Ladies 1st’s (6) vs. (3) Huddersfield Dragons 1
Slaz ladies 1’s travelled the short distance to local rivals Huddersfield dragons on Saturday hoping to take their winning ways of 2020 into February.
Starting strong, building from the back and creating the overload Slaz gave chances to Coops, Swindon and Field to go 3 up within 15 mins. Dragons then upped their game to keep Slaz from increasing their first half tally and managed to tap home a short corner just before the whistle giving a half time score of 3:1.
With amazing passing and balls through from Field in the middle, The second half saw bagshaw net her second while Coops hit her hat trick. Dragons pulled a couple back but it was never going to be enough.
Final score 6:3 Slaz #another3points
Ladies 2nd’s (0) vs. (4) Colne Valley 1st’s
Slazenger’s Ladies 2s game against Colne Valley on Saturday started off with Colne Valley on the attack. The opposition began strongly, taking shot after shot but Slaz’s defence were just as strong, saving each of their shots. However unfortunately Valley managed to pass the ball around the Slaz’s keeper allowing them to make the score 1-0. Throughout the first half Slazenger had many attempts on goal but there was no luck in scoring a vital equaliser. Leaving the first half’s score to be 1-0. Slazenger started off on the attack with a desire to win however despite having short corner after short corner no one could score the important goal. Colne Valley again started their attack scoring 3 more goals in the second half, one from a penalty flick and the others from quick passes around the keeper. The end score of the game was 4-0 to Colne Valley. Player of the match was Nicole Fillingham.
Ladies 3rd’s (2) vs. (1) Huddersfield 1st’s
Ladies 3rd’s beat Huddersfield 1st’s. Goals came from Ellie McWilliams and Justine Birkett.
Ladies 4th’s
No game
Mens 1 (2) vs. (5) Leeds Adel 2nd’s
Men’s 1st’s lost out to a strong Leeds Adel 2nd’s. Goals came from Ben Stevenson, and Will Gascoigne.
Mens 2nd’s (5) vs. (3) Ben Rhydding 3rd’s
The Men’s 2nds hosted Ben Rhydding 3rd’s on Saturday, coming away with a good 5-3 win. However as with their away fixture, the match showed the very best and the very worst of the teams performance. Slaz went a goal behind early, but pulled 2 back before the break through Keith Leonard and Asad Baig.
The second half was a far better performance from the home side. A further brace of goals from Baig, and a second goal from Leonard sealed the win. However, the team did not have their own way with a well taken penalty corner conversion and a bizarre incident where the goalkeeper levelled his own defender. Another 3 points on their league campaign, however having gifted the opposition 2 goals, on another day it could have been a crucial loss on their league campaign.
Mens 3rd’s (3) vs (1) Boston Spa 2nd’s
Slazs 3s faced Boston spa on cold smokey Saturday as speedy bakery was up in flames. Slaz started off strong with the new signing of Harry buttery who earned his worth and had his pay increased to 3 bags of crips and 3 bags of pork scratchings for scoring another 2 goals and setting up the third for George for a tap in on the post. However the average age of Boston spa being 60 didn’t stop them from scoring a consolation goal ending the game 3-1 to the home side. The captain Simon Taylor also known as speedy sausage came off the pitch with smoke coming off his shoes, not from the fire but from all the running on the pitch
Mens 4th’s (2) vs. (1) Wakefield 6th’s
Slaz mens 4th’s hosted Wakefield 6th’s for the reverse league encounter. The hosts had much of the upper hand from the get-go. However Slaz didn’t have it their own way. The team raced into the lead through an early goal by Daz Buttery. As the game progressed however, Wakefield fought back and equalised before the end of the first half.
The second half was well balanced. Slaz went close through several well worked chances. However, it was Andy Birkett who netted late on to secure the well deserved 3 points.
Mens 5th’s (1) vs. (8) Sheffield University Bankers 6th’s
Keith Stevenson was the hero of the hour scoring the teams consolation goal on a tough encounter in Sheffield. However, given the previous encounter being a double digit loss, keeping the deficit to 7 goals was well worth a pint.
Mens 6th’s (1) vs. (3) Huddersfield Dragons 5th’s
This week our young development team took on a well drilled Huddersfield Dragons team for the third time this season. The home team began the game playing into a very strong wind and were quickly under pressure from the Dragons. Good defence from Dan Bailey and Ollie Leonard and some good saves from keeper Jack Hancock kept the Huddersfield team scoreless in the opening exchanges, but the pressure finally told, going behind to a well taken Huddersfield goal on the 10 minute mark.
The home team finally found their feet, with some good play in midfield from Luke Minchella and player of the match Eleanor Randle, forcing consecutive short corners. Curtis Jones and Owen Coughtrey came close to scoring but the Huddersfield keeper ensured that the away team kept the lead up to half time. An injury to goalkeeper Jack Hancock forced him off the field at half time, with replacement keeper Aidan Coughtrey taking the field for the second half, which saw Slazenger’s starting strongly. Luke Minchella once again directed the attack from midfield, providing some great passes for Alex Pearson and Curtis Jones. Unfortunately, Slaz were unable convert the pressure into goals and were repeatedly caught by the Dragons’ counter attack, which resulted in their second goal on fifty minutes, with some nice passing around the Slaz defence to create a tap in on the back post.
The home team kept working hard with Bobby Brear and Ollie Leonard coming on from the bench to give the team some much needed go forward. Luke Minchella finally broke the Huddersfield defence and finished a great run into the D with a brilliant shot at goal to put Slaz back in the game at 2-1. With fifteen minutes remaining, an exciting finish was in store and Slaz pressed in the opposition half looking for the equaliser. The Huddersfield counter attack was once again the home teams undoing, conceding a third goal with just 10 minutes left to play. The final result was 3-1 to the Dragons, but it was another great game from the young players
in the Slazenger Development team who are improving and gaining experience each week.
Under 14 Boys
The Under 14’s travelled to Adel for the most recent round of the Yorkshire Youth Hockey League. It was a tough round for the Under 14 boys who were ably helped out by U14 girls and U12 Boys. However the results didnt go their way, even though they battled on to the very end!
Under 16 Boys
Rhys Hancock scored a superb hat-trick but it was not enough to beat Hull and earn Slazengers Under-16s progress in the EH Cup.
The Slaz boys had won both of their matches in Halifax in the first stage of the round-robin regional competition before Christmas. But they needed to beat Hull in their final game in Leeds to advance to the next round, due to Hull’s superior goal difference, and lost 6-4 after an exciting contest.
Hancock gave Slaz the lead after nine minutes when he diverted Joe Minchella’s forward pass into the net with a neat reverse-stick flick. But Hull hit back and quickly equalised with a drag flick from a short corner, before two goals late in the first half – one from a run and shot and the other with a second short-corner drag flick – gave them a 3-1 interval advantage.
Slaz started the second half strongly and a quick break led to George Bentley passing for Hancock to dive and steer the ball into the net to make it 3-2. Two more Hull goals – another powerful run and shot, followed by a third drag flick from a short corner – appeared to kill the contest. But Slaz were not done yet and scored the goal of the game when a quick break out of defence ended with Hancock’s reverse-stick shot into the top corner.
Hull responded again with another goal to make it 6-3 but Slaz had the final say when they finally converted one of their own short corners, with Minchella producing an excellent drag flick into the roof of the net.
