Chelmsford Ladies 1st XI 0 Bedford 1st XI 3

CHELMSFORD Ladies’ first team’s return to the Investec Conference East after the winter break saw them largely outplayed by a highly motivated and well-organised Bedford first team, who won 3-0.

Bedford’s position at the foot of the league belied their capabilities and with everything to play for in retaining their league status, they produced some flowing and determined hockey.

Bedford’s matchday programme cited successes in their pre-restart warm up games which clearly made them match-ready, whereas Chelmsford’s training and friendlies were largely cancelled due to freezing weather conditions at Chelmer Park.

Despite this, Chelmsford’s performance in the first half was solid and fully committed.

After just three minutes a shot on goal from Julia Butterworth was only kept out by a diving save from the home keeper and a reverse stick strike seven minutes later from Emer Acton went just wide.

Chelmsford held overall control of the game for long periods but Bedford broke away a couple of times to remind the visitors they could be vulnerable to counter-attacks.

With Acton influential in midfield, excellent play from Jess Bryan and Kate Maxey set up some promising attacks.

In the last minute of the first half, a long precision pass from Sophie Green found Kate Taylor in the D and an infringement resulted in a short corner.

Bedford defended this and at the break neither side had found the breakthrough.

Soon after the re-start, pressure from Chelmsford into the Bedford half was broken down and a rapid move on the right flank saw Bedford’s front-runners in space and a well-struck shot found the net for a 1-0 lead.

Bedford maintained the initiative and three minutes later in another open play move on the right, cut the ball into the D and a swift shot took the lead to 2-0.

Chelmsford kept their heads in the face of a buoyant home side and regained some control of the match.

But at the midpoint of the half another open play effort increased the lead to 3-0 and set a challenging task for Chelmsford to address.

This they did, with every member of the squad up for the fight.

Chelmsford built their game with well-timed passing and mutual support and the pressure took them regularly into the Bedford D.

In the closing stages of the match Chelmsford won two short corners but it was not to be their day and at the final whistle Bedford ran out clear winners.

Chelmsford’s next game is at Chelmer Park on Saturday, February 14, against local rivals Ipswich. Pushback is at 2pm.

 

Chelmsford Men’s 1st XI 1 Harleston Magpies 1st XI 5

AFTER the second winter break of the season, this time unplanned, Chelmsford returned to East Premier A league action against a recently struggling Harleston Magpies side.

Poor weather had put paid to Chelmsford’s last four sessions of hockey action, and whilst that might not sound like much it was surprising how alien the game felt to the side.

It took a while to re-master the basics and this allowed a resurgent and confident Magpies side to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

However, the game started with neither side taking the initiative, and much of the play was in the midfield.

It would be fair to say that the midfield, which at various times consisted of Adam Hunter, CJ Mayes, Tom Woollatt and Will Stock, had a good game.

Both sides had penalty corners which went unconverted and the feeling was that any moment of inspired brilliance or conversely a sloppy slip up could provide the opening.

But it proved to be a Chelmsford slip up which allowed the break through. The ball was lost in the congested midfield, but an inspired Magpies break down the centre of the park led to a shot in the D which was initially saved, but the rebound flew high into the roof of the net.

A second followed shortly afterwards from a short corner and the third arrived courtesy of seeing the ball again lost in the midfield.

Half-time arrived and with improvements needed for the home side, they duly arrived.

Chelmsford remained the aggressor for sizeable chunks of the remainder of the game, and reduced the deficit via an excellent deflection from Rich de Boltz, scoring his maiden 1st XI goal in the process.

With a comeback beginning to mount, Magpies scored the next goal. A flick from the top of the D rocketed into the bottom left corner.

Magpies extended their lead with seconds left on the clock with a fine reverse strike squeezing between bodies in the D.

It was a tough game for Chelmsford, full of lessons learnt but not without flashes of promise going forward. They resume league action against current league leaders St Albans on Saturday, away at 3pm.