Photos & Results: Weekend Hockey

February 22, 2011

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Women’s B League, Bluebirds B vs Swallows B, Final score: 1-2

In what proved to be very difficult conditions with high winds and rain, Swallows took the lead in the 17th minute with a field goal from Maria Dobinson and the first half ended 1-0 to Swallows. Bluebirds’ forward Tracy McPhee was able to pull a field goal back in the 56th minute of play in the second half when she converted a cross from the right hand side to beat the Swallows ‘keeper’. Swallows’ Amanda Correia doubled the lead in the 56th minute from a field goal. Even with Bluebirds putting the Swallows defense under a lot of pressure near the end of the second half and with additional aggressive play by forward Sarah Smith, they were unsuccessful in increasing their score and the final score was 2-1 to the Swallows.

Cardinals B vs Longtail Canaries B, Final score: 7-0

These two teams met just 2 weeks ago and Cardinals were defeated 2-0 with a very short handed team of 8 players, but Cardinals were determined to take full charge of this game especially with a full squad of 11. Play commenced with the ball moving up and down the field, and transitioning it around from left to right, and with both teams attacking and defending well. The game was played a lot on the right hand side and the first goal came in the 15th minute from a ball collected by Amori Venter who dribbled it into the circle to find Denise Downey scoring a field goal. Five minutes later another slip to Downey from Adrien Lewis for another field goal. Katie Flath received a long pass from Helen Marshall at the top of the circle and a push at goal would advance the score of 3-0 to the Cardinals in the 25th minute. Downey would score her hat trick in the 28th minute from another field goal assisted by Lewis to end the first half of 4-0 to Cardinals. Cardinals were awarded a penalty corner in the 44th minute of the second half and a pushout from Downey to Candy-Lee Foggo who slipped the ball to Amori Venter and with a shot at goal to find it stopped by Longtail Canaries’ defender, but a dribble around 2 defenders and a scoop in the left hand side of the post would increase Cardinals’ lead of 5-0. Three minutes later it would be Lewis who would dribble into the circle to score a field goal from a very awkward angle. Cardinals were awarded another penalty corner in the 57th minute and a ‘text book’ play from Foggo to Lewis and Downey would end the game of 7-0 to Cardinals. Despite chances created by Longtail Canaries, they just couldn’t find the net with an especially great save by ‘keeper’ Holly Augustus.

Women’s A League, Swallows A vs Ravens A, Final score: 0-2

Ravens’ Jess McClure gave them the lead off a penalty corner shot in the 47th minute and Megan Troake ending the game in the 69th minute again off a penalty corner shot despite the hard fight put up by the Swallows players who were unable to score. Great defensive play by Kelli Nusum, Heather Sinclair and Gemma Rowe. Midfielders playing well were Hannah Ellison and Elizabeth Stewart and with goal keeper Donna Nicholson making superb saves Ravens were the winners with 2-0.

Wildcats A vs Canaries A, Final score: 1-2

Canaries’ Lisa Marshall took the lead in the 15th minute from a penalty corner shot, but Wildcats’ Susanna Almeida would equalize from a penalty corner shot in the 28th minute. Mary-Ellen Jackson would score the winning goal for Canaries in the 34th minute from a field goal and the score would be 2-1 to Canaries.

Men’s League, Rebels vs Upstarts, Final score: 1-3

After beginning the game with 10 men and no goalkeeper, the Upstarts pressed home their numerical advantage after a late arrival brought them to 11 men. Upstarts’ Gareth Tavares gave his team the lead in the 8th minute off a field goal and John Thompson doubled this with a field goal in the 27th minute against a short handed 10 men Rebels team who couldn’t convert the many penalty corners they won. The first half ended 2-0 to Upstarts. Upstarts’ Bruce Smith advanced the score to 3-0 with a field goal in the 47th minute of the second half. Rebels sole score from an open field play opportunity was put away by Rebels top goal scorer so far this season, Martin McHugh, in the 55th minute who has the knack of always being in the right place at the right time. Rebels had to cover more ground for longer than usual with John Richmond putting in an excellent gut busting, mid field effort both in defense and in attack, joining Jonathan Evans, back from a week off, battling down the right wing from deep in defense. With better defending, the Rebels denied what could easily have been a much higher score against them and the game ended 3-1 to Upstarts.

Panthers vs Chameleons, Final score: 2-3

This match between the BCS Panthers and Chameleons would be a hotly contested match. The Chameleons, currently leading the league, needing 3 points to maintain breathing room over second place rivals Polecats, while the Panthers, sitting in 3rd place and 9 points back, needing a win to keep their title hope alive. The early part of the game was dominated by the Chameleons pressure as they forced the Panthers to defend deep into their own half. In the 9th minute a mistimed Chameleons pass was intercepted and the Panthers’ midfield found Tony Ward was at the edge of the Chameleons 23 meter area. Ward then beat a Chameleons defender and neatly slotted home a field goal in the 9th minute at the near post. Chameleons continued to pile on the pressure but in a crisp passing move two minutes later the Chameleons carved open the Panthers defence to find Neil Mountford open in front of the Panthers goal. Mountford made no mistakes as he fired passed Panthers stand-in ‘keeper’ Manny Faria a great field goal shot in the 11th minute. In the 16th minute league leading goal scorer Richard Cox stamped his authority on the match with a field goal to put the Chameleons ahead 2-1. Despite spells of heavy pressure at both ends of the field the scores remained 2-1 at the half.

The second half began with a period of Panthers pressure; however, they could not get past the Chameleons’ stingy defense. The breakthrough would finally come on an incisive Panthers counter attack. Sprinting in from the right goal line, Panthers’ Tony Ward received the ball in the ‘D’ and rifled a shot into the far post in the 57th minute past the Chameleons emergency keeper, completing his brace. With 5 minutes left, the Chameleons were awarded a penalty corner and Richard Cox stepped up in what would be one of the last attacking plays of the game. The Chameleons’ reputation for penalty corners was shown and Cox’s shot left the keeper with little hope. The hard fought match would end 3-2 meaning the Chameleons remain atop the BHF Men’s standings, while the Panther’s title hopes are all but gone.

Photos by Only the Best, click to enlarge: