HOCKEY ROUND-UP: Club derby at sixes and sevens this weekend!

Rugby & East Warwickshire Hockey Club

REWHC Men’s 1st XI 2 Birmingham University 3

Rugby started by far the better team with Chris Graham opening the scoring within the first five minutes.

The 1sts continued to pressure their back four and some great link-up play between Tom Robson and Adam Hewitt allowed Stedman to reverse hit past the keeper. The students enjoyed some good possession and the pace of their midfield started to show. A strike from the top of the D made it 2-1 at half time.

The second half was much scrappier and some late fouls started to top-up the short corner count for the students. Green cards came for Jack Fisher and Tom Carter, leading to another student goal.

More short corners led to a penalty flick after a save from Fred Notman on the post which the students converted to seal the lead and put the game away in the dying minutes.

Man of the Match went to Danny Bell for some great saves.

REWHC 2nd XI 7 Leek 2nds 0

Within 10 minutes, the high press of Rugby saw two goals to the good without the defence actually touching the ball. Robert Best and Ben Kluth were the scorers. Superb play throughout the first half saw a 6-0 lead at half time.

A steady second half saw Rugby not concede to keep a rare clean sheet and despite numerous opportunities scored just the one goal through Ross Curtis.

Man of the match this week was Liam Brown, who scored the other four goals.

REWHC Men’s 3rd XI 0 Loughbro’ Students 3rd 7

A good first half saw tight defence until a scrappy penalty corner saw a goal-line save from John Lumb lead to a penalty stroke, which the students converted. Some good saves from Matt Westbury and Gaz Unett helped keep the scoreline down to 3-0 at half time.

The second half was less good however, with plenty of errant passes as Rugby’s legs tired and Loughborough’s legs and subs prevailed as they scored four more, including one perfectly set up at top D by Josh Russell.

REWHC Men’s 4th XI 1 Ashby 2nd 4

Rugby travelled to Ashby on Saturday afternoon to face a strong Ashby side. The visitors started the game well, creating multiple chances up front and winning the ball well in defence. Rugby then broke the deadlock from the products of smart passing and a clinical finish from James Harrison, following up on a shot from Owen Armstrong to beat the keeper.

The second half for Rugby started slowly and they conceded early on. Due to this heads dropped and they played poorly. A lack of focus and concentration concluded in Ashby scoring three more goals in a short space of time; and Alfie Kay receiving both green and yellow cards.

Man of the match went to Owen for having a great game and putting the ball past defenders multiple times.

REWHC Men’s 5th XI 5 Ashby 3rd 2

Despite conceding first, a pass from Keith to Archie saw Rugby get on the board quickly. Good saves from both sides kept the game tied going into half time. Again Ashby scored quickly to start the half but Rugby began to build momentum with a cross from Adam finding Archie before Keith capitalised from a short corner rebound to put Rugby ahead. Two final goals to seal the game came from Harry and Tom. Man of the Match went to Isaac.

REWHC Men’s 6th XI 6 Leamington 3rd 0

The 6s got off to a flying start as Richard Hardy converted a penalty corner chance deftly created by Richard Spraget. Despite this, Rugby didn’t really hit their full stride until later in the half, when Chris Hodge finished clinically making it 0-2 and then Charlie Morrison tapped in at the far post after Richard H undertook a run from just inside the half-way line.

Great work from Man of the Match George kept the game back under control and a couple of really incisive end-to-end moves led to two goals for Ben Hardy and one more for Charlie M.

REWHC Ladies 1st XI 3 Leek 2

Against the run of play Rugby conceded early on but a three-goal effort from Kirby Harris saw them through. The first goal was an attack down the right and a pass from the baseline to Kirby in the D, who calmly passed the ball into the corner of the goal. From the top of the D, she took the ball left and sent a tomahawk rocketing into the top corner for her second. The third was a run from the left wing by Nicki Siarbawa, who easily outpaced her defender. A well timed cross to the penalty spot set Kirby up for a confident finish.

Leek then scored from a well taken short corner, where they slipped it left and lifted the ball through a gap. A last minute Leek short corner saw the pressure pile against Rugby but Emma Olifent and the defence kept the ball out.

Sunday’s results: Mixed XI 1 Banbury 6, Boys U16 6 Bedford 1, Ladies 4th XI 1 Barford 2nd 2.

Fixtures for Saturday February, 23rd:

Ladies 1st v Boots 1st away

Ladies 2nd v Northampton Saints – Rugby College 1230

Men’s 1st v Warwick Uni 1st – Hart Field 1400

Men’s 2nd v Khalsa 2nd away

Men’s 3rd v Boots 2nd away

Men’s 4th v Atherstone 2nd – Rugby School 1200

Men’s 5th v N’ton Saints 4th away

Men’s 6th v Men’s 7th – Hart Field 1530