Weekend Report No 25

Posted by Andy Darnley on 20 March 2017

Cannock Hockey Report No 25. 

1s 1 V 1 Doncaster 

Cannock secured their survival in the English National League Conference North division with a 1–1 draw at home to Doncaster. The home side knew that their fate was still in their own hands and they were keen that their league position was not dictated by other results. 

Cannock started the game at pace and created early chances with Kyle Gladwin scoring Cannock's goal within the first two minutes. With a combination of tight defending and speedy counter attacking Cannock continued to create chances with opportunities falling to Callum McKenzie and Louie Morris. Cannock began to show some frustration as several of these attacks were broken down by Doncaster's unpunished physicality! Doncaster's more mechanical and patient playing style started to open up opportunities in the Cannock D, resulting in a couple of penalty corners. It was on the second of these that Morris charged down the ball in defense to set up another counter attack. Cannock thought they were heading for a second goal when a penetrating pass from Chris Beck put Callum Swinnerton-Ions one-on-one with the keeper, but he fired against his pads from two metres out and saw the ball cleared to safety. As the half drew to a close and Cannock were reduced to 10 men they played out the half with control to ensure they went in ahead. 

The second half was a scrappy and unsatisfying period with Cannock being reduced to 9 or 10 men for most of the game. However, once again, Cannock had the better of the early chances with McKenzie again coming close. Doncaster made good use of the extra man and forced a penalty corner. Their effort was charged down by McKenzie but the trailing umpire saw an infringement that resulted in McKenzie in a heap on the floor and Doncaster awarded a penalty stroke. Cannock's Olympic keeper James Fair showed why he was once voted the world's best keeper as he dived to his right to parry away the attempt. His following bow to the crowd was fully appreciated by the Cannock faithful. Cannock played out the next ten minutes with nine men but continued to create chances on the break and win penalty corners. However, Doncaster were able to make their numerical advantage count and applied pressure to gain a series of penalty corners, not all of which were understood fully by the home crowd. With less than two minutes on the clock Doncaster's James Wright seized on one of their few opportunities and scored the equaliser. The consolation for Cannock was that the point was enough to guarantee survival but they did feel cheated that they hadn't collected the full three points. 

Next week Cannock take the long journey to Durham for their final game of the season against unbeaten league leaders Durham University. 

 

2s 1 V 3 Beeston 

Despite an early start and long drive in horrible weather the Cannock side where ready to take on Beeston. The boys started well with a disciplined half court press that Beeston struggled to break down. Decisions went against Cannock and the corners kept coming but with this goal keeper Beardmore saved attempt after attempt. Eventually one well worker corner was deflected into the Cannock net just before half time. The second half began as tight as the first with both sides giving little away but with Cannock feeling they weren't getting a fair proportion of the umpiring decisions. However Besston scored two quick goals and debutant George Collins got one back for Cannock.   

3s 4 V 1 Harborne 

Cannock Men's 3s played host to relegation threatened Harborne at Chase Park on Saturday afternoon in the first game on another double header weekend.  
 
With the game meaning something for both sides it was Cannock who dominated the game proving too much for the visitors, who sat bottom of the league and needing three points in order to keep survival hopes alive.  
 
Ed Martin opened the scoring from the right of the D and Andy Hodgetts made it 2-0 from a short corner. Cannock who need points and goals to chase 4th placed Beeston scored a third goal when Martin scored his second of the day but then lost the forward to a pulled hamstring.  
 
Harborne responded with a goal which frustrated keeper Ollie Balcombe but then 'Man of the Match' Luke Davis popped up with a goal after some good approach work from the returning Chris Darnley to give Cannock a 4-1 win. 

3s V Rugby & East Warwick 

Sunday saw Cannock 3s play their penultimate game of the season away at Rugby & East Warwick, another side fighting to survive in the league, while Cannock chased 4th place.  
 
For a side in the bottom three the hosts proved tough opponents for a Cannock side who have really improved in the second half of the season. Cannock dominated the early part of the game but found the Rugby keeper in good form. Eventually a goal was soon won when Danny Swinnerton scored from a sharp short corner routine. With three minutes left of the half Andy Hodgetts scored his second goal of the weekend from a penalty flick.  
 
The second half proved a tough period as the hosts, who needed the points, came at Cannock chasing the ball at every opportunity. However, through the calming influence of James Hudson Cannock were able to maintain their third clean sheet of the season and most importantly another three points.  
 
Cannock finish their season away at local rivals Lichfield requiring a win but they must also rely on champions Loughborough beating Beeston convincingly, in order to finish 4th place. It would be an impressive outcome for a side sitting in the bottom four back in November. 

4s 2 V 1 Sutton Coldfield 

Cannock 4's travelled to face a young Sutton team, Cannock started well and put the home team under pressure, all the hard work eventually turned into a well taken goal for James Griffiths. 
 

Cannock kept the pressure on but for some reason couldn't find the back of the net. Then the young Sutton player shot from the edge of the D, the ball was covered by keeper Tony Blower but as time seemed to stand still the horrified keeper saw the ball trickle between his kickers to make it 1 – 1.  Cannock's heads seemed to drop as Sutton developed a new lease of life.   
 
Much was said at half time and Cannock started the second half well, but again they couldn't find the target, on another day both Griffths and Wigg would of had freely added to their goal tally. 
 
Cannock saw themselves down to 10 men after Dave Bradbury had one word to many with the umpire and was green carded. 
 
Cannock did well with 10 men and battled hard, but short corner after short corner couldn't be converted. Balls were shot wide and there were good saves from the keeper but still the scores remained even. Then late on in the half James Daniels lost the ball on Cannock's 25 to put the forward through on goal. Luckily for Cannock the forward hit the ball to hard and failed to dive to score into an open goal. 
 
With only a few minutes to go Cannock got yet another short corner but this time it was converted with a reverse stick tap from the hero of the moment David Wigg. 
 
A great battling performance from the whole team with a special mention to Tony for an amazing save with his stick to the bottom right. It was a dead cert goal but for the agility of Blower. Well done all. Cannock 4's finish the season at home against Lichfield next week another win and if other results go our way they could stay up for another season. 
 
DOD Tony Blower ( although he could easily be awarded MOM for some amazing saves) 
 
MOM James Bradburn  
 

5s 5 V 1 Lichfield 

Cannock 5ths entertained a Lichfield side who had already secured second place in the league, thanks to only being deducted 1 point for fielding an ineligible player in the first fixture between the 2 sides. The home team needed a victory to confirm 3rd place. 
 
Cannock expected a tough game against an experienced and talented outfit. In the event, they played by far their best hockey of the season to steamroller Lichfield 5-0. 
 
The scoring began after 2 minutes, when Jonny Machin fired home with his usual ferocity. A number of near misses followed until Machin scored his second, to leave the visitors looking for the wheels that had obviously come off their wagon. Such was the domination by Cannock that it was 20 minutes until sweeper Karl Owen actually touched the ball. Goalkeeper Rufus Horn was finally called into action with a sliding chest block to nullify a solitary first half attempt on goal. Towards the end if the half, another Cannock shot was blocked by the defender's hand on his stick and a penalty stroke was incorrectly awarded. This didn't phase old pro James Roberts who found the backboard before the keeper even moved to make it 3-0 at half time. 
The second half found Lichfield in more determined mood and the defence were called into action more frequently. When the line was breached, they found Horn in tremendous form, with a combination of foot, pad, hand and stick saves to keep the goal intact. He also put on a fine display of verbal intimidation of the opposition  that would be a fine example to any aspiring keeper.  
The game was fired up nicely, with some juicy challenges. The umpires did well to keep a lid in things without needing to resort to cards. Machin scored 2 further goals, 1 from a penalty corner and the other a signature reverse stick finish.  
At the end of the game, Cannock toasted their successful season with champagne and canapès, kindly supplied by Don Clark. 
All in all, a great way to round off the season for the #properhockeyplayers.  
 
 
MoM Rufus Horn  
DoD Cameron Horn  (for a superbly hit pass from one end line to the other, never coming within 20 yards if another Cannock player) 
 

Badgers 1 V 6 Beeston 

This week Cannock's Badgers played their last away game of the season against Beeston at what proved to be an extremely wet Beeston Hockey Club. 
 
With a smaller squad than normal, a young Badgers side took on an experienced Beeston Badgers side. With the rain thumping down, Cannock started confidently holding Beeston level for about the first 10 minutes of the half. However, the experience of Beeston soon started to show and Cannock were defending well within their own half. It was inevitable that Beeston would score the first goal. 
 
In the pouring rain, Cannock struggled to get to grips with the conditions and Beeston's passing game, conceding a further 2 goals before the end of the first half. 
 
The second half started poorly with Cannock conceding an early goal to make it 4-0 to Beeston. It wasn't until the fifth goal was scored that Cannock started to play the hockey they have shown they can play this season. The last 20 minutes of the match were at best even, possibly in Cannock's favour, as the young team pushed Beeston back into their own half. Cannock forced a couple of good saves from the Beeston keeper and also earnt a short corner, their first of the game. Following last week's nil return from 15 short corners there wasn't a great deal of expectation, however the youngsters worked their magic with a fantastic slipped ball played across the Beeston goal with a touch in at the far post. Cannock were back in the match. 
 
With spirits lifted, but the rain still pouring, Cannock went in search of further goals and had a ball cleared off the line. A quick break from Beeston resulted in a short corner and with a fine finish Beeston made the final score 6-1 to Beeston. 
 
Cannock may have been soaking wet after the game, but their spirits were high following a good final 20 minutes and a well worked short corner goal. 
 

U12s V  

Cannock's U12's travelled to Lichfield today to represent the club in the Staffordshire U12's In2Hockey tournament. Lewis Bullman, Tommy Bhageerutty, Nathanael Yerbury, Ben Yerbury, Aaron Spriggs, Will Smith, Daniel Savage, Caden, Aaryan Singh, Finlay Dawson and Henry Jones did the club proud by finishing a very credible 7th overall. A mixture of U10's, U12's and some relatively new players to hockey showed everyone that the future is bright at Cannock. 
 
Playing five 12 minutes games of 7-a-side hockey, Cannock drew their first match against Stone 0-0. In the second match they scored their first goal, but a couple of dubious umpiring decisions gave Wednesbury a 3-1 win and in the 3rd match Cannock lost heavily to North Staffs. Cannock's 4th match was a third / fourth play-off against Old Wolves which they narrowly lost 2-0 after having a number of chances to score. Cannock's last match was replay of their first match against Stone in the seventh / eighth spot play-off, with the Cannock youngsters dominating the match, scoring a goal, having a number of other efforts cleared off the line, and eventually winning 1-0. 
 
Well done to everyone who played and it was great to end the day with a convincing win - everyone went home with a smile on their faces. 

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