CAMBS LEAGUE DIV ONE

Cambridge Ladies 2nd XI vs Market Deeping Ladies 1st XI

Deeping went all the way to Cambridge to find that the pitch was double-booked. They will be claiming the points…

CAMBS LEAGUE DIV TWO

Ely Ladies 2nd XI (1) vs Market Deeping Ladies 2nd XI (5)

A second win for the newly-formed 2nds following their greatly improved performance from last week has lifted their hard-working players as they approach the long Christmas break.
Deeping started off slowly far from the quality of play that they achieved last week, but they still looked the stronger side as they passed the ball quickly down to the Ely ‘D’.
Anya McKenzie gave Deeping an early lead but Ely pushed hard for an equaliser. Deeping’s defence was not letting them through and they foundered on some good clearances from Debbie Bowen. Excellent teamwork from Nicky Buckby and Sophie Goodrum up the left wing gave Nicky Buckby her first ever league goal and confidence was soaring on the Deeping team.
Deeping went in 2-0 up and after the half time talk, they turned their game around and their marking was greatly improved.
Like last week, the communication and team work on the pitch were excellent and the pacey Anya McKenzie burst through the Ely players and scored a third goal.
Ely pushed harder, getting closer and closer to the Deeping ‘D’ but were caught on the break. Grace MacDonald pushed the ball back up to Anya McKenzie and Janet Eagle Smith. Good passing saw McKenzie complete her hat trick. 
A break from Ely saw them score a consolation goal.
Deeping replied quickly as Shelley Winbourne forced the ball back up the pitch, and good running and passing between Sophie Goodrum and Nicky Buckby allowed Goodrum to score.

Division 3NW

St. Neots 2nd XI (3) vs Market Deeping 1st XI (3)

Another superb weekend for the rest of the Deeping club was slightly marred by this bad-tempered 3NW draw at lowly St Neot’s.
Deeping were cruising at an undeserved 2-0 at halftime, then went to 3-2 down, before escaping with a draw courtesy of a hotly disputed equaliser.
It had all started promisingly after an evenly matched first few minutes, when a clever deflection from Paul Tancred opened the scoring for Deeping and they had chances to go further ahead. Neot’s got back into the game and it was very much against the general run of play that a brilliant aerial deflection by Tancred saw them go 2-0 up.
It was different story after the break when Neot’s surged back at Deeping and they were badly found out. Poor shape, needless dribbling and indifferent passing in the last quarter of the pitch meant Deeping kept giving the ball away and they began to be caught at the back. Eventually a short corner of surprisingly high quality was smashed home, soon followed by a breakaway goal and another powerful short corner strike.
Deeping then fought back and mounted some good attacks, but continued to give the ball away in the last quarter of the pitch. Eventually Ali Rowledge pounced to deflect Tancred’s shot home.
On the balance of play Deeping just about deserved a draw, but they can’t go on dropping points at the lower 3NW teams. The only solution is more thoughtful hockey.

Division 4NW

Market Deeping 2nd XI (2) vs Horncastle 1st XI (1)

Promoted Deeping took more vital 4NW points against a team who used to play many leagues higher. The first half started slowly, with Horncastle showing an early reluctance to commit too many people forward – no surprise as they came with only ten men.
Deepings finally found their feet and the pressure began to mount as they forced a number of short corners. Shots rained in on goal but the Horncastle goalkeeper made some good saves.
Finally Phil Tokens, converted a short corner with a powerful shot from the top of the D, for his first goal in over a year. Horncastle were soon back all square however, after a converting a short corner of their own.
Before halftime Deeping regained the lead. Ben Walden and Magnus Windsor combined well close to the goal with Ben Walden finally converting from close range.
The second half was similar to the first half, in that Deeping were generally on top, without ever dominating, but no goals were scored. At the end of the day the team were pleased to win the game and collect the points, but were disappointed not to score more goals against a team with ten men.

Division 6NW

Market Deeping 3rd XI (10) vs Long Sutton 4th XI (0)

Deeping had 50-year-old club chairman Steve Windsor in goal – more than ten years since he last made a league appearance between the sticks, for the 1st XI. They needn’t have worried – he never touched the ball.
Strangely this crushing of the league’s basement side wasn’t as good a performance as the 7-3 defeat of the much better Spalding 3rd XI last week, as Deeping got over-excited and a little greedy as they attacked.
However, it was mainly one-way traffic despite some inspirational dribbles by Sutton’s skipper in the second half. There were no bad performances anywhere and with Graham Barnes running the midfield, Deeping’s fitness, extreme pace, and excellent passing made chance after chance. They met a brave Long Sutton keeper in good form, and he helped keep the score out of the teens.
It was 5-0 at half time - Phil Arnold had opened the scoring after five minutes - and eight players got on the score sheet. Kevin Baker (2), and Barnes (2) each bagged a brace and Arnold, Simon Taylor, Jack Seton, Tom Allam, Matt Brown and newcomer Ben Dalgleish all scored.