Cannock Men's Firsts 1 v 2 Deeside Ramblers 

Cannock Men's Hockey lost their second game in the National League, to Deeside Ramblers, in cruel circumstances. Despite early pressure from Cannock, it was Deeside who struck first, with Pakistan's penalty corner specialist Ali Ghazanfer finding the back of the net after eight minutes. Cannock continued to exert pressure until they forced a penalty corner but failed to convert. This became a familiar pattern as chances fell to Louie Morris, Chris Darnley, Tom Minall and Richard Parker. The home side went in at the break wondering how they weren't ahead. 

The second half started in much the same vein, with Cannock creating several half chances. Despite Cannock's pressure Deeside continued to look for opportunities to activate their penalty corner routine. Cannock faced two more corners but were equal to both of them. As Cannock piled on the pressure Deeside exploited a gap in the defense and in the 56th minute they presented Andrew Hayforn with a goal scoring opportunity on the counter attack to put them 2 – 0 up. A lesser side might have been demoralised at this point but this young side pushed even harder, creating wave after wave of assaults on the Deeside defenses. Chances fell again to Will Fleet and Richard Parker, but it wasn't until the 67th minute that McKenzie powerfully deflected a strike from Nav Degun into the net. With the clock quickly running down Cannock took the desperate action and swapped their goal keeper for an outfield player, in a last dich attempt to pick up a point. As Cannock longed for more time there was obvious relief by the Deeside players as the final whistle blew. 

Nav Degun who supplied the pass for Cannock's goal.

Cannock's goal scorer Callum McKenzie

Coach Gay Stacey said 'It was hard to take today's defeat, in a fixture where the lads dominated the game.' He went on to say that although there was 'No justice in the result, we will go again.We have a young squad that are slowly getting together and making progress with each game. We just need a bit of luck and the first three points to go from strength to strength'. Next week they travel to Oxton in their first away fixture. 

Man Of The Match Callum McKenzie

A huge thanks go to match day sponsors Golds Universal Heating Ltd for their support of the game. They awarded Callum McKenzie with Man of the Match.

1s Won 3-3 v Belper (won 4-3 on Strokes) 

On a double header weekend Cannock followed their league game with a EH Cup game against Belper. As on the previous day Cannock applied lots of pressure from the start, gaining and squandering four penalty corners, only for Callum Stacey to get a green card and Belper scored from the resultant penalty corner. 

At the restart Callum McKenzie was inches away from converting a cross from Chris Darnley.

Then Cannock's luck changed as Louie Morris pounced to deflect a penalty corner home.

With the scores level both sides traded yellow cards as Stacey picked up his second card of the day. Cannock took advantage of the extra space and McKenzie added to their tally.

As play ebbed and flowed Belper were awarded a penalty stroke and converted to bring the scores level once more. Then up stepped Jamie Park to slot home a cross from Louie Morris for Cannock to regain the lead. As the final whistle was about to blow Belper were awarded a penalty corner from which they scored. This moved the game into penalty strokes. After five penalties on both sides the scores remained level. As the game moved into sudden death Stacey redeemed himself with a second successful stroke followed by Ed Fleet who secured the winner for Cannock. 

The winning flick from Ed Fleet

Ollie Edwards making his First Team Cup debut

2s lost 2-1 to Bridgnorth 
 After controlling the first 20mins and camping out in their half Cannock took the lead through a corner from Chris Gardner. This made Cannock settle and relax too much and in return a scrappy goal was slotted in past Steve Hawthorne making his 2s debut.  
 
Half time saw Cannock renewed with energy and come out hard but Bridgnorth had settled into a grove and 10 minutes of defence from Cannock wasn't enough and a goal was conceded. Cannock's fitness was too much for Bridgnorth in the dying minutes when Cannock where unlucky not to score. Massive thanks to Steve in goal who helped keep the Bridgnorth forwards at bay. 

3s Drew 2-2 Bridgnorth 
 With 3 players turning up 5 mins before the start Cannock started slowly. Bridgnorth pushed hard and were looking to press from the start, they controlled most of the game for the first 15 mins. 
 
Cannock got into their stride and started to take more of the game but soon led to a defensive error and allowed the opposition to score from a PC. They became more confident and shortly after were awarded a PS for a foot on the line after a shot heading towards the bottom corner. The resultant PS was well saved by Ollie Balcombe.  
 
The second half saw Cannock start 1-0 down but they soon dominated the game with possession after some tactical changes. Lewis Round was gifted a goal with a defensive back pass just outside the D, then 10 mins later found the back again to take it to 2-1.  
 
Cannock had plenty of chances to increase their lead but were unable to convert their chances. A breakdown in the attaching circle allowed the opposition to carry the ball to the other end and convert a well struck reverse.  
 
A good competitive friendly game finished 2-2, to take Cannock 3s into the first league game. 
 
 

4s Won 4 – 3 Bridgnorth 

The 4th team finished their preseason preparations with a 4-3 win over Bridgnorth 3s. 
 
Chris Mayer put Cannock ahead but the visitors equalised within two minutes. Cannock then retook the lead when Danny Swinnerton finished off a fine cross from George Collins. Despite several good saves from keeper Steve Hawthorne Cannock conceded again. Then just before half time, Alex Hill finished a good short corner move to give Cannock a 3-2 lead. 
 
In the second half Cannock were pegged back for a third time, but with minutes to go Chris Mayer came up with his second of the game and what proved to be the winner. Cannock came out on the right side a 4-3 result. Next week they start their season by hosting Nottingham University. 

"I know it's a tea towel but what's it for!?"

 
5s Drew 3 – 3 to Bridgnorth 

Cannock 5ths travelled to last seasons league champions, now promoted to the (West Midlands Premier League). With a bare 11 players against the 15 men of Bridgnorth, Cannock found themselves under real pressure from the start. However, they weathered the storm and after 15 mins, an aerial ball from Gary Stacey was nicely picked out of the air by Paul Martin, who drove into the D and crossed for Darren Pugh to find the net for a 1-0 lead. 
Cannock withstood further pressure thanks to fine saves from Rufus Horn and some timely interventions from Karl Owen, to keep the score 1 nil at the break. 
 
In the second half, Bridgnorth managed to equalise early on with a scrappy goal but Cannock soon equalised from a scorching reverse stick strike from Jonny Machin. 
Great approach work from Luke Stacey led to Machin finding the net again with his second reverse stick goal of the match to make it 3-2. Cannock nearly managed to hang on to their lead but in the dying seconds, tiredness led to defensive errors which allowed Bridgnorth to equalise. 
All things considered, a good result for Cannock who begin the league season next week with real confidence. 
 
 

Badgers win 6-0 v Stone 

Our Badgers are kicking off the fundraising activities this year with a car wash. £2.50 a car... Target is a £100 (40 cars) Please come and support the young lads as they do their bit for CHC. Saturday 1st Oct 9.30-14.30.