The end of January saw a busy weekend of hockey for the men in maroon as the Mens 1s finished their warm up for their return to league action next weekend and the 2nd Team played a re-arranged game

SATURDAY 28TH JANUARY 2017

Cannock 1s vs Brooklands MU (Home on Pitch 2 @ 5.30pm)

In their final weekend before the league restart Cannock Men's 1s played a double headed as they entertained Brooklands & Deeside Ramblers. On a cold Saturday evening Cannock showed solid resilience against their Premier Division opponents Brooklands, however as the game progressed Brooklands took their chances & ran out 6-0 winners.

Sunday saw a dominant Cannock display as they out-played their Deeside rivals as chance after chance was created. Cannock gained a 3-1 advantage & then the magic touch in front of goal eluded them as two glaring chances at an open goal were inexcusably missed. These misses proved crucial as Deeside scrambled two late goals to force a unlikely draw. But the performance gave a lot of confidence to the squad ready for next week when the league restarts with a visit to Bowdon.

Cannock 2s vs West Bridgford 2s (Away at West Bridgford School @ 1.30pm)

Cannock 2s made the long trip to Nottingham to face West Bridgford for what they thought was a 2pm game howver the game got started a 'shade' late due to some admin mistakes on our behalf and some inetersting individual decsion making in Nottingham! The first half flew by with goals going in all over the place thoughout the whole game. Highlights in a crazy game was Lewis Round's 60m ball which fed Tom Minall who was on form once again to convert a 1v1 with the home keeper. The hosts remained stubborn opponents and kepy themselves in the game. The final whistle evenutally blew to end this bad tempered game with Cannock earning another win with the finals core at 7-6. A Tom Minall hatrick was added to by Gardner, Ollie Southall, Luke Davis and Jordan Joiner.

MOM - Richard Parker

DOD - Minall forgetting his shorts

Cannock 3s vs Edgbaston 3s (Home on Pitch 2 @ 1.30pm)

Cannock Men's 3rd Team finally returned to league after a prolonged Xmas break due to rearrangements and the cold weather with a mid table clash against Edgbaston. Cannock dominated the majority of the game, changing their press to continually ask questions of their visitors however a lack of composure in possession meant Edgbaston were able to keep Cannock at arms length. This was until Callum Warren popped up with a goal half way through the first half. With debutant Rory Woods offering something different up front Cannock looked to be comfortable until the visitors raced away on the break and convert their only chance of the game taking Ollie Balcombe's clean sheet away. Half time 1-1

A reassuring team talk saw Cannock come out determined to take a three points they more than deserved. Hard pressing saw Ben Hampton, Ed Martin and the impressive Danny Swinnerton score goals as Cannock raced away with a 4-1 lead. Martin then saw green with a tough tackle in the midfield and tempers were lost briefly but it didn't prevent came coming away with a deserved three points. Cannock, who have now gone five league games unbeaten and are 6th in the Mids Prem, ten points clear of the relegation zone face a tough double header next weekend against the Students of Birmingham & Nottingham alike.

MOM - Ben Hampton, another goal for the defender making out of postion in the 3s forward line

DOD - Captain Widdowson and his failure to make any contact on an Edgbaston cross

Cannock 4s vs Beeston 5s (Away at Highfields @ 2.00pm)

A game that typified Cannock 4's season. Two early defensive errors meant Cannock were on the back foot immediately, however a penalty stroke from the returning Gurpal Mann, led to a period of pressure for Cannock that led to an equalising goal from veteran Dave Wigg just before half time. Pressure from Beeston early in the second half caused some problems but Cannock countered and had numerous opportunities to take the lead through short corners. It was not to be, however, and as has happened too often this season, a last minute goal by Beeston condemned Cannock to another defeat which left them three points clear of safety at the wrong end of the table. Next week Cannock host Birmingham University 4s hoping they can go one better than the reverse fixture that the students stole 3-2 at the death. 

MOM - Harry Minall, superb performance on his Cannock debut

DOD - Gurpal Mann, great performance but needs to learn how to pass!! ;-)

Cannock 5s vs North Staffs 4s (Home Pitch 1 - @ 12noon)

Cannock 5ths went into the game looking to extend their winning streak to four games. A strong start against second placed North Staffs saw them force an early penalty corner. The ball was smashed home via the keeper's pads by James Roberts. The visitors found their way back into the game and equalised with a well taken goal from a loose forward.

Half time saw lots of positive words but also a call for a more cohesive game. Cannock came out all guns blazing and despite some periods of sustained pressure, the defence stood firm and laid a platform for the rest of the game. A true team.performance saw a goal from club top scorer Paul Martin, a second for James Roberts and a measured finish from Jonny Machin, giving a final scoreline of 4-1. The industrious Bruce Alcock was awarded Man of the Match, whilst son Evan went from last week's hero to this week's zero, earning Dick of the Day for forgetting his socks.

MOM - Bruce Alcock
DOD - Evan Alcock

Cannock 6s vs Bridgnorth Fathom (Away at Bridgnorth HC @ 2.15pm)

Game cancelled due to poor availabilty of players.

Cannock Badgers vs Barton Badgers (Away at Shobnall LC @ 10.00am)

After an enforced break of a couple of weeks due to the bad weather, Cannock's Badgers team travelled to Shobnall Leisure Centre for a match against Barton.

        Cannock started confidently, moving the ball and looking for opportunities to press forward and create chances. However, Barton Badgers were much sharper than Cannock and were able to win the majority of the 50-50 balls, looking for breaks of their own. The first half remained very non-eventful at 0-0 with neither keeper being tested.

        Cannock never really got going in this game, spending too much time on the ball, loosing structure and playing too direct. Barton started to exploit Cannock's weaknesses and Joe Thomas, Cannock's keeper, was soon called into action. Barton continued to press and eventually scored the first goal. 

        Following the goal, Cannock started to play some good hockey and for about 15 minutes looked like they wanted to win the game. Barton however broke on the counter attack and scored a second. Cannock failed to recover from this and the score finished 2-0 to Barton.

        Hopefully Cannock Badgers have now got rid of their 'hockey rust' and will be looking for a better performance against Lichfield next week.

SUNDAY 29TH JANUARY 2017

Cannock 1s vs Deeside Ramblers (Home on Pitch 2 @ 2.00pm)

In their final weekend before the league restart Cannock Men's 1s played a double headed as they entertained Brooklands & Deeside Ramblers. On a cold Saturday evening Cannock showed solid resilience against their Premier Division opponents Brooklands, however as the game progressed Brooklands took their chances & ran out 6-0 winners.

Sunday saw a dominant Cannock display as they out-played their Deeside rivals as chance after chance was created. Cannock gained a 3-1 advantage & then the magic touch in front of goal eluded them as two glaring chances at an open goal were inexcusably missed. These misses proved crucial as Deeside scrambled two late goals to force a unlikely draw. But the performance gave a lot of confidence to the squad ready for next week when the league restarts with a visit to Bowdon.

Cannock 2s vs Nottingham University 2s (Away at Nottingham University @ 1.30pm)

A side representing Cannock Men's 2s travelled to Nottingham University on a wet and miserable Sunday lunchtime to play a re-arranged game. Cannock, whose fielded only Richard Parker, Lewis Round and Jordan Joiner as regular 2nd team players worked tirelessly during the game but were behind from inside three minutes as the students ran riot. A Gurpal Mann yellow card saw Cannock put under even further strain and goals started going in against the helpless Tony Blower in the Cannock goal. Half Time 3-0

Early stages of second period saw Cannock defending tirelessly but the students were relentless in their hunt for goals and further damage to the visitors weakening will-power. As players tired the game opened up and despite Richard Parker finding two goals the students were ruthless with the final score finishing 10-2.

MOM - Richard Parker

DOD - Angus Bulpiit - forgot his hockey shoes!