HOCKEY SLIDESHOW: Rugby Men's 4ths v Loughborough Students

Rugby & East Warwickshire Hockey Club

Lichfield 3 REWHC Men’s 1st XI 4

Carrying on from where they left off last week, Rugby began to put pressure on the Lichfield defence and were able to capitalise on a breakaway with Szymon Oszyjczyk putting the ball into the back of the net with ease.

Lichfield fought back but great saves from Danny Bell, kept them at bay. Szymon then grabbed his second after another breakaway goal. Going into halftime 2-0 Rugby knew the game wasn’t up and from the off Lichfield were pressing and pressing, however, this gave Rugby space in behind to exploit, and exploit it they did with Chris Graham capitalising on great team play, and slotting the ball home.

Lichfield didn’t stop though and grabbed their first, however, Luke Armstrong then scored a goal to make it 4-1. You might have thought the game was over now but Lichfield through the kitchen sink at their visitors in the last ten minutes and were able to score a further two goals, but Rugby were able to hang on and earn three points. Man of the Match: Mitch Francuz.

REWHC Men’s 2nd XI 2 Notts Uni 4

A good start for Rugby as they took an early lead through Chris Abraham. They needed more goals and kept pushing forward creating half chances and forcing saves from the Uni goal keeper. The Uni side began to settle into the game asking questions of the midfield and defence, who seemed to be coping with the pressure until a nicely waited pass eliminated three of Rugby’s players and left an opening for an easy equalising finish for 1-1 at half time.

The second half started positively with Rugby having a good share of the possession and again creating chances. Notts Uni upped their game, or Rugby could have lost their concentration. Despite Connor Robson’s heroics, Rugby conceded three goals in a 15-minute spell for 1-4. Credit to Rugby for not giving up and playing for pride, they scored from a short corner through Chris Harding.

Alex Watkins encouraged his team mates to learn from the mistakes and go again next week at home against Olton. Man of the Match: Connor Robson and Jack Fisher.

Lichfield 6 REWHC Men’s 3rd XI 1

A good first ten minutes of ball movement culminated in a one-goal lead for Rugby from a Henry dragflick straight down the centre and outside the keeper’s foot. Rugby played very well right up to the point they scored. After that it became a game of annoyances, a lucky ball through allowed Lichfield to equalise before an unlucky bounce saw a second Lichfield goal. Two short corners brought the first half to a close at 4-1.

The second half brought more possession and movement from Rugby but they couldn’t find the net. Two more goals on the break put the game away for Lichfield. A good example of Rugby not taking their chances and not stopping Lichfield from taking theirs.

REWHC Men’s 4th XI 1 Loughboro’ Students 6

Judging by Man of the Match being split eight ways before being awarded to David Manning by a final vote from Giles, the team ultimately had a rather mediocre performance all around. With three games left now and no more uni teams left to play the team are aiming to take the nine points.

Belper 3 REWHC Men’s 5th XI 1

The 5s’ winning run came to an end, with their first defeat in over a month, missing star sweeper Mark. Rugby got off to a slow start, failing to control passes as they got used to the bouncy pitch, which saw them concede two goals in the first 15 minutes. However, they got more into the game as the half went on, with a one-two between Alfie and debutant Owen leading to Alfie pulling one back with a powerful shot into the bottom left corner.

Unfortunately, the 5ths switched off again at the beginning of the second half and allowed Belper to drift through and score another. Like in the first half, Rugby got more into it as the half went on, starting with good distribution from Keith and Man of the Match Rich.

Leicester 1 REWHC Men’s 7th XI 1