HOCKEY: Rugby & East Warwickshire round-up

REWHC Men’s 1st XI 1 v 3 Barton

Mens 1s were again unlucky with 3-1 loss to Barton. Rugby started the game very positively with the majority of possession being inside the opposition’s half, however they were not as clinical as they would like and it led to Barton grabbing the first and then a second and by the end of the half found themselves 2-0 down.

A change in formation and a lot more pressure but composure led to Szymon Oszyjczyk scoring a very good reverse. However, the game began to break down and in the end with Rugby pressuring Barton’s goal they broke and scored from a short corner. Positives to take but things to work on. MOM went to Luke Armstrong.

Olton 3 v 3 REWHC Men’s 2nd XI

Off the back of a couple of good results against strong sides, Rugby faced Olton in what was an entertaining mid-table clash. Rugby started the better and took the lead in the opening 10 minutes from a counter attack converted by Ben Kluth making his first start for the 2nds this season. From there, Rugby lost concentration, marking became sloppy and in a spell of 10 minutes Rugby conceded three.

3-1 down at half time but the optimism remained. The team spirit and hard work paid off as Rugby began to get more and more chances. Liam Brown and Jacob Till coming close from deflections. Connor Robson kept rugby in the game with a tirade of double saves, and the defence of Lee Marriott, Chris Harding and Ollie Gardner did what they could to keep the opposition chances to a minimum.

The engine room of the team of Sam Moorhouse, Dominic Marcano and Tom Carter kept Rugby going forward and Kluth scored another goal, made by Chris Abraham to make the last 10 minutes very interesting. With five to go Ben Kluth scored his and Rugby’s third to go joint top goal scorer of the 2s after one appearance, earning him Man of the Match. Olton were shocked by how we came out in the second half, a superb display of teamwork and having a positive mental attitude. It’s another step on the way to us beating Birmingham Uni at home next week. Well played lads!

REWHC Men’s 3rd XI 1 v 3 Beeston

Rugby didn’t quite achieve the slick play that has been seen in recent weeks and were essentially beaten by the better team on the day. Rugby went 1 – 0 down but worked hard to pull level, Chris Duerden battling in the middle of the pitch which resulted in a tap in for Matt Nobes at the back post. Shortly afterwards Beeston went ahead and Rugby’s heads dropped when they then found a third. To be fair they missed a good three open goals, but not a bad result against a team that are performing well this season.

REWHC Men’s 4th XI 5 v 1 Loughborough Town

Men’s 4s got back to winning ways with a 5-1 beating of Loughborough Town. After letting Spraggy and Spacey selflessly clear the snow off our pitch, Rugby set to work. The first goal came within five minutes as Paddy finished nicely, setting the tone for what was to come. Rugby were all over the opposition and were eventually rewarded with a second goal when Ciaran fluked a shot from a tight angle.

The third came through a Peter strike from a short corner, allowing Rugby to take a 3-0 advantage into the second half.

They were unfortunate to concede off an early short corner but responded quickly, with a Giles shot being turned in by Dave. Some great passages of play ensued, the ball being worked around nicely with several chances whistling past both posts. Their final goal came by a lucky deflection into the path of Joshua, who tapped in to score after earlier fluffing a 1 on 1.

In the dying embers of the game, Jake made a great diving save to his left, keeping our goal difference to an almost positive figure for the season so far (-2). MOM went to Jake for an amazing debut performance where he commanded his defence excellently.

West Bridgford 4 v 3 REWHC Men’s 5th XI

A slow start involved conceding two early goals, but Rich fought back with a goal from a short corner. High pressure and gain of momentum led to Keith dispossessing their defender in the circle before chipping the keeper from close range to score goal of the season to level the score at half time. However, Rugby completely lost momentum at the beginning of the second half, which led to Bridgford scoring another two goals. Max pulled one back after good work down the right wing from Tom, but Rugby couldn’t quite find the equaliser. MOM went to Matty for driving Rugby forward with pace.

REWHC Men’s 7th XI 6 v 1 Burton

The 7ths bounced back from a 9-1 drubbing last week to defeat 9 man Burton 5s 6-1 with goals from Jammy (2) and George B, Tom P and Rob H (2). MOM was Josh R who had great game playing back of the diamond.

Belper 0 v 3 REWHC Ladies 1st XI

The game started slowly but Rugby steadily got back to their usual game, and the first goal came from a great clearance from Emma O (MoM) which went to Indie to Iz B, down the line to Iz P who drew the defender and then slipped the ball to Nicki in the D. Nicki first time swept it past the keeper... um, the second goal, Nicki ran it down the left wing, cut in past a defender and tried to pass it to Iz P, but the keeper got a foot to it, and it came back to Nicki, and she put the ball between her feet and in it went. Special mention to Iz P for not stealing it as it crossed the line. Third goal, Lou Lou picked up the ball and ran it down the pitch into the D, drew the defender to her, then fired it across the face of the goal and Nicki dove reverse stick to score it.

REWHC Ladies 2nd XI 1 v 0 Edgbaston

Another win for the ladies 2s! A great team effort by all. Thanks Richard Howard Major and Nick Taylor for stepping in and managing the team and subs. The game started with a short corner within the first three minutes so the plan meant Rugby put them under immediate pressure. A bit of confusion on who was stopping the ball meant we saw the ball going towards half way! No pressure for Rugby’s defence as they calmly collected the ball and sent it straight back up for attack. Rugby managed to get a few short corners but didn’t manage to put any away. They saw the only goal of the game from Lara Naylor that the team worked hard together to create. In the second half the opposition came back and Rugby’s defence was put under a bit more pressure. However they battled strongly to keep the score line as 1-0. Great game girls well done!

REWHC Ladies 3rd XI 0 v 2 Atherstone

Ladies 3rds, lost against Atherstone 2nds. It was a tough match with a final score of 0-2. In the first half they didn’t gel as a team and were disjointed in their play. In contrast in the second half after two goals scored in the first half they played a lot better after an encouraging talk at half time. Rugby improved by communicating well as a team and holding our press. MOM - Regan Walker.

Sutton Coldfield 8 v 0 REWHC Ladies 4th XI

Ladies 4s lost 8-0 to Sutton 6s. Rugby held them off really well in the first 25 minutes as they struggled to score a goal against fantastic goal keeper Paula. However two goals came before half time. The 4ths started the second half strongly but they came back even stronger and scored six consecutive goals. Man of the match goes to Jo Watling for being such an encouraging captain.