Slazenger Hockey Club

Barnsley

Report: 08-03-2014 – Ladies 3rd’s (1) vs. (2) Barnsley 1st’s

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Slaz ladies 3s visited 3rd place Barnsley where they hoped to claim a much needed point to aid their endeavours to stay in div 5. The game was evenly matched with chances at both ends but it was Barnsley who found the net first from open play. Claire Dunstan got the well earned equaliser minutes into the second half with a strike that bounced off the diving keeper’s chest then slipped under her and over the line.

The second half saw the Slaz ladies work tirelessly from end to end with the forwards receiving some good balls in the D from well executed play but the barnsley defence broke down play to rob them of a shot on target. Slaz were awarded a couple of short corners but were unable to convert. Meanwhile Barnsley’s short corner tally was close to 20 with 8 consecutive penalties in a row. The slaz defence worked hard to scupper Barnsley’s efforts and player of the match Lizzie Tunstall made a plethora of great saves but eventually the visitors conceded.
 
Final score 2-1 Barnsley.

Report: 25-02-2012 – Mens 4th’s (Dev) (4) vs. (0) Barnsley 2nd’s

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Slazenger 4’s lost their previous encounter against Barnsley so it was very encouraging that Slazengers started this match with a high tempo and built penetrating attacks from the start. Using both flanks, the home side managed to get behind the Barnsley defence several times before one of these attacks resulted in a goal when Harry Bullock fortuitously managed to reverse hit the ball into the far corner. The keeper was undone by the speed of the shot and was expecting something a little harder than the tame shot that sneaked over the goal line.

Barnsley tried to get back into the game but resolute defending and tight marking throughout the team denied the opposition time on the ball. Aidan Hopkinson enjoyed a titanic struggle against one of the adult players and despite being up ended a couple of times kept on returning back to his defensive duties with renewed vigour. This galvanised the rest of the team to follow his example.

The game ebbed and flowed in midfield but the home team continued to create the better goalscoring opportunities either side of half-time, without increasing the single goal advantage.

The game turned in the space of ten minutes in the second half when Barnsley conceded 3 goals in quick succession.
Two goals were very similar with Ian Hedges and Matthew Stacey on either wing putting good crosses at pace into the goalmouth and the third came from a penalty corner.

The scorers were Tim Hunter, Aidan Hopkinson and Harry added to his earlier conversion.

Final score was 4-0 to the home side and just to mention Dave Gascoigne, at left half, making his league debut for the team who sufficiently gained in confidence in the second half to go on a skillful run down the wing in front of an appreciative crowd.

Slazenger 4’s next fixture is away at Airedale.

Report: 21-01-2012 – Mens 2nd’s (0) vs. (4) Barnsley 1st’s

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Slazenger mens 2nds had a tough home encounter with Barnsley 1st’s, though were unfortunately run out 4-0.

The scoreline does not entirely reflect the game, as for large stretches of the match, Slaz looked to be in control of the game. A series of defensive slips in the first 20 minutes allowed Barnsley to capitalise and net 2. The goals did work to spurr the team on, though unfortunately, the pressure could not be converted into goals. Shots from Simon Randall, and Byron Dean went agonisingly close, but to no avail.

In the second half, the story was similar. Hard work from Slaz could not overcome the defensive line, and Barnsley’s midfield contested strongly in the middle of the park. The horbury side was missing the usual smooth passing and co-ordinated play, giving them a weaker midfield to attack from. In the latter part of the second half, another series of mistakes by the home team allowed Barnsley to break from the midfield, and punished the lack of co-ordination from the back line.

While Man-of-the-Match Giles “Fodder” Field worked hard to keep the team in the game, it was only a matter of time until he was overrun, with Barnsley securing the win with 2 more well taken goals.

Slaz will look to get back to more successful ways next week away at Leeds University.

Report: 15-10-2011 – Mens 4th’s (1) vs. (0) Barnsley 2nd’s

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Slazengers continued in the same good form that they showed in their previous game, against this week’s opponents Barnsley. Again making good use of the flanks the Horbury side enjoyed the majority of the possession and created 5 good goal scoring chances within the first 25 minutes. Rowan Tejura and Robert Cann linked well on the right side and Tim Hunter was a constant threat on the left.

With Tom Pitchforth and debutant Matthew Stacey working well in midfield supporting striker Aidan Hopkinson it was a disappointed Slazengers that went into the half time interval with the score level. Second half Slazenger’s didn’t start as well and allowed the home side back into the game who were firing long range passes into the goal, hoping to pick up any loose balls. But for the composure of Danny Croxall and Chris Hopkinson in the Slaz defence the away team would have been struggling.

However, they persevered and started to get their passing game back and created several chances before a precise shot on goal by Tom Pitchforth was put into their own net by the Barnsley defence. There was time for a final scare when keeper Paul Corney had to keep 4 Barnsley attackers successfully at bay when the Slazenger defence decided to go AWOL.

Final score 1-0. Slazenger 4’s next game is at home against Airedale on 29/10 at 3.00pm.

Report: 02-04-2011 – Mens 4th’s (5) vs. (1) Barnsley 2nd’s

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Slazenger’s Development team finished off the season in style with an impressive performance against local rivals Barnsley.

Playing flowing hockey from the start, they quickly went on the offensive and created several goalscoring opportunities, through good link up play in midfield, with captain of the day Luke Gueli, orchestrating several penetrating attacks. Barnsley had their keeper to thank, for ensuring the game remained scoreless in the early minutes.

However, all this pressure did eventually pay off when Peter Gunning seized on a deflected shot within the goal mouth and gratefully put the ball in the net.

Once in front Slazenger’s never looked back and continued to score at regular intervals during the game. Next on the score sheet was Isaac Fisher who again converted after an initial save from the barnsley keeper. Left winger Alex Calderley capped a fine performance on the wing with the third goal just before half-time.

After the interval, Slazenger’s were momentarily caught off guard by a breakaway goal, defender Rowan Tejura deflecting a well hit shot on goal, away from the reach of Slazenger keeper Ralph Toon.

Other than this one aberration the Slaz defence, also consisting of Danny Croxall and Dave Smyth, coped effectively with every other Barnsley attack.

Slazenger’s quickly got back on track when Paul Corney swept the ball into an open goal from the top of the goal mouth following great forward play from man of the match Robert Cann. Slaz continued to press for further goals applying lots of pressure down the right flank with Ian Hedges working tirelessly, and despite winning several penalty corners it needed another simple tap in at the far post from Peter Gunning again to make the final score 5-1 to the visitors.

Te result means Slazenger finishes 3rd in the development league in their debut season.