Saturday 26th September 2009

CAMBRIDGE Ladies Premier league

Market Deeping Ladies 1st XI (4) vs Sawtry Ladies 1st XI (0)

Deeping must be among the favourites for Premier league promotion and they deserved this win in their first league game of the season.
After a quiet start by Deeping two first half goals gave them a comfortable cushion.
The first was scored by Kirsten Hackett who slapped the ball into the net from the top of the D after receiving a great pass from Robynne Scott , while the second came from Mandy Pearson (player of the match)who struck the ball confidently into the left hand corner of the goal from a well worked short corner.
Early in the second half the Deeping goal was threatened when a loose ball was pounced on by a Sawtry player, but Angie Coxthe Deeping’s goalie was quick to anticipate the danger and kicked the ball clear of goal.
The rest of the half saw Deeping use the full width of the pitch which provided far more opportunities for scoring. The third goal was scored by Janet Eagle-Smith after converting a stunning cross from the right hand base-line by Amy Gwilliam.
Eagle-Smith added a fourth goal after receiving the ball in the D and squeezing the ball past two defenders and the keeper.

DIVISION 2N

Ipswich 3rd XI (2) vs Market Deeping 1st XI (4)

After an early meet and a long trip down to Ipswich with just 11 players Deeping knew they would have to pull something out for the bag to get anything out of this game. A game plan was agreed and to their credit Deeping kept to it 100%.
Deeping started off positively and after settling into the game won a short corner which Russ Seton converted. Ipswich scored from a short corner and had a flick saved by keeper Stu Ireland but Seton restored Deeping’s lead before half time.
Deeping were slightly on top through the second half and after a defensive mistake Paul Tancred pounced for his first goal of the season smashed into the top corner. Ipswich pulled one back.
Towards the end of the game Phil Arnold went off injured just as Deeping won a short corner. Simon Wilmot stepped up, and he struck the short corner with tidy accuracy into the corner of the net. A confident Deeping will entertain Cambs city 3rd next week.

DIVISION 3NW

Spalding 1st XI (9) vs Market Deeping 2nd XI (1)

Newly promoted Deeping were well under strength and as injuries took their toll were given a tough induction to Division 3NW hockey in a 9-1 defeat to Spalding’s 1st XI.
The warning signs were there for Deeping early on as Spalding worked the ball into the D with some slick passing, but skipper Graham Brewer slid in to block the first shot, and centre back Simon Biggs – who specialises in goal-line clearances - hooked the rebound out from under the cross bar.
As Deeping tried to pack the midfield in an unfamiliar 3-5-1 formation, they were still struggling to mount any meaningful attacks, but their dogged defending was holding Spalding at bay. Then a short corner strike from Spalding captain James Doolan opened the scoring for the home team. Spalding doubled their lead through Doolan whose strike took a wicked deflection off Deeping ‘keeper Joe Wray, into the face of centre back John Plant then crossed the line.
With their club Chairman and defensive linchpin rushed to hospital with a fractured eye socket and gash to the head, and with no substitute, Deeping’s attacking options became yet more limited.
Spalding duly increased their lead to 3-0, before Wray injured his wrist making a sprawling save on the stroke of half time. He started the second half, but made the injury worse attempting to save Spalding’s fourth. The diving Brewer got a stick to the ball but was unable to stop it crossing the line.
Brewer now donned the pads and Wray went to cause a nuisance of himself in the opposition D rather than his own. The move was obviously a tactical masterstroke as Wray ghosted into the D unmarked to smash home Deeping’s consolation despite his “injured”wrist.
Spalding set about punishing a tired 10 man Deeping with two hat-tricks and a couple more goals. Skipper Brewer was proud of his side’s commitment and work rate and will look forward to playing with a full-strenght side.
MOTM – Mike Gregson – tireless running throughout.

DIVISION 5NW

Market Deeping 3rd XI (3) vs Cambridge Nomads 3rd XI (1)

Deeping 3rd marked their rapid return to Div 5NW with a hard fought victory at home in Saturday’s season opener despite being under strength.
Their opponents, Cambs Nomads, who were relegated from 4NW last season, started much the brighter, with Deeping struggling to escape their own half for the first 15 mins.
Stand-in Deeping keeper Will Winfield-Chislett made a number of fine saves to deny the visitors a lead their pressure deserved, before, very much against the run of play, Deeping went ahead when Jas Phagora converted the home side's first short corner with a firm flick low to the left corner.
Nomads thought they had equalised from a short corner of their own a few minutes later, but the goal was disallowed.
Deeping slowly started to gain more confidence from their lead and shortly before half time their captain Kev Baker doubled it when he was first to react to a loose ball at the top of the Nomad's D and struck it home low to the keeper's right.
The second half was a much more even contest but both defences maintained the upper hand, with Matt Brown in particular consistently frustrating the Nomads attacks.
After missing an open goal opportunity, the visitors got back into the game with 15 minutes left from a deft deflection of a drilled pass.
Deeping kept their heads however and continued to look dangerous on the break, forcing several more short corners before Henry Winfield- Chislett secured them the points with a somewhat bizzare reverse stick effort that looped gently over the keeper’s head and into the net off the post.
Man of the match: Will Winfield-Chislett - the stand in keeper played like he padded up every week, marshalling the Deeping defence and pulling out a string of saves to prevent an early Nomads runaway.