FW: 2nds Ladies Photo for our article

Picture of the victorious ladies 2nd Team.

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Saturday March 21st

Stratford 2nds 6 Bridgnorth 2nds 0

History was made last Saturday as a jubilant Stratford hockey 2nd team became the first 2nd team to gain promotion to a Midlands One division following an emphatic 6-0 mauling of Bridgnorth. Stratford started the game knowing that their nearest rivals were just 3 points behind with a superior goal difference and therefore only a win would do.

Stratford opened the scoring early on after some good midfield play. Warwick surged into the Bridgnorth D, drew the keeper out of position and played in Jones who finished coolly into an open goal, 1-0. With the Stratford defence holding firm and keeper Purser wondering if he should have turned up, Stratford scored number 2 after a good run by Howkins. On reaching the D, he hit a speculative reverse hit which Jones pounced on at the far post, 2-0.

At half time Stratford were urged to push on and make the game safe by skipper White, which they duly did. A good passage of midfield play by Russell (who had his match of the season) and Howkins released Warwick into the D who set up Havers for a simple tap in, 3-0. It was Havers again who showed sublime skill only minutes later as he received the ball on the edge of the D, only to skip pass one defender, sell a dummy to the keeper and then push the ball home, 4-0. With the whole team working hard throughout the second half, a run by Russell saw him spread the ball from left to right to Stokes (who managed to play some of the game despite an earlier knock). Stokes committed the keeper but was fouled by a Bridgnorth defender and a flick was awarded. Stokes took the flick and duly scored, 5-0.

However, with just 2 minutes remaining, and goal difference potentially crucial, Jones took a quick sideline hit which was passed around midfield and eventually found Bowen in the centre of midfield. A quick thinking Bowen played in Jones at the top of the D, who uncharacteristically rounded his marker and hit an unstoppable drive through a crowd of players into the bottom right corner of the goal to make the final score 6-0. A superb display by a Stratford 2nd team who now play their last game of the campaign this Saturday away at Shrewsbury who ironically need points to avoid relegation.

Stratford Ladies 1's 4 Olton & West Warwicks 2B's 2

Stratford played hosts to mid table team Olton and managed to claim a hard earned victory where they were pushed all the way by the visitors to claim the win. Stratford managed to put the disappointment of last week's loss behind them and made up for it with this home win.

Playing at home gave Stratford the edge they had been lacking the previous week and came out strongly. From the early pressure the home side had several attacks and their pressure was rewarded shortly after ten minutes of play when Holly Outhwaite made a trade mark run attacking down the left hand side of the pitch. Leaving defenders in her wake she showed good vision when she saw Catherine Smith unmarked and slotted the ball through to Smith, who with great composure, finished the move for the opening goal.

Olton collapsed after this goal and opened the doors for Stratford's attacking style of play. Again the pressure showed with a penalty corner being awarded to Stratford. The ball found its way to captain Kate Heritage who struck the ball past the defenders.

Shortly after this trademark goal Stratford were awarded another penalty corner. With the defence aware of the threat from the captain they rushed to put the pressure on her. Unfortunately for the visitors their rush defence left Emma Davis wide open. Heritage passed to Davis, who showed her skills by lifting the ball neatly over the advancing keeper.

Stratford were in danger of running away with the game but relaxed, thinking they had done the job. In doing so they allowed Olton back into the game and the visitors got two goals that their afternoon's efforts deserved.

The second Olton goal jolted Stratford back into life, who once again started to pile pressure onto the visitors. The home side sealed the win when they once again broke up field and Gemma Foster managed to get on the end of a deflection off the keeper to finish the scoring. Foster had a fine afternoon and was awarded Player of the Match.

Stratford will need to play as well this week when they visit the league leaders, Birmingham University 3rds.

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Stratford Fifths 1 Bourneville Fourths 1


Now fielding a fifth team for the first time in many years Stratford came up against a fit and athletic Bourneville team. All the Stratford youngsters played a part in a most impressive performance.Matt Wain was as industrious as ever in midfield with Jack Dudley making a small but skilful target man. Matt Vaudry and Alex Orchard showed some delightful touches in midfield and Ralph Newbould was stout in defence. They were supplemented by some older wiseheads including Trevor Handcox and Nigel Wood and really dominated the first half. Chances went a begging until Ben Woodhams broke the deadlock following up from a short corner. That lead was held onto until deep into the second half when Bourneville equalized with a goal past the despairing effort of Mark Dudley. A fair result with great encouragement for the future in the performance of all the Stratford juniors

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Saturday March 7th

Stratford 2nds 2 - Kings Heath Pickwick 1
With just 4 games games left to go and the race for promotion coming down to the wire, stratford 2nds started nervously in the must win game against Kings Heath Pickwick. It was certainly against the run of play when stratford scored the opening goal, a poor injection from a short corner turned good when the ball was slipped left to Hyatt who hit a first time shot, collected the resulting rebound off the keeper at the edge of the D, and struck the ball, reverse stick, across the face of goal in to the top right hand corner. Getting in front appeared to do nothing for Stratford's nerves and shortly after the restart some unusually slack marking let Kings Heath through on goal, a desperate lunging challenge from Hyatt, saw him not only concede a harsh penally flick, but also receive a green card for his trouble. Kings Heath converted the chance to draw level. Stratford eventually managed to up their game, with some great distribution from Howkins, finding the darting runs from, Brookes, Reynolds and Havers. Kings Heath struggled to make inroads in to Stratford's midfield as Jones blocked them off at every turn, proving again he's the main engine room of the team. Shortly before half time with the game carefully poised, Stratford's second goal came from a piercing drive from Reynolds which resulted in a short corner. A solid routine brought about a good save from the Kings Heath keeper with the resulting goal mouth scramble only cleared to Howkins who flicked it firmly in to the back of the net with a little help from the underside of the cross bar. Stratford started the second half brightly, but failed to take advantage of their superior possession, the best chance of the half came when a cutting run from Brookes saw him one on one with the keeper whom he beat only to be bundled over by the kings heath center back, giving stratford a penalty flick and a chance to put the result beyond doubt. Brookes stepped to up take, but disappointedly missed with what can only be described as an uncharacteristic error. Stratford panicked again and started playing deeper and deeper in their own half, and with five minutes to go had there entire team in there own D when a deflected free hit nestled in the net, after a some confusion and a long pause, the ref awarded a long corner and not a goal, the correct decision as the ball had deflected off a stratford stick. Stratford continued to play far too deep for the rest of the game, however their defense of White, Bowen, Gray and Garret, stood firm, proving once again why stratford has the best defensive record in the league. A well battled result, but a much improved performance required next week against the league leaders Olton & West Warwick


Stratford 3rd XI 4 - Wednesbury 2

A typically feisty Wednesbury side came to Stratford intent on using marginal tactics to spoil the game. Stratford, bar a moment or 2 where they let themselves sink to their level, let their passing game take control of the game and ensure another 3 points, leaving them requiring just 1 from their last 3 to ensure they win the league.
The game started well but Wednesbury were reduced to 10 when their centre back took out Blackwall. In a Nick Stokes inspired reconscilliation their center back continued his usual tirade so was rightly sent off. In the mean time Beefy roaming in the D gave Stratford the lead with a crisp finish. Pug then made it 2 with a clean strike from a short corner. The pace of the game was good, with Furby, Rigby and McBride providing some good balls through from the defence. Blackwall was then given a 10 minute break himself for a mis-timed tackle. During this period Wednesbury got a goal back with a dribbler that somehow found it's way through.
Back to full strength the halves began to dominate the play again with Coache and Black combining well, Coache in particular running their left back ragged. The pressure told with Blackwall, clearly relishing his Striker label, thumping the ball home to make it 3-1.
The game continued to dominated by Stratford in the second half but their centre back who had not returned to the pitch since his initial sending off was then given a red card for a continued foul mouthed tirade. Despite this Stratford got a 4th when Furby put Hyde through who shot very cleanly for a classy goal. Wednesbury got one back but the result was never really in doubt.

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February 28th

Stratford 2nd XI 1 - Warwick 2nd XI 0

The big games seem to be coming thick and fast now for a Stratford team only two more victories away from confirming promotion and the visit of fierce local rivals Warwick provided another test. Having comfortably beaten Warwick in the away fixture earlier in the season 3-0 and Warwick themselves on a very strong run of form since Christmas, the visitors looked very determined to throw a spanner into the Stratford promotion push. The first twenty minutes Stratford came out of the blocks quickly, completely outplaying their oponents, but faining to carve out many meaningful opportunities, with Noble the only player coming close but dragging his shot just wide. Jones and Stuart Barnes again controlled the midfield, with Forrester, Noble, Havers and Rustler driving up the wings, but it was from the penalty spot that Stratford eventually took the lead. The second short corner of the game was pushed back to Brookes and his first time slap deflection hit a Warwick player on the line resulting in a penalty flick, Brookes then stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way and put it into the bottom corner in an unsaveable strike.

Half time came and went and it was now time for the most impregnable defence in the league to take over and secure the points. Marshalled once again by Bowen, McBride and White marked their strikers out of the game with Garratt acting as an important outlet for pressure realease, hence there was very little for keeper Purser to do. 100% commitment was showed through the rest of the game with effort in abundance and a calmness to Stratford's game that has at times been missing since Christmas, finally securing the win much to the annoyance of Warwick. Stratford now sit pretty with only one team able to catch them and another stern test at the weekend, when visiting fourth placed Kings Heath.

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