Saturday February 21st 2009
Stratford 1sts 6 - Redditch 1sts 1
Stratford's mens firsts hosted local rivals Redditch in perfect hockey conditions this Saturday. The home side started the brighter and found themselves a goal to the good inside the first ten minutes when a huge through ball from skipper Hyatt caught the over committed Redditch defence off guard, allowing Richard Stokes to round the remaining defender and finish with aplomb.
The advantage was soon doubled by Grigg midway through the half when he deftly lofted the ball over his opponent's stick before driving the ball on the half volley into the roof of the net past the helpless keeper. As has been the problem all season for Stratford, they took their foot off the gas after building a decent advantage and conceded moments later when some sloppy passing allowed Redditch to intercept and burst through to score.
However, the black and whites did regain their two goal cushion before the interval, when Stokes completed a brace with a neat reverse stick finish following smooth interplay down the right from McKee and Grigg. Redditch regrouped at half time and came out all guns blazing at the start of the second half.
Thanks to the excellent defensive organisation of sweeper Simpson in marshalling central markers Chorley and Ainscough, the back unit remained watertight and soaked up 15 minutes of sustained pressure. What was effectively the match winning goal for Stratford came courtesy of a slick penalty corner routine that saw man of the match Grigg score his second with a neat deflection. With Stratford now in control at 4 - 1, Redditch were effectively a spent force.
The final fifteen minutes saw the addition of two more goals to the tally, both provided by South African Doesdif Savage, one a cracking reverse strike into the corner. The victory was well deserved and skipper Matt Hyatt said "We ironed out the inconsistencies in our game today and put in a solid performance which was rightfully reflected in the result. This is the level I expect the team to play to for the remaining six league fixtures."
Old Wulfrunians 2nd XI 2 - Stratford 2nd XI 4
After two close loses over the past couple of weeks that somewhat stalled the Stratford bandwagon, a return to winning ways was a welcome tonic and puts Stratford back in the promotion chase. The game started badly for Stratford with Old Wulfs centre forward breaking free, rounding keeper Purser and slotting home. However Stratford are a very resilient side and Richard Warwick shot from a tight angle through the keepers legs and James Brookes followed that up shortly after with a reverse stick deflecton off a Rustler centre, to send the away side in 2-1 up at the break. Great Marshalling from the defense of captain Bowen, Gray, Garratt and Rustler, limited Old Wulfs chances of getting back into the game and Will Noble scored with a reverse stick flick over the goalkeeper to effectively tie the game up. Old Wulfs then commited a number of players forward trying to get back into the game, which opened up the play and allowed Brookes to send a defense splitting pass to Warwick who took his opportunity well scoring from a difficult angle. The away side managed to get goal back, but the result was already assured and normal service was resumed.
Sunday February 22nd 2009
Old Hailsonians 2nd XI 1 - Stratford 2nd XI 4
The second game in two days gave Stratford the opportunity to make it a great weekend, playing the rescheduled fixture after the other weeks snow. Stratford had drawn against Old Hails earlier in the season in what was a very one sided match and were determined not to let this happen again. Stratford again started brightly with Brookes and Wawick going close, carving open the frail home defense, but it was Jones who broke the deadlock, getting the goal he very much deserved for a hard working performance in midfield. A second goal was scored before half time, when Stuart Barnes's strong shot off a short corner was defelected and looped over the goalkeeper into the net sending Stratford in clear at the interval. In all honesty Stratford could have been 4 or 5 up at the break, but a number of close misses left Statford looking a little vulnerable and this was emplified when Old Hails pulled a goal back from a strong short corner strike beating the excellent Helliker in goal. This galvanised Stratford and another Barnes short corner was deflected by Brookes into the net and shortly following that, the returning Oliver Hyatt followed up well from a surging burst by Warwick to net Stratford's fourth. The defense played out the remainder of the game with gusto, not giving Old Hails a sniff with McBride marking well at centre back, ably abetted by Garratt and returning captain White. This gave Stratford an excellent six point haul from the weekend and puts us back into the driving seat of the league, sitting nicely in second place and six points clear of our nearest rivals with five games to play and by far the stronges defence in the league, look out Midlands Division One because we are coming!!
Saturday February 21st 2009
Stratford 3rd XI 2 – Olton 8.
With several key regulars missing the 3rd XI took on a strong Olton team who lie 2nd in the table. The team was hampered further when Price somehow managed to pull a hamstring in the first 5 minutes. Stratford went a goal down early on after a passage of domination by Olton. However with Blackwall relishing his new role up front, a slack back pass was pounced upon, and he fired it home in the bottom right corner for his first goal in 5 seasons.
Too often though the team were beaten to the ball, and the ball was played too centrally ignoring the good play of McBride and Bayliss down the right. The defence rallied under the attack with Hyde sweeping up on several occasions. However the pressure told and soon Olton converted their second after Stratford gave the ball away again. Dunnett saved several shots but the lead was extended to 3-1 when a flick was awarded. The second half saw Firby go off after a blow to the foot and the lead further pressure saw Stratford concede 2 further goals. Bird stayed wide in an attempt to keep the structure and Rigby and Valendar continued to work hard, but still the ball was given away too often. Dunnett managed to somehow save a second flick, with an agile stop low to his right, but with the score at 7-1 even another fine strike from Blackwall was mere consolation. Firby who dragged himself back on must have rued his decision when he was hit on the knee and promptly went off again.
With a lead of 6 points and 6 games to play there is still every hope, despite this result of promotion.
Saturday February 21st 2009
Dudley Ladies 1st 3 v 2 Stratford Ladies 1st
Stratford travelled to unknown opponents Dudley for this 4th round of the Ladies National knockout cup game. The game started at a frantic pace as both sides tested a team neither had played before. The large crowd lifted the home side that had the better of the opening exchanges and went ahead early, leaving Stratford thinking they were in for a long afternoon.
After the opening exchanges the pace settled down and Stratford lifted their game, playing some of the best hockey they have this season. Stratford's dominance showed dividends midway through the half when they were awarded one of a series of penalty corners. As the ball was pushed out the Dudley defence hesitated in charging the shot down, giving captain Kate Heritage enough time to strike a well placed shot past the hesitant defence to level the scores. Stratford continued to dominate for the remainder of the half and had several shots on goal. Nearing the end of the half Stratford broke down field and moved the ball quickly into the Dudley goal area, where the ball found Rosie Logan who kept her composure and lifted the ball over the advancing keeper to give Stratford a 2-1 lead that their dominance deserved.
Turning round after the break Stratford continued to dominate and had further chances to extend their lead but the Dudley keeper, who had a fine game, prevented Stratford from scoring any further goals. Stratford's dominance limited the amount of possession and territory that Dudley had, however when Dudley did manage to gain the ball they looked dangerous and broke quickly. Half way through the second half they broke up field and managed to level the score. This boosted the home side's confidence and they started to come back into the game. With five minutes left, the game looked to be heading to extra time when Dudley again managed to break out of their own half. Following some swift passing they moved the ball to the Stratford goal and scored a well worked goal.
For the final five minutes Stratford camped on the Dudley goal line but couldn't get the goal to take the game into extra time. Stratford should feel hard done by after dominating the game and playing some of their best hockey of the season only to leave Dudley being knocked out of the cup. Stratford's next game is a league game against Sutton Coldfield this Saturday, a 12:30 push back.
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