Martyn Cory was the hat-trick hero as Saints cruised to a 7-2 league win at Telford.
Saints made the long trip up to Telford knowing that three points was crucial after three tough games against ex-national league sides. Both teams were sat on three points after four games so a win was vital for both.
For the first 10 minutes the game was fairly even with both sides enjoying a large amount of possession but it was Saints who were breaking the opponents 25 more often.
After 15 minutes Kopka and Press combined to set up James Knibb to sweep the ball home from close range to give Saints the lead, and three minutes later Saints won their first short corner after good work again from Alex Press.
Ben Scott drag flicked only for the ball to strike a defenders leg on the line and Saints were awarded a penalty stroke – Scott converted for 2-0.
Saints didn’t allow Telford to rest as they countered a Telford attack which ended up with Gareth Parker cleverly reverse stick crossing from the left only for a Telford defender to put the ball past his own keeper. Saints dominated the whole half until five minutes from the end when Saints failed to deal with some Telford pressure on the baseline and the home side converted a cross to pull a goal back. 1-3 half time.
With Telford seeing an opportunity back into the match it was important Saints started the second half well.
Again, they dominated possession and it wasn’t long before they extended their lead. Fantastic work by Evan Morris on the right hand side allowed Kopka to lay the ball to Martyn Cory to score his first.
Within two minutes Saints had another after they broke with pace again, this time Parker, Saunders and Knibb combining to set Cory up for his second. It was 5-1 and Saints had the chance to put the game completely out of reach.
Non-stop running from Christian Howard and Steve Williams in midfield allowed Saints to further punish Telford and more goals came as Press finished off another sweeping Saints move and the game was sealed when Cory slammed home his third of the game.
The Saints defence held solid, conceding just one goal in the second half from a short corner as Jamie Webb and Adam Croutear put in strong performances.
Despite Saints’ forwards scoring freely and a fantastic away debut from Evan Morris, the plaudits went to Sean Henry at right back. Strong throughout, pushed forward well and was a constant thorn in the Telford side with some immense tackling.
A much needed win for Saints who host Stourport on Saturday.
Squad: Paul Madeley, Jamie Webb, Sean Henry, Adam Croutear, Ben Scott, Dave Saunders, Stephan Williams, Joe Kopka, Evan Morris, Gareth Parker, Martyn Cory, Alex Press, James Knibb, Christian Howard.
Saints IIs 6 Loughborough IIs 0
After expressing their wonderful football skills in the warm up, Saints put their heads on and were ready for the game.
Right from the start we bombarded Loughborough Town, putting in two early goals our third was a masterpiece, passing the ball round the keeper for a open goal for Sam Mitchell.
At half time Saints were winning comfortably 4-0 and outclassing their opponents.
Saints slotted in their fifth goal which was followed by a strike from captain Dan Whittaker to make it 6-0.
They the only thing that stopped Saints’ rampage was the weather, as heavy hail meant that the match had to be called off after 50 minutes with the pitch covered in hail and rain water.
Squad: Robin Sawyer, Guy Roberts, Danny Whitfield, Ally Rose, Tom Wightman, Chris Reid, Matt Gausden, Dan Whittaker, Alex Blunt, Greg Summers, Sam Mitchell, Dan Rose, Scott Mahoney, Jack Pogson
Loughborough Town Vs 2 Saints IIIs 3
After the previous week’s away win, Saints looked to do something they couldn’t last year... win two matches away from home.
Saints once again bossed the possession, but one again could not break the deadlock, Pibworth missing a chance from a penalty corner. Loughborough took the lead and before long doubled their lead due to confusion by Miller and Mcllwaine allowing the attacker to slot home.
This episode and letting a substitution on during a short corner (Day the culprit) earned Mcllwaine the DOTD.
Saints grabbed a lifeline seconds before the end of the half after good interplay by Mcllwaine combining with Gamble allowed Wade to wrong foot the keeper and they were 2-1 down at half time.
Saints leapt into life in the second half with Miller and Gamble combining to release Pibworth in on the keeper, and after rounding him, slotted the ball into the goal.
Lightning didn’t strike twice as later Pibworth rounded the keeper again only to see the effort brush the side netting.
Saints completed the remarkable comeback when Pibworth squared the ball for Gamble to slot home.
Squad: Adam Powell, Andy Dale, Nigel Down, Lee O’Donnell, Hugo Day, Jason Hillier, Ian McIlwaine, James Miller, Will Gamble, Luke Pibworth, Lewis moran, Richard Say, Andy Wade
Saints IVs 9 Warwick Uni IVs 0
Saints, buoyed by winning their last two league games, took the field against the students full of confidence.
This confidence appeared to be mis-placed in the first 25 minutes as they struggled to find any rhythm with too much reliance on individual skills and not enough of the fluid team passing that had bought them the two earlier wins.
In fact it was the experienced back four of Morris, Phipps, Paterson and Candler that had to steady the ship for much of the early exchanges. This changed however after 25 minutes when an own goal by the Uni keeper was quickly followed by a true poacher’s goal by the evergreen Max Darby.
Almost on the stroke of half time, Chris Godman took responsibility for converting a penalty flick (after Rob Cary’s horror miss from the previous week) and Saints were 3-0 up at half time without playing well.
The second half was a story of great passing from the Saints, two yellow cards for the students, and a hat-trick for Darby.
There were further goals from Lloyd Atkinson (2), Dave Henry and Ant Condon who completed the rout. A great second half, another important clean sheet for the miserly back four and three wins out of three.
Leek Vs 5 Saints Vs 4
Saints travelled to Leek trying to put their first points of the season on the board. Saints started the game well using the wings more than they did a week ago, Nick Beattie dribbling in from the right and producing a cross- come-shot, which the Leek defence had no answer too and they could only divert into the goal.
Saints continued to push with Karl MacGregor making a surprise visit into the opposition D.
The skill and creativity finally paid off, but not before Adam Morgan was shown a yellow card for blocking a potential counter attack from Leek.
The Saints doubled their lead with Krish Jasinarachchi dribbling into the D for the opposition keeper to kick the ball into his goal. Saints continued to push and Jasinarachchi nearly scored again but missed a great chance when he was one on one with the goalkeeper.
Leek got them back into the game after poor defending allowed a tap in for 2-1, and that’s the way it stayed until the second half. The second half began with Saints under pressure, and the pressure eventually told when Leek levelled from a short corner.
This seemed to wake the Saints up and the midfield was working hard, especially Elliot Wilde, and inspired full-back runs from Joe Cliffe.
While Ed Arnold was off the pitch, Saints pushed forward looking to retake the lead and they did when a well-executed short corner injected by Karl MacGregor which went to Rob Tee who drilled his shot into the corner of the goal who then celebrated like he had just won the lottery. Leek continued to make good attacking moves and test the Saints defence, but the Saints broke from defence with a lovely through ball by MacGregor through to Tee who tackled the defender and beat him for pace before drawing the goalkeeper out of the goal and slotting into the corner to make it 4-2 and surely seal the win. But Leek had other ideas in the final 10 minutes.
Saints thought the game was won and still continued to attack, and Leek’s experience told as they scored three counter-attacking goals in the final 10 minutes which secured them a 5-4 win which left Saints wondering how they manage to let the game slip. Squad: Jake Bennett, John Bennett, Joseph Cliffe, Karl MacGregor, Ed Arnold, Rob Tee, Elliot Wilde, Ricard Pryce, Krish Jasinarachchi, Nick Beattie, Adam Morgan, Alasdair Townsend.
Saints VIs 1 Rugby Vs 3
The opening exchanges in this game were dominated by a physically stronger Rugby who imposed their pattern of play on a young Saints team.
It was rather against the run of play when Finn Pikard showed himself to be a top poacher to slot in a half chance after good work on the right by Adam Wright (making his debut) and Anthony Walder.
Saints then had their best 10 minute spell of the half only to see Rugby grab an equaliser with barely 30 seconds to go in the first half. The second half saw Rugby dominate more and more in midfield and Saints struggled to carve out any clear chances with short corners representing their best chance of scoring. Rugby scored two well taken goals in the half to run out worthy winners.
LADIES
Saints 2 Boots 1
Saints started the match determined not to concede early as in previous weeks.
However, Boots were also keen to continue where they left off last week.
Debutant keeper Sophie Chambers was called into action early on and within the first 10 minutes had to pull off a string of saves that kept the score at 0-0.
Saints began to put their game together and won a series of penalty corners which resulted in LA Chacksfield slotting home the opener in the 28th minute and meant that Saints went into half time a little fortunate to be 1-0 in the lead.
However, in the second half the Saints continue to gain control of the match and apply the pressure onto Boots defence, only to concede to a long hopeful ball out of midfield to an unmarked Boots forward who levelled the scores in the 50th Minute.
Saints did not allow this to cause too much concern and continued to press the boots defence and again won a series of penalty corners, and in the 66th minute Caroline Hossack was able to pick up the ball from the keeper’s pads and slot back into the Boots goal to score what proved to be the winner for Saints,
The second league victory in a row has seen the Saints move up the table and grow in confidence ahead of the local derby at Towcester next Saturday and the cup match against Harrogate on Sunday.
Squad: Sophie Chambers, Clare Sibley, Sally Trappit, Georgia Linnell, Caroline Hassock, Emma Cooper, Ferne Sanders, Emily Kilner, Caz McCabe, Chloe Cozens, LA Chacksfield, Ellie Bleech, Sally Cory, Becca Wilkinson, Lottie Tulley
Saints IVs 1 Earls Barton 3
Saints’ winning run came to an abrupt halt against stiff opposition in league leaders Earls Barton.
The game started at a frenetic pace with Earls Barton going 1-0 up five minutes in.
However, Saints hit back with an unstoppable shot from Lou Hart.
Saints soaked up constant pressure and managed to turn solid defence into attack on the break, with Becky Lovatt making an impressive debut for the Saints in midfield.
Unfortunately, it was a different story after half time, when a couple of injuries took their toll and affected the Saints organisation.
Barton were a constant threat despite determined defending from the Saints, and they peppered the goal with shots, scoring twice in quick succession.
Barton finished the game 3-1 winners, while Saints’ man of the match was goalkeeper Sarah Collins.
Saints IIs 2 Matlock 5
Another tough game for Saints this week against a very physical team in Matlock.
Saints started the game brightly with some good possession, unfortunately Matlock hit us on the break and scored a double in the first half, against the run of play.
Northampton managed to pick themselves up and regroup, and without some heroics from Emma Brennan in goal we may have conceded a few more.
The second half saw Northampton got back into the game and they managed to pull a goal back after a well worked penalty corner routine.
Matlock had some good territorial possession in the second half but some great defending as a team meant that they spent more time passing backwards than being able to push through our defensive line, and it was only their constant attacking that managed to force through three more goals in the second half.
Before the final whistle, Emily Wilkins very easily sauntered through Matlock’s midfield then defence as was cruelly denied a goal thanks to poacher Sim Sandhu.
Annie Howard finished the scoring of a few minutes from the end lifting the ball into the top corner after Sandhu and the Matlock goalkeeper scraped around for the ball in the goal mouth.
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