Lace Mawer Northwest Division 5

Losing in the last minute of any game is not good at all especially when the team have played well but this is what happened to congletons first XI on saturday the game started slowly just like the congleton forwards ludlow and lawton whom at the present are crawlling through a lean patch to say they could not hit a barn door with a banjo would be a major understatement.  Both sides had few early chances for the blues the scotish swordman ran the show from midfield with copeland and brown in new roles coping well.   At half time you couldnt split the two teams with a gnats wing span.  Second half saw the league leaders put congleton under immense pressure which resulted in a few superb save from farr who for a big ted gets down well.  Congleton had several chances from short corners, but on the bouncy pitch of Alsager Royall only mangaged to stop one ball and Lawton shot wide off the slip from coutts. Lawton had another gilt edged chance later in the half when Oakes rallied well from sweeper and pushed into the oppositions D, but being out of shooting practice he slipped the ball to Lawton. Had Lawton been in form the reporter has no doubts that the ball would have been in the back of the net, but it appeared that Lawton was snippered in mid swing missing the ball completely and falling to the floor like a sack of spuds, to the delight of the park faithfull. His leg is being screwed back on in time for next weeks match but there is no hopew for his lost head.  Congleton had few chances in the remainder of the game and could not make any of them count. Royall and Lawton went on a mazy dribble but again nothing developed to trouble the park keeper. The last five minutes saw some good end to end hockey from both sides and some dubious umpiring decisions which cost Congleton the match when Farr saved a penalty corner which had not been stopped correctly the ball rebounded to a park forward who hit the ball well straight to the scotish swordsman on the line unfortunatly the sword snapped and the ball was in the back of the goal with only minutes to go congleton did not give up but the mountain was just a little bit to high even for lawton to climb, he stormed into the D and forced a save from the keeper on the near post but lancaster wasn't close enough to catch the rebound.  To sum up congletons performance the defense and midfield were awake and showed great prowess while the forwards were asleep whitch makes a nice change man of the match was the Doc.   Next week see the blues travel to Ulverston where if we can get both the forwards and defense on form together should be a good result for the blues.  

Training is at Heathfield High school on Wednesday 7:00 till 8:00 juniors,

8:00 - 9:00 seniors - all welcome.

 Lace Mawer Northwest Division 5

Congleton siuated comfortably in second place in the Northwest Hockey League Division 5 travelled away to lowly Blackburn who are currently holding up the rest of the division. An win was expected for the blues and it turned out to be a rout for the lack lustre Blackburn side. Two goals in the opening 3 minutes from Copeland and Ludlow opened the first half floodgates.  In an attempt to involve all the Congleton players in the game, the blues were often over elaborate to the point of ridiculousness though at times the movement of the ball was slick fast and deliberate, typified in a goal created by Shone in defence who played a quick ball out to Captain Royall who turned and sprayed a sixty yard ball to lawton whose perfectly weighted pass in front of the rampant Copeland saw him slot the ball square for Ludlow to score. Ludlow scored a further four times in the match before the game was wrapped up 9-0 with other goals going to Copeland (2) and Lawton (2). With a half time score line of 6-0 it was hoped that the blues would go for the jugular but a series of consecutive missed chances by Lawton and thew mindless greed of Ludlow restricted the blues to a smaller score line.  Man of the Match was Simon Brown for his superb display of good conduct and sportsmanship in goal for the blues in front of seventy minutes of mindless boredom. Next week the blues are at home at Alsager Leisure centre against stiffer opposition in last seasons fellow promotion achievers Bramhall who will be out for revenge after the blues wipped them twice last season. Training is at Heathfield High School on Wednesday Night. 7:00 pm -8:00 pm juniors and 8:00-9-00pm seniors all men boys women and girls welcome of any standard.

Lace Mawer Northwest Division 5

On Saturday Congleton took on Lytham St Annes at Alsager Leisure Centre. It was hoped that this would be an easy match as Congleton had several key players missing but welcomed the return of Copeland, Isherwood, Hodges, and Lancaster. The match started in some what of a frenzy and it seemed a very easily matched contest through the first half, Congleton having the best of the chances with Ludlow, Copeland and Lawton all going close while keeper A Farr keept Lytham at bay with some fine saves at the other end. Congleton looked a little shapeless with Royall, doing a marking job on the skillful Lytham no 4, being pulled out to the left forcing Coutts deep into a central half position. this made Coutts less effective than normal in distributing the ball to the front runners. Lancaster and S Farr made good running throughout the game and Isherwood, a skillfull youngster of 15, did enough to keep his place in the team with some good wing play in the second half.   Danks marshalled the defence and did a good marking job on the big Lytham centre forward and Shone did a good job, keeping Royall in position. A rally of poor umpiring decisions threatened to ruin the game completely as time after time both teams thought decisions should have gone their way.  Both captains were warned about their teams moaning and general conduct, Royall was warned again shortly before an outburst by Coutts towards another poor decision saw him yellow carded and temporarily removed from play. Congleton reorganised but before Coutts returned, Shone cleared to Copeland on the 25 but he fumbled the ball to the Lytham frowards who broke through and scored past a furious Andy Farr in nets. With their backs against the walls the blues pressed for an equaliser in the last 20 minutes of the match. Another poor decision saw Lawton sub himself to gain his composure. A Farr made several more excellent saves during this period and Congleton had enough chance to score ten. From a series of short corners first Lawton , then Coutts fired wide before Steve Farr received the ball in space, wide from another short corner, but rushed his shot and saw it scream wide of the near post. With two minutes on the clock Lawton went on a mazy dribble along the Lytham back line befor pulling the ball back to Copeland who fired towards the keeper lodging the ball in his pads and a penalty flick was awarded. Lawton promptly scored to bring the blues level. Congleton then pushed for a winner and a Lytham defender was sent off again for descent against the umpires. With time out Congleton had a final penalty corner and a final opportunity to win the game but as it was struck the umpire blew to end the match with Isherwood standing with one foot inside the D. Congleton definitelty used one of their get out of jail free cards in this match. How many they will need to get through the season remains to be seen. Training is at the usual time and place. Heathfield Highschool Wednesday night.7:00 - 8:00 juniors, 8:00 - 9:00 seniors all welcome.

Lace Mawer Northwest Division 5

On saturday Congleton travelled to Manchester to defend their unbeaten run as newcomers to division 5. Congleton were without Brown and Copeland but welcomed the return of Lancaster to the team. After some prematch tensionn over whom should umpire for the blues, they started well against a team who were expected to be tough opponents. Congleton applied the early pressure and should have taken the lead when Ludlow burst threw the defence and lobbed the diving keeper only to have the goal mysteriously disallowed. Ludlow and Lawton caused the Didsbury team no end of problems with their slick skills and forward play. Didsbury were gifted with a glorious chance to take the lead when poor defence from a short corner saw Oakes clear the ball from the line accidentally with his foot after the ball had passed keeper Farr, and a penalty flick was awarded. Farr saved magnificently diving down low to his right and turning the flick around the post. Five minutes later Congleton capitalised on a series of short corners when a superbly stopped ball by Captain Lee Royall was flicked nonchalantly over the advancing keeper by couttes to score his first goal of the season. Danks almost scored diving as a ball was shelled across form the right missing the far post by inches, and some superb interplay between Royall and Ludlow almost resulted in a second. The blues midfield broke everything down before it reached the defence and superb off the ball running, support and disciplined play by Congleton Kept the blues in front until half time. In the first two minutes of the second half Congleton had 2 exceptional chances to go further ahead. First Ludlow broke through from a ball from lawton but shot wide, then Ludlow deceived to defenders with a reverse stick pass to Lawton who topped the ball after rounding the keeper and hitting the side netting. Again the Congleton midfield closed Didsbury down and they only had one real chance in the second half when congleton keeper Farr lost the ball under his feet on the edge of the D. Lancaster and Bales gave good width down the flanks with good support from backs Hodges and Shone. Lawton very uncharacteristically missed two further one on ones with the keeper, before firing home from the tightest of angles. This was an emphatic win and Congleton created a multitude of chances which should have been converted into goals. Man of the match was Andy Coutts . Next week Congleton have a tricky away fixture at Urmston. Training is at Heathfield High school on Wednesday night. All ages and abilities welcome. Juniors 7:00pm -8:00pm Seniors 7:15-9:00pm

On Saturday Congleton travelled to Urmston for what was expected to be yet another tricky away fixture. The team arrived late due to Old Trafford traffic congestion and a player short when Lancaster and Isherwood failed to show. This is not the sort of preparation and commitment expected from a team whose season aims are to gain further promotion to division 4. As a reader you can probably appreciate the frustration of captain Royall and the team. The game started with no warm up for the ten men in blue but it wasn’t long before the team were up and running. After four minutes the blues went ahead when another well worked short corner routine saw Lawton fire into the far corner of the net. In a game where the blues expected to create few chances, hard work by all players enabled the blues to close down and in the main part shut out the Urmston attackers. Brown filling in at right back had a splendid game and could have found himself a regular niche in the team. Ludlow having one of his better games showed some excellent skills and tormented the urmston defence. Shortly before the break Ludlow wriggled his way through the Urmston defence in spectacular fashion which the few spectators watched in awe, and as the keeper advanced he deftly lifted the ball over his mamoth frame to put the blues two ahead at the break. In the second half the Congleton side showed good discipline as they were put under considerable pressure by the Urmston forwards and midfield. Danks gets sharper with each game and Blake and Oakes form a steady partnership in the centre of defence. Congleton always looked dangerous on the break and the third goal came when lawton flicked the ball through off an urmston players leg and as he stopped to complain, Royall skillfully drew the keeper and squared the ball for lawton to slot home into an empty net. Ludlow wrapped up the game with an uncharacteristic goal smashed in from the top of the D to complete the wrought. This was a superb win for the blues under the circumstances and hopefully they will see clear to field a full team for next weekends home game against Lytham. Training is at the usual time and place. Heathfield High School, Wednesday, 7:00-8:00 juniors, 8:00 – 9:00 seniors. All welcome as usual.

Cheshire Plate

Sun 26th Sept:  Runcorn Weston Mens 1st XI 0 Congleton 3

Chris Lawton and Rob Copeland single handedly destroyed Runcorn, who failed to mark them and failed to create any chances to counteract their phenomenal forward display, heaven help any team if they learn to play together. This was expected to be a more difficult than the previous days league match since Runcorn though erelegated them selves are still 1 or 2 divisions above Congleton, who were sharper, stronger and more creative throughout this encounter. Rich "Tim" Isherwood and Simon Pumperdink fitted well into the team. Lawton was his normal flamboyant self in the first half and scored early from a penalty corner to put the blues in front. He also set up chance after chance with superb crossing that flashed past the far post with Copeland and Pumpernickel just failing to make contact. Copeland ran riot and Lancaster played a significant part in the days proceedings while Royall was masterful in controlling the game from the centre. Lawton was put in the clear with just the keeper to beat by Lancaster but he squandered the chance when he flolloped over the advancing keeper.In the second half the game slowed and Congleton made a series of school boy errors with Bales and Pumpernickel getting in each others way and the blues failing to clear from defence. Shone, Brown and Hodges held firm and showed some resolute defending. Lawton scored his second of the match when he pushed a shot which caught the toe nail of a defender wrong footing the keeper and creepinng into the bottom corner. Then a classic 40 yard through ball of pin point accuracy to Lancaster saw him bamboozle two defenders, himself and the keeper and he slid one in the net from 2 feet out. Rucorn had a man dissmissed in the final minutes for abusing the umpire. Copeland when strongly tackled by the keeper lost the grip on his stick as he was sent flailing to the ground, the deliberate release of the stick is sending off offence in its own right and Runcorn appealed until the umpire had heard enough, dissmissing the Runcorn player with a waving hand. This was an excellent victory and another good all round performance. Well done the boys!!!! Next!

Lace Mawer Northwest Division 5

After being crowned Division 6 champions last season Congleton new that this season was not going to be easy. this was thought to be a tricky first away fixture against a good Wilmslow side who were relegated from the upper echelons of division 4. Congleton start their campaign without marathon man couttes in the centre of the park but welcomed back Lancaster and Copeland to the side after time out for university. The blues started well and the game was played at a furious pace, Wilmslow were expecting an easy time of it after a successful series of summer games against the blues but congleton were to strong in every area of the park. Danks was outstanding when called upon in defence, Lawton and Copeland electrifying up front. Congleton made the early running with Royall and Brown soaking up each wilmslow breakthrough the centre. After a series penalty corners Lawton broke the deadlock with a fierce drive across the keeper into the net. Farr pulled off a tremendous save from the wilmslow forwards to keep the blues in front at half time. In the seocond half Wilmslow pushed hard for an equaliser while still trying to cope with the dazzling skills of Lawton. The second half continued muxch as the first half finished with Congleton on top.  Copeland scored his first goal for the club since his return lashing the ball home from close range. When asked to comment later Copeland said "well you know, the ball just came across and I lashed it in the corner" Lawton scored a dubious third for the blues five minutes later after kicking the ball past a defender, while Copeland took out another two, Lawton dumied went around the keeper to slip the ball effortlessly into an open net. The blues came under some attack in the last five minutes but Wilmslow were kept at bay, like the wolf at the brick house owned by the third little pig, until 3 minutes to go wher a high ball from a penalty corner flicked of Browns wrist to the wilmslow forward who smashed the ball home, and much as he tried Browns blabbing failed to get the decision reversed.  Congleton survived until the end of the match for a good first victory. It would seem that once the team have built up a higher level of fitness they will be a match for anyone. Man of the Match was Andy Far in goal. Training is at Westlands high school at 6:00pm wednesday. All welcome, any standard.