HOCKEY: Ladies 2nd XI secure promotion in style with 12-0 victory

REWHC Men’s 2nd XI 1

Beeston 4

On a windy and snowy Saturday, Rugby faced top-of-the-table Beeston. Despite starting the game well, Rugby found themselves 2-0 down at half time due to sloppy goals.

A half time-talk by Alex Watkins didn’t help as a further two goals were conceded in the first five minutes of the second half.

Despite the score, Rugby continued to attack and cause problems for Beeston, but a goal just wouldn’t come.

A call of ‘next goal wins’ from Robert Best came as Rugby won a short corner on the stroke of full time.

The initial shot was blocked, however Liam Brown was there to mop up the scraps. Man of the Match was Chris Harding despite scooping a ball over the fence.

B’ham Uni 10

REWHC Men’s 3rd XI 0

REWHC 3s lost by a lot through the snow and the sun.

A cold start meant Rugby were soon two goals down from good skill in the D. Rugby pushed back but were unable to play anything dangerous through the defence as Birmingham began to pile up the goals.

The second, sunnier half saw Matty step up for a one on one against the Uni keeper in which he slowly walked to the right and politely gave the ball to the keeper!

A few more goals didn’t help Rugby’s goal difference as the game came to a close.

Beeston 0

REWHC Men’s 4th XI 3

In very cold/snowy conditions, the first few mins saw JC play a through ball and Josh picked it up, got into the D and put it past the keeper.

Kieran got the second with a slap across the goal from a short corner.

In the last few minutes Kieran drove into the D and put it past the keeper with Josh getting on the end of it to secure the final goal. Good win boys.

REWHC Men’s 5th XI 1

Warwick Uni 0

Playing top of the table Warwick Uni, Rugby knew they would be up against it, missing influential captain David Assheton but with their first pca Adam fed the perfect ball for a Chris Dickinson deflection to take the lead.

This only spurred the Uni on, but ill-discipline with the umpires hindered their progress. Rugby battled hard, making tackles, winning the 50-50s that needed to be won and defending a string of penalty corners.

The second half saw Matty and Sammy breaking down the right on numerous occasions but Rugby couldn’t find that goal to extend the lead.

Instead it was the defensive work that proved the real winner, with debutant Josh working hard and forcing mistakes and an experienced midfield doing enough to disrupt the Uni rhythm of play.

Theo marshalled his defenders and made several fine saves.

Man of the Match was shared between Matty, Sammy and Josh in what was an excellent team performance.

REWHC Men’s 6th XI 3

Burton 0

What a day to play hockey! A slow start from all became wooden as the lads battled into the wind and started to lose the ability to run and pass. A number of close chances lead to a tap-in from Rob.

During half time it became obvious that Man of the Match Charlie was suffering mild hyperthermia so extra layers were added and he was sent on his way to produce more fine saves.

The second half produced two more goals from Blue and a second from Rob. The game became more fractious with a Burton player being carded but a good win was taken. Well done lads.

Stone 1

REWHC Ladies 1st XI 1

In conditions worse than Narnia, the Ladies travelled north and ground out a 1-1 draw.

At half time Rugby found themselves 1-0 down thanks to some excellent skill from the opposition.

Nicki managed to break the already frozen ball and possibly her hand in a battle with the keeper (but didn’t realise it hurt as her hands were so cold anyway.)

Play was stopped twice as the snow settled and no one could see their own stick, let alone a ball, but this was to Rugby’s advantage; they were able to catching Stone asleep with Katie Woolliscroftt threading a great ball in for Nicki to finish.

Special mention to Emma Allan who battled throughout and earned a well-deserved Man of the Match award and the trusty supporters who looked like frozen penguins.

REWHC Ladies 2nd XI 12

Nuneaton 0

The ladies 2s had a really important game, thinking they needed a huge goal difference to have the chance to be promoted over Long Buckby. It was Rugby’s last game and Buckby had three more so it would have come down to goal difference, but Rugby did the club proud in this game.

They scored 12 and Long Buckby lost their game to secure Rugby Ladies second team promotion to Warwickshire division 1. The team’s target was to get promoted and the girls were committed to do just that. The goalscoring times were: First half: 2 Mary B 5 Lou Lou, 6 Lou Lou, 8 Lara, 14 Lil, 19 Ellen, 25 Lou Lou, 32 Lil. Second half: 8 Lou Lou, 20 Planty, 25 Lara, 27 Lou Lou.

Everyone absolutely played their heart out and have been an incredible team in an extremely enjoyable season.

REWHC 4th XI 3

Atherstone 3rd XI 0

The game started well with Rugby attacking and kept Atherstone in their own half. Rugby had a few chances before a cracking strike from Jackie Adlum saw the first goal.

The team worked well even through the snow storms. A quick move saw the ball passed quickly through to Jackie, who just had to pick her spot.

The second half saw two massive snow storms, which slowed things down. A good run and cross from Hazel saw Jackie complete her hat-trick. All the team deserve a mention for not giving up and working hard. A great team performance and some good passing moves.