   In a game in which everyone did some things well and some things poorly, defender Matt Wheldon stood out like a beacon in the gloom, justifiably earning himself Man of the Match.
   To finish on a brighter note, the game was played in a good spirit and the umpiring was excellent.

 

Cannock L1s 0 – 3 Reading L1s

   The ladies 1s travelled to reading knowing it was going to be a really tough game against a well rehearsed and experienced recently relegated team from the prem! Cannock were immediately on the back foot and found themselves absorbing a lot of pressure and defending multiple short corners. Cannock however made very difficult for reading to find a way through and came close to over turning the home team when reading failed to trap a short corner and Cannock used the counter attack to get their only short corner of the game.
   Reading were clearly frustrated with the 0-0 shoreline at half time and struggled to find a way through Cannock goal keeper jo Carpay who had an absolute stormer! However reading pushed and pushed eventually getting their first goal half way through the second half! A 2nd and 3rd shortly followed with the game finishing 3-0 to reading

 

Cannock L2s 0 – 2 Loughborough Uni

   Cannock 2's travelled to Loughborough uni, a tough fixture away from home. Cannock started strong having a few early chances on the home teams goal sending them into a panic, unfortunately Cannock could not convert any of the efforts on goal.
   After holding Loughborough to 0-0 at halftime they came out very strong and Cannock defended hard for most of the second half with some outstanding saves from goal keeper Gemma Pryce. Holly dean and Tabitha Burroughs narrowly missed the target for Cannock in a couple of breakaway attacks.
   Loughborough finally broke down the Cannock defence with 10 minutes to go in a strong counter attack and doubled their lead in another 2 minutes from a short corner routine.
   The game was called off with 3 minutes to go due to a Cannock injury, making the final score 2-0 to the home team. A well-constructed game with an unrepresentative score line.
   Man of the match, Gemma Pryce.

Cannock L3s 2 – 0 Uttoxeter L1s

   Cannock ladies 3s played Uttoxeter ladies 1s at home for an early 10:15am game. Cannock had a strong start again this week putting all the pressure on Uttoxeter who have been relegated from the midlands division. Jenna Martin used her silky skills to take the ball to the top of the D on the right for a straight strike to score the first goal within 5-6mins. The pressure continued to build and Cannock scored again from a short corner and an excellent shot from Bev Cartlidge straight to the left of the goalie.
   Second half Uttoxeter tried hard to come back and put Cannock under pressure but the solid defence from Jude Hitchens and Vikki Wilson and some great saves from Tiegan Cooke ensured they did not succeed. Overall a great team effort with a 2-0 win and everyone came off the pitch tired but very happy with the result. Bring on West Brom next week. MOM Vikki Wilson.

 

Cannock L4s 9 – 2 Uttoxeter L2s

   Cannock ladies 4s travelled to Uttoxeter for their 2nd league game. Game started 7mins late with 9 players on the pitch & Emma Thomas stepping into umpire. 10 minutess after game had started we were up to 11 players, and an umpire.
   First goal was scored via short corner courtesy of Han Inglis, and then the goals just kept coming in and hitting that backboard.
   Unfortunately an unlucky strike from the top D caused one of Uttoxeter's players to get hit in the eye with the ball, the game had to be stopped for approx. 25 minutess for the player to make sure she was ok,
   Once the game had got re-started, Rach Hughes quickly found the back of the net, and got us set up for the remaining 19 minutes. But then unfortunately Uttoxeter had a lucky break with them getting a goal in. The whole team played excellent and together as a team showing some nice decent hockey.
   With x4 goals from Rach Hughes, x2 Jemma Bowen , x1 Han Inglis, x1 Alice Runton and x1 Danni Steventon.

Final result was 9-2 (1 goal was conceded for a late start)
#2games2wins

Cannock L5s 0 – 18 Abbotsholme

Cannock Ladies 5's found today's game against Abbottsholme a sheer difficulty and were overwhelmed with the mass of division one players who had moved to play in this division. We played defensively throughout our game with a few strikes on goal, unfortunately we were never lucky enough to score. However, we managed to apply pressure within the second half and ensured our team spirit remained high. With a congratulations going to Kim McColl for receiving player of the match. 18-0.