Emily Wilkins scored a hat-trick as Saints Ladies IIs eased to a 4-1 win over Belper IIs.
After some encouraging performances of late, the IIs decided this was the day to show their improvements.
A very encouraging start, with some high pressure and good play in Belper’s half was undone in the first ten minutes after a counter attack put Saint’s a goal down against the run of play.
This didn’t put off Saint’s however, who continued to apply pressure on the Belper defence, but it wasn’t until a penalty stroke was awarded for a foot on line that Northampton drew level as Wilkins stepped up and dispatched the stroke easily.
After that a new sense of belief and confidence was installed into the Saints ranks, and they continued to pressure, with Wilkins adding two more goals before half time to complete her hat-trick.
It’s a cliché, but half time came at the wrong time for Saints as they would have liked to, and certainly would have, added to the growing score line.
The second half started and it was much the same from Saints, applying a lot of pressure and using the space out wide well, with Sophie Herring and Nic Holton putting in a lot of work trying to create space and more goal scoring opportunities.
Midway through the second half Belper had slowly started applying pressure on the Saints defence, but thanks to some vital saves and some equally vital and brilliant defending kept them at bay.
The final goal came from a well worked counter attack down the right wing, the ball being worked to the dead ball line, cheekily chipped over Belper’s keeper by Annie Howard and easily volleyed into the back of the net by Natalia Raca.
This polished off a perfect day for Saints and now after that much needed first win we’ve ordered the champagne in for the promotion party come March.
Saints IIIs 3 Daventry 2
Saints made the best start of the season.
From the pushback, Saints maintained control and pressurised the Daventry defence, finishing after only five minutes with Jules receiving an aerial cross from Ness Kingston, controlled the ball, slipping to Becca Herring who slammed it into the corner.
Daventry were keen to equalise and tried desperately to break the Saints defence, but they held firm.
Saints relentlessly regained possession and pressurised but a breakaway moment 15 minutes into the game saw Daventry win a short corner, which they didn’t hesitate to bury in the goal to make it 1-1
Saints determined not to be defeated started once again, working as a team and pressing high.
Becca Collins applied pressure with a quality drive up the left winning a short, which Sarah Telford finished with a deflected shot in the top left hand corner of the goal to make it 2-1 to Saints.
The final five minutes of the first half saw Daventry desperately tried to equalise winning a short as the half time whistle went.
With all 11 players on the D, Daventry pressed hard, but Savanna Jones and Ness Kingston were out quickly to intercept, Jo Askew made a fantastic save and Kingston cleared the ball to the side line. It was 2-1 to Saints at half-time.
In the second half Saints were a little bit slower off the mark and found Daventry revitalised and in control.
Winning a short corner five minutes in, Daventry didn’t hesitate to equalise.
Saints pushed back once again and for the rest of the game Daventry never really looked dangerous.
Saints repeatedly pressed high, maintained possession and dominated the game.
The midfield, Becky Mellor, Rosie Barnes and Becca Collins were constantly up and down the pitch supporting play at both ends.
Saints won a number of corners, but sadly 20 minutes in to the second half were denied a winning goal from a short as the ball didn’t quite leave the D.
Fired up and determined to win, the backs destroyed any Daventry attack, with Winnie Jones hitting the floor a couple of times and both Jane Ogden and Ness Kingston making goal saving tackles, always supported by Jo Askew who repeatedly intimidated any Daventry player who dared to enter her space.
The final 10 minutes was Saints all the way, resulting in another short and Ness Kingston combining with Kate Barnetson for a one two and a quality finish in the corner.
Squad: Jo Askew, Winnie Jones, Savanna Jones, Jules Herring, Becca Herring, Jane Ogden, Ness Kingston, Sarah Walker, Kate Barnetson, Becca Collins, Sophie Burnham, Rosie Barnes and Becky Mellor.
MEN’S HOCKEY
Saints IIs 1 Sutton Coldfield 2
The game started well for Saints and as soon as the whistle had blown Saints were on the offensive, with the first move of the game flowing nicely down the left and in to the opposition D.
However, some slack passing from the midfield led to the opposition getting the ball too easy on a number of occasions.
Due to the high line of attack Saints were carrying out, this meant Sutton could break easily for a chance at goal, which was always well covered by the defence, centre back Lewis Ward even took a slight stick to the head in his valiant effort to stop Sutton.
Midway through the half, Saints were temporarily reduced to 10 men as Alex Blunt saw yellow for throwing his stick.
The remainder of the first half was full of Saints attacking, with vital opportunities missed with air shots from the forwards and short corner routines rendered ineffective.
One short corner routine did however lead to a penalty stroke that would have been vital to the end result but was ended with Danny Whitfield sending the ball wide of the bottom right post.
The opposition’s two goals came from quick breaks off Saints attacks, leading to a three on two at the back a few times, the combination of Whitfield, Ward and keeper Sawyer managed to keep Sutton at bay until there first short corner of the game.
It was clear it wasn’t what they had planned to do, but acted well to improvise and slot the ball in bottom left.
The second goal saw a hit and hope Sutton ball into the D and the ball took a big deflection of Ward’s stick and into the net.
The second half saw Saints take a few minutes to gain composure, but when they did they were looking deadly, creating many chances that went begging as a total number of three open goals were missed due to a lack of composure in front of goal.
Saints finally got a goal that came from a nice move of flowing passes and was finally finished by Dan Rose.
The game now at 2-1 continued in the same manner as it had all game, Saints continuing form of attacking with no results and Sutton occasionally breaking with the only real outlet being the centre back who flicked it over midfield most times for the defence to deal with.
Sutton got close a couple of times and even struck the post but were otherwise un troubling to the Saints defensive line and keeper.
Saints then managed to break through again where our striker was deliberately fouled by the Sutton keeper and the ball fell nicely to Rose where he put in the back of the net. However, the whistle had already gone for a short corner. The remainder of the second half saw Saints dominate but they lacked the finishing touch to get a deserved equaliser.
Squad: Robin Sawyer, Danny Whitfield, Lewis Ward, Ally Rose, Ben Northedge, Matt Gausden, George Roberts, Dan Whittaker, Sam Mitchell, Tom Wightman, Dan Rose, Alex Blunt,
Saints IVs 2 Rugby & East Warwick 1
The pressure was on from the start on East Warwick’s defence after they gave the ball away to Saints practically from their push off.
Saints managed to keep hold of this ball well in the opposition’s half for a good 20 minutes, and barely gave the ball away as passing was quick and accurate.
They moved the ball about with lots of confidence and as a result possibly had the best 20 minutes of their season so far.
Then the goal came, a cross was whipped in traveling directly across the face of the goal, Max Darby throwing himself at the ball in hopes of getting the ball in the net but only to just miss it giving the chance for Dave Henry to tuck the ball nicely against the backboard of the goal.
Saints turned off the pressure after the goal giving the opposition more time on the ball, allowing them to show Saints they were not to be messed with as they kept on with their attacks making the game more even in possession.
With their possession came chances, but Scott Bashford ensured he would not concede his first goal of the season.
Saints then found their self on the front foot again with an attack that ended with Lloyd Atkinson slapping the ball past the keeper for another goal to add to his season total.
The second half was a very even contest with both teams battling it out all over the pitch.
But many more chances came for the opposition only to be stopped by the defending prowess of Matt Candler, Jim Phipps and Steve Morris.
However the other defender Jeremy Wan held on to the ball just outside the D for too long resulting in him being tackled and the opposition getting their chance that finally beat the Saints in-form keeper’s clean sheet record, the Berlin wall had fallen.
Both teams kept fighting for next goal as it would have been a crucial one for both team.
Saints battled to ensure they grab the goal for the win but just could not get it even with all the chances they were creating.
In the end Saints would grab the ball and keep possession in the corners of the opposition half, running down the clock to ensure little chance for the opponents to get an equaliser.
It ended 2-1 and Saints are still top of the league and still undefeated this season.
Belper Vs 0 Saints Vs 3
Saints went into this game looking for their second win of the season. Saints started slowly trying to cope with a bouncy slow pitch and it was a half of few chances, but Ed Arnold broke the deadlock latching onto a cross by Krish Jasinarachchi for 1-0. Northampton started more brightly in the second half, making some great passes and should of doubled their lead but Alex Jefferys, with an open goal in front of him, hit the post. Saints finally made it 2-0 when good work from Rob Cary shot from the right of the D which eluded the Belper keeper.
Belper were unluckly not to get back into the game when they were awarded a penalty flick when Phil Preen slid out and took out a Belper player before the ball.
Preen made a brilliant save to keep the score at 2-0.
Rob Tee took a sideline self-pass and drilled a long cross into the D which was deflected in by Alex Jefferys who made it 3-0. Squad: Phil Preen, James Ruse, Karl Macgregor, Rob Tee, Richard Whorton, Elliot Wilde, Alex Jefferys, Ali Townsend, Adam Morgan, Ed Arnold, Rob Cary, Krish Jasinarachchi
Aylesbury IVs 5 Saints VIs 0
This was a friendly match so the result was not quite as important as a league fixture, and hence the VIs travelled south for a change with a mere 11 players.
The fact that only two members of the team paid a full match fee gives some idea of the relative youth in the team, indeed the main selection worry was finding enough drivers to get there. The score belies the fact that it was a very close game until the 52nd minute with four goals coming in the last 15 minutes to flatter the hosts.
The 1-0 scoreline at half-time was a fairer reflection of the possession an older Aylesbury team had, and there were good debut performances from Sam and Joe at the back which helped to keep Saints in the game.
There were a few chances were created with Patrick Rowntree coming close on a couple of occassions.
The second half saw Aylesbury introduce a new player and he made all the difference, effectively running the midfield and a tiring Saints, many of whome had played for the Badgers in the morning, started to leave gaps at the back which were taken advantage of despite a couple of top class save from Jake Bennett.
Saints VIIs 1 West Bridgford Xs 0
Saints started well, putting West Bridgford under pressure from the outset, keeping them pressed well back into their own half.
Anthony Colley, on his club debut, provided some early excitement relieving the opposition centre back of the ball at the top of the D, but unfortunately his shot went wide.
Gareth Voss was doing a great job keeping the midfield organised, and as a result West Bridgford became compressed into their own half, keeping the score-sheet clean with a solid defensive line up using almost every player on the pitch.
With such a busy D, Saints were left with short corners as their best option.
The West Bridgford defence were very quickly out, preventing Charlie Graham with his usual trademark strike. Undeterred, Graham dribbled round the advancing defender and calmly slotted the ball through the keepers legs.
Saints went into the second half with high hopes of increasing their lead and securing the win.
Unfortunately, the positive talk didn’t translate into positive actions.
Saints became more and more ragged, desperately trying to find a way through the defensive line wasting possession with hopeful forced passes and forgetting everything that had been talked about at half time.
West Bridgford came out of half time invigorated and were using some great pace on their right side to send a number of crosses flying dangerously through the Saints D.
Some solid defending and a bit of good fortune kept the score-line in Saints’ favour.
As the half wore on, Saints once again took more control of the game and pressed hard for a further goal.
This almost came when Anthony Colley deflected a cross from Gareth Voss into the goal.
Unfortunately, Colley managed to clip the ball with his heel as it travelled into the goal.
Saints had further chances to seal the game but were unable to hit the mark and it ended 1-0.
Squad: Dean Gibson (GK), Ed Holt, Ian Street, Nigel Riches, Tim Riches, Michael Dicken, Gareth Voss, Jon Keep, Rob Frost, Anthony Colley, Tim Warburton, Charlie Graham
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