Khalsa HC 1 - Cannock HC M1

   Any fixture against Khalsa, is always going to demand the very best from players, especially when it is on their territory and this is exactly what the young Cannock side gave. It was a fast moving game with both sides moving the ball quickly and accurately trying to break through resilient defences; both had clear goal scoring chances which were denied by precision last man defending and excellent goalkeeping. It proved to be a titanic battle with neither side letting up on the pressure.
   Cannock finally broke the deadlock midway through the first half by a cleanly worked goal by Aaron Wilkes. Khalsa pushed hard but were not able to get back onto level terms until the second half. The Cannock defence of George Nellist, Aaron Wilkes, Angus Bulpitt and Duncan Gladwin repelled wave after wave of attack with ‘keeper Gavin Adams making some superb saves.
   The Cannock forwards in return were denied the winning goal be some desperate defending at the other end. It was a true team performance by the Cannock side and a credit to both teams to play such a competitive game in such poor weather conditions.

Cannock M4s 9 - 1 Old Wulfs M3s

   Cannock put in a great performance against a spirited opposition. They started brightly, taking a 2 goal lead early on. Old Wulfs came back strongly and forced a goal of their own when a saved shot rebounded and was deflected in via a Cannock player's leg. Cannock withstood further pressure and scored 2 more to make it 4-1 at the break.
   Cannock piled on the pressure in the second half, scoring another 5. The visitors showed dogged determination, keeping the defence busy and forcing a number of saves from the keeper.
Goalscorers were Tom Hyde (3) Bruce Alcock (2) Dave Wigg (2) Lee Marsh and Joe Matthews

A virtually unanimous vote for Man of the Match went to Cameron Horn, for another imperious performance.

Cannock M5s 0-2 Bridgnorth M6s

   Cannock welcomed bridgnorth 6ths to Chase Park for the first home game of 2019, also welcoming back players from their holidays in Geoff gosling and Dave Michael to help strengthen the defence, Bridgnorth thought they had their first goal, however the ball was outside the D when hit. The half carried with both sides having their fair share of possession of the ball, just before the stroke of half time Bridgnorth broke the deadlock.
   At half time the more experienced members of the team knew we was under pressure but at times playing good hockey , this saw Dave Michael use his knowledge to move the team around.
   The second half started with Cannock playing nice hockey at time but not being able to create many opportunities, the first PC of the game was awarded to Cannock however the boys could not take the chance, shortly after bridgnorth won their first PC of the game, Dave Michael was eager to get off the line but due to Bridgnorth taking their time over PC went to early and was dismissed from defensive PC. PC was reset and again another player in Andy Hoare broke early due to Bridgnorth taking time and was dismissed. Cannock now down to Keeper Edwards and two defenders in Sam Cattell and Alex Westwood they knew was going have extremely brave effort to stop a Bridgnorth goal, the strike ended up hitting Westwood foot. After much discussion Cannock were restored to the full compliment in defenders due to a new PC, eventually the ball did end up in the back of the net for a 2nd Bridgnorth goal. Cannock Kept battling well but failed to make many chances,the last play of the game saw a bridgnorth PC hit straight at the keeper and saved. 

MOM Jake G for his good work rate in the midfield.

Next week we travel to arch rivals Lichfield who are currently sitting in 3rd place. With Lichfield winning their last three games and Cannock losing their last 3 game where I'm certain all Cannock players will be up for it to try and stop Lichfield momentum charge to the tittle.

Stafford L1s 2-3 Cannock L3s

   Playing against top of the league away was never going to be easy but from the whistle Cannock battled hard, played some impressive hockey and looked the better team. With Stafford dominating their play down the left it left our defence with an overload of players and somehow Stafford managed to take the lead. Cannock fought on and eventually won a short corner that was scored by Anya Rogers. Never a team to give up Stafford carried on playing down the left and scored a very similar goal to the first.
   At half time Cannock changed a few things and went out gunning for the 3 points. It was a very even game from end to end with both teams wanting the win but with Cannock winning another short that didn’t go as planned but resulted in a brilliant goal over the keepers head from Charlie Thompson Cannock were even. Some impressive play from Cannock and determination saw Cannock take the lead with Charlie putting the ball over the line again. Cannock with 8 mins left gave everything to enable the score to stay the same. A very impressive team performance.
POM: Charlie Thompson, great goals and a player never to give up!