Slazenger Ladies extend their winning run to 15 with impressive win over Ben Rhydding

Slazenger Ladies Hockey Club's first team are proving unstoppable and made it 15 wins in a row with a home success against Ben Rhydding.
Hannah Field scored twice early on to put Slazenger Ladies in control of their latest winning game.Hannah Field scored twice early on to put Slazenger Ladies in control of their latest winning game.
Hannah Field scored twice early on to put Slazenger Ladies in control of their latest winning game.

With spirits high and a strong game plan it did not take long for the first goal to come, a team effort put away by Melissa Lambert.

With fierce competition to be top scorer, Hannah Field wanted in on the action and netted twice to put Slazenger in control.

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Clutching on to the top goal scorer position, Jessica Rudge could not let Hannah have all the glory and was soon to get on the scoresheet after a well executed short corner. This was shortly followed by a slick goal from Sarah Cooper to make it 5-0 at half-time.

Ellie Page was among the scorers in an 8-1 win for Slazenger Ladies first team against Ben Rhydding.Ellie Page was among the scorers in an 8-1 win for Slazenger Ladies first team against Ben Rhydding.
Ellie Page was among the scorers in an 8-1 win for Slazenger Ladies first team against Ben Rhydding.

Ben Rhydding sneaked a goal back early in the second half, but Slazenger were soon back on top with Ellie Page scoring after a beautiful assist from Tyrrell.

Keen to stay at the top of the table and get the goal difference up, Slaz went looking for more goals while the defence of Minchella, Wallace, Jones, Birch and GK Erin kept the visitors at bay.

Field, Swindon, Fawdington-Fisher, Lambert and Page continued to play some good passes and a speedy ball from Field met Coops in the D who deflected it past the keeper for the seventh goal.

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This was shortly followed by another deflection from Rudge and the team was looking to beat the tally of eight they put past Ben Rhydding earlier this season.

They had one last chance and captain Rudge executed a lovely drag flick that was saved by the keeper, but Jones failed to make contact from the rebound.

Slazenger Ladies 2s travelled to play Harrogate Ladies 3s and despite the windy conditions they were quick on the ball with some fast passes and one-twos around the home players.

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Eventually, this gained some breakthroughs into the opposition's defence, but it did result in goals being scored.

Slaz were caught slacking during the closing minutes of the first half and conceded twice to give themselves a big task after the break.

Undeterred, they continued to play some good attacking stuff, but were unable to turn pressure into goals and paid the price as Harrogate grabbed another two to run out 4-0 winners.

The ladies fourth team hosted top of the table Aire Valley thirds and the sides looked equal in the early stages.

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Fiona McLeod, playing only her second game, has clearly settled in well and along with Bella Kidd kept Aire Valley out wide. An unfortunate short corner did see the visitors score first, but Slazenger were not without their chances.

Emma Hammond, up front, received several good balls and new player Anna-Mai Lowrie supported, but were unlucky not to score.

Aire Valley were awarded another short corner and scored, taking them 2-0 up at half-time.

Coming back onto the pitch, Sarah Paverley and Ingrid Coughtrey played higher out of defence and supported the attack and helped put the pressure on, resulting in two short corners just narrowly missing the net.

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Evie Mollart placed herself perfectly on the post but her superb sweep was saved by the keeper. Gemma Wroe, in midfield, did not give up, sending the ball back in for Slazenger.

Despite their efforts Aire Valley went on to win 4-0.

Players of the match were Fiona McLoud, Anna-Mai Lowrie and Gemma Wroe.

Slazenger men's firsts travelled to Hull Uni firsts for an inconvenient and inhospitably late match against the students.

They were the victors, with Danny Perry running in two goals, Max Godley netting two and Joe Minchella also scoring in a 5-1 success.

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The men's seconds hosted Acomb firsts in a good battle at the Southfield pitch.

The two sides were locked at 0-0 for the entire first half. Slaz enjoyed much of the possession, however a strong back line pairing from Acomb ensured hard work for the front line.

Paired with some sub-par shooting and the home side were unable to convert their chances. Acomb similarly had several attacking opportunities, but the home side defensively played well and goalkeeper Will Parish pulled off some notable saves to keep it all level at half-time.

In the second half, the home side continued to press and again struggled to convert. However, the combination of Amir Khalil and Ian Hedges linked up well down the left side, setting up Hedges for a reverse strike to net the only goal of the game (much to the surprise of those on the terraces!).

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In atrocious weather, the worst thing Slazenger men’s thirds could have done was to take an early lead against high-flying Tadcaster.

Despite conceding an early goal they were 2-1 up after five minutes, with goals from Andy Fisher and Jordan Ingham, but this merely spurred the opposition into action and they then proceeded to score with clinical regularity.

Most arose from shots on goal which were deftly deflected into the net by players, all too often, left unmarked at the far post.

Despite being placed under constant pressure by a confident, skilful team, Slazenger continued to compete, working tirelessly to offer a goal threat themselves. Eventually their efforts were rewarded with further goals by Fisher and Ingham, with Emmett adding a fifth late in the second half.

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Unfortunately, despite the sun making a belated appearance, the game was well beyond them, the final score being 10-5.

The men's fourths travelled to Leeds Adel sixths and came away 3-2 winners. Goals were scored by John Sykes and Damian Grieg (two).

Slazenger men's fifths played a well contested game at Ben Rhydding and won convincingly.

Goals came from Damian Grieg (two), John Sykes (two), Richard Coughtrey, Rob Brear and Alex Jolly.

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The development team’s performances have been building steadily over the last few games, culminating in the first win of the season against a well-drilled Ben Rhydding side.

Slazenger dominated for large parts of the game, with the majority of the first half being played in the Ben Rhydding half. The midfield of Amar Khalil, Kurtis Holliday, Zach Parkinson and Oliver Ford controlled the game, creating goal scoring chances for Owen Coughtrey and Aleks Thompson, while Curtis Jones continually created problems for the opposition defence on the right wing.

It was Zach Parkinson, however, who scored two great first half goals, skilfully beating the defence on both occasions to give Slazenger a 2-0 half-time lead.

Ben Rhydding found their feet a little in the second half and pushed more into Slazenger territory, but strong defence from Dan Bailey, Connor Browett and Bella Kidd and great keeping from Jack Hancock kept them at bay.

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Slaz created chance after chance, but could not find the net. Ben Rhydding scored a consolation goal late on, from a short corner which deflected off a Slazenger stick, but could not find the equaliser and Slazenger came out the well deserved 2-1 victors.

Friday night at 7.30pm many Slazenger over 40s men’s players had their first evening game and with the new LED flood lights there were no excused for not seeing the ball.

Didsbury North Hockey Club travelled over from Manchester for the last 16 in the England Hockey Cup. Both teams got off to a flying start, both keen the keep position and find weaknesses.

Both teams created chances and could have gone ahead in a balanced first half, but it was Didsbury that got the break to be leading 1-0 at half-time.

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Slaz set into the second half determined to pull a goal back, but it was hard work breaking through a solid back line. They battled hard defending back when Didsbury broke through, but they were too strong and got another goal 10 minutes into the second half.

With some simple passing Slaz found a lapse of concentration from the Didsbury side and Mark Swindon scored.

They continued to push Didsbury but finally the visitors broke loose near the end of the game to close it at 3-1.

Slazenger could be proud of a hard-fought game from start to finish, punching above their weight for the full match.