Wilmslow Ladies 1st 3 Stokesley Ladies 1st 1
The Ladies 1st team hosted a Stokesley team who found themselves at the foot of the table. The teams had not faced off since Stokesley secured a home victory and clinched promotion to North Division 1 in 2018.
Wilmslow started on the front foot and created numerous chances that should have been taken. Their period of dominance did however result in the girls going 1-0 up through Hannah Kelman, their full back who has found herself scoring for fun so far this season. Her powerful and accurate effort found the corner and gave the home side the lead. Stokesley were building into the game and a few careless passes saw turnovers in the middle of the park and the away side levelled the game through a controversially awarded penalty corner. Wilmslow will need to tighten their hold on matches if they don't want to be punished and rue their missed opportunities this season.
After this initial setback, the girls found more reserves in their tank and begin to outpace a demoralised North East side. Lindsay Rachubka finished a lovely piece of play involving Molly Wortley and Carla Botha and she then extended the lead, and her tally for the season, with a fine finish off of a penalty corner. Special mentions must go to Cat Lang who's saves kept Wilmslow in the game at 1-1 and Lily Harrison who had to come off with a head injury late on in the game. However, the star performer was Rhi Sears, a new addition to the side this season, who stole the show with her tireless defending and desire to spur the team forward.
The girls now travel to Lytham and Durham in their final 2 games before the Christmas break looking to consolidate their mid-table position and maintain their place in their first season at this level.
Elsewhere the Ladies 2nds went down 0-1 to Golborne1sts but the rest of the ladies teams had a good afternoon. The 3s had a narrow but convincing 1-0 win against Knutsford 1sts and the 4ths regained top spot with a 3-0 win over Runcorn 2nds, Penny Sparrow kept up her scoring run. The 5ths had a good win 2-0 in their local derby against Alderley at the Wilmslow High School. In the Ladies over 45s competition the mature ladies of Wilmslow travelled to Leeds on Sunday and went through the next round beating touring side LX, 2-0
Preston 2nd 6 Wilmslow 1st 6
This amazing scoreline against Lancashire's top club's second string came about after a spot of ill discipline allowed Preston back into the game after the tangerines had taken a 5-2 lead which included a maiden hat-trick from Simon Swatland. Injuries to a depleted squad caused the the team to tire in the last quarter
The Mens 2nds returned to form after last weeks loss with a 6-2 win against Preston 3s. 3s lost away at Colwyn Bay to Clwb Hoci Eirias 2s and the 4s 1-2 to Crewe 2s.
The 5ths again dominated play but lack of firepower up front led to a 1-2 defeat.
Match report by Steve Kinsella.
