A disappointing weekend with only one win on Saturday. However, we also go the chance to give debuts to two new keepers in the Ladies section. Welcome Emma O’Neill and Kate Lawrence to Salisbury Hockey Club.

Another tough game for the ladies 1’s against 3rd placed Reading saw them fall to a second consecutive defeat. With four players unavailable, a reshuffle of positions was needed, and it was a chance for youngsters Susannah Ribeiro Gallagher and Sophie Hayakawa to start and gain more pitch time, together with Leila Shaw stepping up from the 2’s to make her first debut. They did not disappoint, and they performed well and worked hard against a talented and well drilled Reading side.

Reading claimed their first of the game within minutes of the start, but Salisbury did not let their heads go down. Through excellent communication and strong tackling, player of the match Jenna Whittle organised the defence and Salisbury began to create chances of their own. However, an unfortunate second, against the run of play on the stroke of half time put Reading 2-0 up.

The second half saw Reading dominate with strong accurate passes and superior speed in attack, culminating in 2 further goals.

Next week, Salisbury who are placed 7th will look to pick up much needed points against Oxford Hawks, a team just below them in the table.

Salisbury Men’s 1s made a change in formation to hopefully kickstart a change in their fortunes after a couple of tough losses with a win against Petersfield. The first 15 minutes were a thing to behold, the hosts came out the traps flying, moving the ball with ease around the back and into the midfield and finally letting the forwards run free. The barrage of the opening 15 minutes bore no fruit until their 5th penalty corner was tucked in by Kynon Griffith-McCann to give the men in maroon a well-deserved lead.

The lead didn’t last long, however, with a multi-deflected penalty corner squirming into the bottom corner. Salisbury continued to dominate possession and play for the rest of the first half but were unable to penetrate the visitors’ valiant defensive efforts.

Petersfield grabbed the initiative at the start of the second half coming out with some slick moves and putting the Salisbury back four under more pressure than they had endured during the first 35 minutes. While trying to regain a foothold in the game, Rob Goodthwaite ventured out of defence to pile on the pressure only to lose the ball which led to fellow centre back, Tom to make a goal saving ‘tackle’ which was adjudged to be a penalty stroke which Petersfield duly converted.

The hosts, now chasing the game fell into the all too familiar position of battling within their own ranks and with the officials. They were unable to regain the flow of the first half and conceded a third and the game ended as a 3-1 loss.

With a strong team, plenty of subs and Hamish Cameron coaching from the sidelines the Ladies 2 were ready to give it their all against the top of the league Wimborne 1s, hoping to give captain Isla Perkins a good send off. Off the back of their 6-2 win against Trojans last week they were feeling energised and determined to turn their win into a streak of two.

Both teams came out strong with great pressure & possession and some lovely passes around the pitch from Salisbury. 10 minutes in Olivia Parr’s incredible reverse hit from the top of the D hit the backboard, giving Salisbury an early lead. They continued to play well throughout the first half, with the defence working really well to keep Wimborne out of the D. Julie Selbie made some fantastic tackles and passes, earning her a well-deserved player of the match award.

Unfortunately, Wimborne scored the equaliser off a short corner seconds before half time. Alice Chadwick was in the toilet at the time, didn’t realise they scored and so played the rest of the match thinking Salisbury were still 1-0 up, earning herself the other award.

After an inspiring half time talk from Hamish, Salisbury came out fighting. They played very well and the match was even, with opportunities for both sides. Katherine Wilson sacrificed herself to save a short corner and being struck in the chest in the process. New goalie Emma ONeill & midfielder Caytah-Leigh Koeberg played brilliantly on their debuts for the 2s. Wimborne won a short corner just as the final whistle blew, which they converted, making the final score 2-1 or in Alice’s alternative reality a 1-1 draw. The ladies 2s should be very proud of a well-played and a hard-fought match.

All the best to skipper Isla Perkins who flies to Australia on Tuesday for two months, have a good trip and see you at the end of season dinner, save the date 26th April.

Ladies 3’s headed to Winchester to take on West Meon 1’s. A physical encounter against very hard hitting and confident opponents needed Salisbury to move the ball quickly. The first half showed some good possession play from Salisbury and several competent build up plays saw the ball agonisingly miss the target by centimetres on both sides of the West Meon goal. The home team fired the ball from end to end and despite some very brave Salisbury defensive work and great saves from goalkeeper Becky Ball, Salisbury found themselves 1-0 down at half time.

Some calm but positive half time words and suggestions gave Salisbury more confidence and the second half saw those promising attacking plays culminate in goals.

Using a high press the 3’s were able to anticipate and cut out the opponents long ball exits from defence. This enabled Salisbury to counterattack in numbers and using a short pass game to create opportunities in the D, unselfishly drawing and isolating their keeper allowed close range finishes from Lisa “Lockett” Lovatt and two for Lucy Chadwick to make it 3-1 in Salisbury’s favour.

West Meon were not finished and some fast running and hard hitting paid off for them with a last-minute consolation deflection to finish. Final score 3-2 to Salisbury.

A real team effort with a well done to Macey Harris who topped the votes for player of the match. A lovely start to the weekend for Salisbury 3’s to take home winning away points after last week’s frustrating narrow defeat at home. Another tough one next week v Fareham.

The Ladies 4’s hosted Bournemouth and the first half was an evenly matched contest. There was some lovely passing and overlapping play. Sophie Trowbridge made a super run down the right, bending into the D and crossing a beautiful ball for Sally Facer to convert into a goal. Salisbury’s strength however started to wane, and Bournemouth pulled one back to make 1-1 at half time.

The second half went downhill. Salisbury lost structure and couldn’t hold possession for any length of time. Most of the second half was spent in the Salisbury half repelling attack after attack from a well drilled team. Bournemouth converted two of their many short corners into goals and the game ended a 3-1 loss.

Player of the match was Kate Lawrence, our new keeper, who had plenty to do and kept the ball out of the goal numerous times.

The Ladies 5’s were away this week against Wimborne Wayfarers 3’s. The match started off well until the opposition pushed and took advantage early in the game, scoring an early goal. Despite all the efforts of the defence Wimborne were strong and managed to get another goal narrowly passed the keeper. Wimborne continued to push and won several short corners Salisbury defended the first short corner well but on the second short corner Wimborne squeezed another goal through Salisbury’s defence. Salisbury tried to counter and managed to play some good hockey in the opponent’s half, but Wimborne were quick on the ball and before half time Wimborne were winning 6-0.

At the start of the second half Salisbury upped their levels and played some great hockey, and were attacking and defending well. Following some good play from Salisbury, the ball was slipped to Joey Bonner who was able to get the ball past the keeper which brought the score to 6-1. Salisbury kept pushing but Wimborne began to up their attack really making the defence put the work in and Chloe Jones had to make some great saves. The Ladies 5’s continued to probe for a goal in the second half and Freya Marsh tapped the ball into the goal ending the game 6-2 to Wimborne. Salisbury really upped their game in the second half. Player of the Match was Amelia Bagshaw for putting in hard graft on the left wing.
Men’s 2s against Havant could be described as the one that got away.

A change to the 2’s usual formation and a clear plan paid off from the start with early goals from player of the match Bailey Hannaford, Ben Green and Ty Robinson give Salisbury a 3-0 lead in the first 25 mins.

Sadly, it was not to last, perhaps they got a bit ahead of themselves or perhaps the injury tally started to take its toll. Havant pulled two goals back just before half time courtesy of some drilled flicks from penalty corners.

The second half was very one-sided and unfortunately it was the side wearing green who got the upper hand. Havant clawed a couple more goals back from more penalty corners and as the game ran away from Salisbury the team motivation dropped, and their overall play looked nothing like the brilliance of the first half. A few chances went begging for Salisbury while Havant turned the tables and started to score with ease.

The final score was 8-3 to Havant which makes for painful reading, but scoring three goals is a good step forward compared to previous weeks, the 4’s will channel those first 25mins in next week’s game and build on it to get some points on the board.

A somewhat different looking Men's 3s side faced off against a robust Haslemere team looking to seek revenge on a 7-0 away defeat earlier on in the season. Andy Cowling, Max Hamer and 'Disco' Dave Hillier joined the young 3s team from the Men's 4s. They also saw a debutant in Ollie Lampert who was quick to find his feet in the side.

Skipper Barry Morgan was living it up at the Bournemouth-Liverpool game and this saw Jamie Bundy take the reins of the team. A slight tweak in the formation saw the 3s make a fast start against "the mere" who were pegged back from overall play and Salisbury creating half chances here and there, Mere's only way out was seemingly an aerial option that they utilised well. The best chance of the first half came from a strong break down the right flank by the ever-rapid Harry 'Harold' Morris who beat his man on the outside and played a ball into the D, only a strong save from the Mere keeper denying a goal that the 3s duly deserved at that stage.

As the half went on Mere were coming back into the game and Elliot Godden was called into action with some strong saves of his own, then a break into the Salisbury 23 saw Mere hit a deflected shot at goal it was a tough one to take with all the hard-working defensive effort that was being put in, led by the ever-reliable Nick Tomalin. It was 0-1 at half time.

The 2nd half saw much of the same styles of play, with Mere using the aerial to their advantage and Salisbury using wing play and counter attacks to try and create openings. A flailing stick saw Jasper Robinson pick up a green card which also earnt him the other award once more, poor Jas, following a revote when stand in skipper Bundy was tied on votes for being nutmegged and not running back after.

The game at this point was in the balance until a P-Flick was awarded to Mere. This was scored to put Mere two up. Heads did not drop and Salisbury kept pushing however the phrase "it's just not our day" was summed up when four shots from four different players in four seconds were either blocked or saved by the Mere keeper and it was seemingly not to be and whilst the 3s tried all they could to push on and get a goal back they found themselves open to a counter which was punished. The final score was 0-3.

There were huge positives from the performance and a vast improvement from the reverse fixture. The 3s now see themselves play a huge six pointer away at bottom side Chichester 4s next weekend desperate to change their recent fortunes.

Special shout out to player of the match Jake Groth who played an absolute blinder at right back, producing tackle after tackle and distributing play through the lines ahead of him, certainly a future Salisbury star in the making.

The Men’s 4’s did not have a game this week as Swanage couldn’t field a team. Elsewhere in Forest 1 results went with the 4’s with Blandford, New Forest and Southampton all dropping points in the promotion battle.

Despite the Striders goalkeeper Tim Green having to drag himself off his sickbed at the last minute to attend, and one or two absences, Striders left Winchester feeling this was a game they could have, and probably should have, won.

Striders started well. Both James Whittle and Rich Soddy were finding space in the centre of midfield, and together with Rob Selbie, distributing calmly and attractively. But Winchester, largely defending quite deep and relying on breaks to attack were difficult to break down; last passes went astray, the ball would not quite stay on the stick at critical moments and the goal would not come. Striders should have been more patient in recycling the ball between the two flanks but it was destined to be 'one of those days'. However, it was not completely one way traffic. Largely against the pattern of play, Winchester won a series of short corners. From the last, a first shot at goal was slapped from an acute angle into the defender's leg with a penalty flick awarded. Perhaps offended by the thought that if the shot had come through, he would have not been in a position to stop it, Green duly produced a fine save.

The second half was very similar to the first with plenty of possession for Striders, but nothing to show for it. Paul Viant's touch flew right of the top corner; Iain Harrop could not quite control his interception in the middle of the circle of a poor lateral pass from Winchester, and the slightly bouncy surface rendered relatively infrequent short corners less slick than might have been hoped. As tired legs began to take their toll, Striders kept up the pressure with James Bament hammering at the right flank, and Selbie making surges from the back to try and break the deadlock. But eventually, on a somewhat cold and dank evening, the team had to accept the 0-0 draw.

Strollers had their game cancelled early in the week so

Sunday saw the U14 Boys start the matches at Skew Bridge with a game against Trojan’s. The U14 boys had a real game of two halves against a strong and physical Trojans side.
Both sides had chances early on, but it was Salisbury who used theirs better to open up a 3-0 lead with two goals from Billy Foster and one from William Noel. Goalkeeper Joseph Bremner continued to frustrate the opposition with an excellent penalty-flick save following some nifty football skills on the line from Benjy Farrimond. But Trojans were starting to find their feet and scored 2 quick goals to cut the deficit just before half-time.

Whilst Salisbury won the first half the second belonged to Trojans who quickly equalised and went on to score a further 6 with just a single reply for Salisbury from Noel making a final score of 9-4.

Salisbury U16 girls welcomed Bournemouth to Skew bridge on a beautiful spring like day.
Once again, the home side were without a keeper and had to sustain a lot of pressure and defend several short corners.

Eight minutes into the game and Salisbury defended another of the visitors attacks and turning the ball over and with rapid passing sent the ball towards the Bournemouth D which resulted in a Sophie Hayakawa goal.

Unfortunately, it was the visitors who scored next and continued to win short corners and put pressure on Salisbury but the defence was strong and half time the score remained 1-1.
Bournemouth continued to apply pressure at the start of the second half which led to a 2-1 lead, but the home side continued to fight back and with Sophie scoring her second goal. The following period of play saw Salisbury continue to attack and put Bournemouth under pressure but the winning goal was to elude them. In the final 10 minutes Bournemouth were next to score and pressured the Salisbury defence to earn another short corner that ultimately led to Bournemouth’s fourth goal, the final score Salisbury 2 Bournemouth 4.

The last game for Sunday was a friendly between the Ladies 6’s and Yeovil & Sherborne. The 6’s ran out 6-2 winners with goals from Alison Thake, Sarah Bottomley, Ty’nodashe Macosa, Joey Bonner and a brace from Flora Vicentini.

INJURY UPDATE
Katherine Wilson while sore is hopeful to be back next week.