Mens 1st’s (3) vs. (4) Lindum 2nd’s
The first team were at home to Lincoln last weekend. The game got off to a good start when Tuddenham found the net after 10 minutes, which was surprisingly quick when you consider it’s taken him 2 months to lose it! However this early goal seemed to spur Lincoln on who preceded to score 3 break a way goals in 20 minutes!
The second half saw Slazenger steady things down and begin to play more intelligent (i.e. slower) hockey. This worked a treat allowing both Jackson and, alarmingly, Tuddenham to score again. With the game level at 3 each things looked to be edging Slazengers way.
That was however until a pearl of a reverse stick shot screamed past the ample ears of Loftus’s and into the back of the net with only minutes to go. A bitter pill for the Firsts who played well enough to deserve something out of the game. Final score Slazenger 3 Lincoln 4. Ouch.
Mens 2nd’s (4) vs. (1) Worksop 1st’s
With a loss last week, the encounter with 4th place was the chance to get their capaign back on track. Worksop played a physical game, and attacked hard from the off. As in past games, Slaz matched their opposition’s pace. Unfortunately, unlike last week’s top of the table clash, Slaz matched the slower lathargic pace. Worksop converted a short corner, and went ahead.
Half time was a good chance to regroup. A light hairdryer treatment, and the team came back out in force. Two quickly earned short corners were converted by Asad Baig to rederess the balance. With a cushion, the team began playing like their league position, moving the ball around and opening gaps in the slower home side. A fantastic attacking run from Alex Stacey set up Baig for his third. Quickly following this, linkup play between Ian Hedges and Amir Khalil gave Baig his fourth. All that was needed was for Ben Graham to net a breakaway goal after going one-on-one with the goalkeeper. However, much to the amusement of the team the shot went wide! A good second half performance from the side.
Men’s 3rd’s (3) vs. (4) Leeds 7th’s
After a long 25 days of the transfer market, Chris the 4th team captain looked to finalise of getting riddance of player Harry buttery to the 3rds. Rumours has it an agreement was set for two bags of crips and a bag of pork scratchings. Slaz 3s was fixtured to play Leeds Hockey club at a 10:30 push back. Slaz started off strong with good distribution of the ball in the midfield creating some goal scoring opportunities but could not capitalise on the attempts.
Leeds had a few couple of quick counter attacks and was affective in goal making it 2-0 at the end of half time. Slaz on the back foot put the debut Harry buttery upfront as his conversation rate for the 4s this season so far was impressive. However Leeds responded right back with a scramble within the Slaz’s D and made it 3-0. Leeds in the upper hand with home ground advantage scored a controversial goal making it 4-0.
Slaz determination and integrity saw them creating more chances and secured a goal that was just a tap in for the new striker Harry buttery. Slaz could see a come back in site as Simon Taylor ,preferably known as speedy sausage, made a powerful run with ball into to the opposing D winning a penalty corner. A good fast injection from Alan Perry gave Harry the time to compose himself and buried the ball into the bottom corner making it 4-2. A well executed pass by Mathew smith set up Harry for his hatrick as he took it first time precisely, hitting the post and scored making it 4-3.
The game finished and slaz was unfortunate not to get the win or even a point. Man of the match went to Harry buttery for his performance.
Men’s 4th’s (1) vs. (1) City of York 8th’s
Slazenger hosted table-topping City of York 8th’s in a close faught battle where either side could have taken the points. Both teams had opportunities in a well contested game. Slaz took the lead through a Josh Hujwan strike, and the home side continued to battle for the win. Unfortunately late in the second half, York won a short corner from which they converted to equalise. While both teams battled for the win, they had to settle for a draw.
Men’s 5th’s (P) vs. (P) Chapeltown 4th’s
Game cancelled due to Chapeltown 4ths withdrawing from the league.
Men’s 6th’s (1) vs. (1) Halifax 5th’s
With Halifax having pulled out of the league at the start of the season due to a lack of players, the development team were planning for no game this week. That was until Tuesday evening when we were informed that the Halifax team had reformed and the game was back on. Ironically, the short notice for the away game left the Slazenger team being short of players for this one. Nevertheless, a team was pulled together, with help from the 5th team’s defensive line of Darren “Blocker” Bailey, Karl “The Calf” Ashford and, Ian “Topper” Randle.
Slazenger’s started the game strongly, putting pressure on the Halifax team straight from the push. Some great passing around the defensive line created space on the right hand side for Oliver Ford to take the ball to the edge of the D and put a strong pass across the goal to Owen Coughtrey who coolly slotted the ball into the left hand corner for the opening goal. With only two minutes gone, a big win looked to be on the cards. Halifax had other ideas, bringing on more adult reinforcements and came back strongly. Great defence from Dan bailey and man of the match, keeper Jack Hancock denied Halifax the equaliser, whilst Luke Boxall and Luke Minchella ran the midfield to keep the pressure on the Halifax defenders at the other end, creating scoring chances for Eleanor Randle and Luke Minchella.
The Halifax pressure told towards the end of the first half, with a shot on goal midway inside the D, which beat the Slaz defence to make it all square at the break. In the second half, Slaz brought on their secret weapon, Ian “Topper” Randle, making only his second outfield appearance of his Slazenger career. Sadly it was also his shortest, retiring due to old age after only a few minutes.
The rest of the half was played end to end, with great play from both teams. Solid defence from Darren Bailey, Karl Ashford, Richard Coughtrey and Dene Minchella kept the Halifax attack at bay, whilst Curtis Jones, Luke Minchella and Eleanor Randle kept the Halifax defence busy. The second half ended scoreless, giving a full time score of one all, but this was a competitive game played in a good spirit from both teams and was one of the development team’s best performances of the season. Every player should be proud of this performance. Well done Dev’s!
Ladies 1st’s (5) vs. (1) University of Leeds 2nd’s
The ladies 1’s welcomes Leeds uni to Slaz at the weekend. With the teams level on points but Slaz in front on goal difference (which in itself is a massive improvement on previous seasons🤣) expectation was that this would be a tough tie.
The first half, however saw Slaz take command. After a few missed chances it was Coops who managed to break the deadlock, beating the keeper and slotting the ball into the side netting – stunning the crowd (umpires and team mates) into silence.
Fields “positive feet” gifted captain Tyrell the second soon after.
The students then started to play how they knew they could and began to apply the pressure. The result being a short corner which was fired into the bottom left.
A half time score line left it all to play for. The university coach helped Slaz by getting one of his own sent off for repeatedly ignoring Mr Wood (he should’ve known better). Slaz took complete advantage and took the second half by storm.
Even with a stint with just 9 (mini minch and Coops asking for a couple of minutes off at the same time) goals came courtesy of Tyres’ with a reverse sweep that just managed to find the net and a second stunning deflection into the top corner.
A great call from the back for Field to go route 1 paid off as she tested the new backboards to make it 5.
Credit to Leeds who were hopeful for a consolation goal, continued to battle. The usual half time team talk about “tackling in 2’s” proved a point and denied their striker any chance on goal. Slaz were never going to concede the short corner awarded in the last second as the ball was eventually played wide and past the 5m mark.
Final score 5:1
Thanks go to Mr Wood and Mr Stephenson once again for their wonderful whistleing throughout the 70 minutes + 5 (or was it 7🤣)
Ladies 2nd’s (3) vs. (1) Wakefield Wanderers
Slazenger Ladies 2’s game against Wakefield Wanderers started off with Wakefield on the attack. The opposition had many shots on goal however Slaz’s defence and goal keeper managed to keep them from scoring. With short corner after short corner Slazenger couldn’t manage to score, and with a disallowed goal Slaz were desperate to score. Through a short corner Nicci scored the first goal. However Wakefield responded quickly, scoring an equaliser. Slazenger were on the attack again with excellent passes through midfield to attack, allowing Stacey to score their second goal, leaving the first half 2-1. During the second half Slazenger again had many shots on goal and their perseverance payed off with Mia scoring through an excellent sweep. Strong defence and attack from Slazenger allowed them to dominate the rest of the game. The end score was a well-deserved 3-1 win to Slaz Ladies 2s.
Ladies 3rd’s (3) vs. (3) Otliensians 1st’s
Keeper Lizzie Tunstall saved a penalty flick two minutes from time to earn Slazengers Ladies 3rds a Yorkshire League draw as their Division Four North West match at home to Otliensians 1sts finished 3-3.
Slaz had to overcome a dreadful start as Otliensians scored from a short corner conceded in the first minute. Donna Hall almost equalised straight away with an angled shot just wide, but she did level the scores with a powerful shot from the edge of the D in the 14th minute. Hall then edged Slaz in front in the 29th minute as her shot took a deflection into the net off a defender’s stick, Ellie McWilliams having set up the chance with her persistence.
Unfortunately, Otliensians equalised almost immediately as they broke quickly and took advantage of hesitation in the home defence. McWilliams could have given Slaz an interval lead but her shot was just off target. McWilliams was again close to restoring the lead at the start of the second half but had one shot saved and put the rebound just wide. Slaz were unable to take advantage of a sustained spell of pressure and were punished when Otliensians broke quickly to go 3-2 up.
Linda Stacey shot just wide as Slaz looked to get back on terms, before another Stacey ball towards goal with five minutes remaining found McWilliams and she scored at the second attempt to level things up. It looked as though Otliensians would gain revenge for their 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture when they were awarded a penalty flick, given for use of a foot to block a shot on the line. But Tunstall came to the rescue with a save to deny the visitors the victory that would have lifted them above fourth-placed Slazengers in the table.
Otliensians’ frustration became evident in the remaining moments as they had a player green-carded for arguing, which was converted to yellow as she continued her protests. Tunstall and McWilliams shared the Slazengers player of the match award.
Ladies 4th’s (1) vs. (3) Leeds University 7th’s
The ladies 4th Team played Leeds University 7th team away this weekend, taking 3 junior players with them.
Slazenger’s started strongly and this week were first to score – pulling Beth Asquith out of defence to play midfield – her first attack down the left hand side, supported by Ruby Farrington-Fawcett, put the Slazenger side out in the lead. Unfortunately, the lead wasn’t to last. The university team fought back and soon equalised the score. Equally matched, both teams tried hard to get in front and with the efforts of Jules Measures and May Bailey up front, Slazenger’s took their chances resulting in 2 short corners before half time but failed to find the net. Keeper Lauren Hattersley held her nerve and managed several superb saves to prevent Leeds scoring, the score at half time remaining 1-1.
The second half continued with an even battle, Ingrid Coughtry’s long balls giving Slazenger their chances and Sara Chilton, Sarah Paverley and Steph Clements working together in defence to deter the Leeds attack. Freja Wilson cleared the balls out of danger to mid-field player Gemma Wroe and the score remained even until the last 15 minutes. In quick succession, Leeds fought through the Slazenger defence and scored twice. The Slazenger Ladies did not give up and Ruby Rodgers found herself in the attacking D with the ball on her stick and to the delight of her team, found the net. With only minutes remaining, time run out for Slazenger’s to equalise – the final score 3-1 to Leeds university. Player vote shared between both goal scorers – Beth Asquith and Ruby Rodgers.
Boys U10 Tournament
Slazenger U10 boys have been training hard in preparation for their tournament at Weetwood on Sunday. They all arrived in good spirits and with the sun in the sky. Unfortunately the rain came in before the first game. But the Slaz team still made a bright start against York. Some strong play from Aleks Thompson on the wing and excellent defence by Rhuben Foster meant Slaz were getting on top of York. This resulted in a great pressure and a cross into the D by Owen Coughtrey was finished cleanly by player of the tournament, Declan Buxton for the winning goal.
The second game was a close game against Airedale. Goalkeeper Francis Richardson kept Slaz in the game with some excellent saves. Jack Sanderson and Leo Meakin-Sheen worked hard in defence to keep a clean sheet. Aleks came close to getting Slaz in the lead. But Slaz were unlucky to concede just before the final whistle.
Leeds were Slaz’s next opponent and they were a very strong team who soon took the lead. Stanley Newbould worked well with Seth Hoole to created some changes, but Slaz were unable to score. Leeds were to score 2 more.
Next Slaz faced Bridlington. The teams were very well matched. Francis was outstanding in goal again, and pulled off some amazing saves. Declan and Stan came close to score but the game ended a no score draw.
The last game of Division 2 for Slaz was against Ben Rhydding. The Slaz boys felt confident to get another win and they played some great attacking hockey. Unfortunately they got caught out on the counter attack and went quickly down 2 goals. Owen Wiper in the midfield with support from Charlie Thomas worked hard to get Slaz back in the game. It was Owen who had a great run and shot on goal. Stan was the quickest to react to the save of the goalkeeper and a nice pass to Seth resulted in a well-earned goal. Ben Rhydding was to score once more before the last whistle of the tournament for the Slaz team.
