West Wilts slay Welsh dragons

West Wilts started positively by giving Swansea Bay no time or space to run with the ball. The visitors were unsettled by the pressure and lost possession a bit too easily at points. West Wilts' hassling finally paid off when Dave Mantle scored midway through the second half. Swansea Bay regained some composure and managed to equalise when a quick break caught the West Wilts defence off guard. Just before the end of the half West Wilts took the lead again, with John Turner scoring his 14th of the season. The second half was controlled by West Wilts as they played the ball around the pitch with Swansea left to do the chasing. The only negative for West Wilts was they could not convert any of the many short corners won in the half. Swansea Bay's tempers began to fray and they had a player shown a yellow card by committing an aggressive foul. Wilts took advantage of this with Dave Jeffreys scoring the third goal. West Wilts travel away to face Team Bath, who are one place above them in the table.

Devizes A 5, West Wilts 2nds 4

WEST Wilts 2nds went down 5-4 in an exciting local derby encounter.

Devizes, looking to gain revenge for their defeat in the reverse fixture before Christmas, started strongly and stretched West Wilts at every opportunity. West Wilts fought hard to stay with the pace but Devizes scored first after 15 minutes and went further ahead soon afterwards. To their credit West Wilts kept trying and pulled a goal back when Colin Webb fired home from out on the right. Devizes restored their two goal advantage almost immediately with a well worked goal and continued to batter the West Wilts defence but it was the visitors that scored next when Rob Robson found the net just before the half-time whistle. The second half started very much like the first, with the home side looking to kill the game off. Devizes went 4-2 up when Devizes were rewarded a penalty stroke after Charlie Budgett was adjudged to have made an illegal challenge in the circle. Devizes' fifth goal came soon afterwards and West Wilts looked dead on their feet but they did not give up and with less than 10 minutes remaining Rob Robson found the net again before Craig Kilminster unleashed a fearsome reverse stick shot from the top of the circle to bring West Wilts back to within one goal. The last three minutes were a bit of a scramble but Devizes held on to win a game they really should have put out of reach well before the end.

West Wilts Ladies 2nds 4, Pucklechurch Ladies 3

A GOAL opened and closed this match between the two sides and kept West Wilts on their toes until the final whistle.

Some rare January sun greeted the two teams, and it was obviously to the benefit of Wilts as they scored within minutes of the start. A clean pushback saw Sally Winter quickly gain the ball and having taken it up into the Pucklechurch circle, she laid it off to Fiona Pridham, who then deftly shot into the back of the next. It did not take Pucklechurch long to respond with a goal, as they caught the Wilts defence on the back foot from a free hit just inside the 25 yard line. A hard cross into the Wilts circle was then deflected cleanly into the net at speed and the opposition scored a well deserved first goal. As the game continued Wilts looked to enjoy the majority of play. Kirsty Stewart and Sally Webb were strong in the middle of the pitch as they calmly distributed play around the Pucklechurch midfield and up to the attack. Pucklechurch were strong on the break, and a gap in the Wilts midfield enabled them to break to the top of the circle and take the ball round the keeper and strike it into the back of the net. Wilts was quick to get the scores back to level pegging as Sally Winter again assisted Fiona Pridham to take the score to 2-2 going into the second half. The second half saw Wilts still having to work for the ball, but enjoying the upper hand in play. Good team play resulted in another 2 well worked goals from a battling Sally Winter, and a rather more leisurely Lara Robson as Fiona Pridham dragged the keeper away from her goal allowing Lara an open goal into which she walked with the ball.

Chippenham Mens 3rds 3, Bath Buccs H 4

CHIPPENHAM managed to waste a 2-0 lead five minutes before the half-time break, losing 3-4 to Buccs H who maintain their second place league position.

Buccs have lost only two games this season and were one of the form sides to beat. Chippenham struck twice early on in this game and set the Buccs side reeling. Their first goal came courtesy of an excellent darting run from Ian Gould who passed across the top of the D for Steve Kilvington to slot the ball home. The second came only minutes later when another scramble in the D saw Matt Gale finish off with a reverse stick scoop. An injured Gould had to limp off shortly afterwards and this meant some emergency substitutions were made by Chippenham who then found themselves on the back foot as Buccs regrouped and came back strongly. This counter-attack was initially resisted but a lack of focus allowed Buccs to break through the Chippenham defence. A couple of simple errors were again Chippenham's undoing as their concentration lapsed and passes were either too soft or were intercepted, or possession was needlessly given away. After the half-time break, Chippenham resumed at the same pace they started the game with and soon regained the lead. A five man player sequence all the way up the pitch led to Kilvington ease the ball home past the Buccs goalkeeper. But once again, a lapse in concentration saw Buccs draw level after some ten minutes of midfield battle. Chippenham wasted at least three opportunities to go back into the lead before Buccs grabbed a fourth goal from a short corner and Chippenham had to defend well until the final whistle. Chippenham had a number of promising breaks but just could not convert opportunity into goals. Man-of-the-match was Chris Barrow.

Marlborough Ladies 0, Chippenham Ladies 1

A GOAL by Helen Dolman was enough to give Chippneham victory in a fiercely contested derby match.

The game was full of fine, end-to-end hockey and was fiercely contested by both teams. Chippenham made a great start to the game, showing some slick passing routines and ended the half with a slender one goal lead. Their goal came from Dolman, who accurately slotted the ball past the diving Marlborough goalkeeper. The second half was equally hard fought but Chippenham remained strong to take three badly needed points. Player of the match was Helen Dolman.

Wootton Bassett Ladies 1, Chippenham Ladies 3 (after penalty shoot-out)

THE day after recording a fine win over Marlborough Ladies, Chippenham travelled to Wootton Bassett for their opening fixture in this year's Wiltshire County Cup.

This was another very tough game and the result could have gone either way during the 70 minutes of normal playing time. Two periods of extra-time still could not split the teams and the game had to be decided by a very tense penalty shoot-out. Julie Lodge stepped up and smashed home the first penalty for Chippenham and give them the perfect start. Chippenham goalkeeper, Tracy Doughty pulled off three brilliant saves from Bassett and so put pressure on their remaining penalty takers who could not compete. Chippenham won the shoot-out 3-1 and go through to the next round.

City of Bath 2nds 1, Chippenham Ladies 2nds 1

CHIPPENHAM put pressure on their opponents right from the pushback, with Cath Walker making some great runs down the right wing and creating chances for the visitors.

Against the run of play, Bath opened their account towards the end of the first half with a breakaway striker gaining ground on the waiting Chippenham defence. She slotted a reverse stick ball into the goal leaving Chippenham goalkeeper Alexis Taylorh no chance. The second half saw a fired-up Chippenham team pile on the pressure, with Ellie Copeland and Marie Fanckcom in the midfield mounting some fine attacks. Chippenham drew level when Jade Jackman drove into the circle before passing the ball neatly to Franckcom who hammered it home from the edge of the D. Both teams were then desperate to find the goal which would snatch victory but despite some exciting end to end play, the game remained level at 1-1.

Chippenham Ladies 3rds 9, Marlborogh Ladies 3rds 1

THIS was a must-win game for Chippenham in their battle for promotion.

They started well, attacking hard straight from the pushback. With strong accurate pasing through the midfield, Emma Groom was able to take the ball into Marlborough's D and with a great back pass to the waiting Sarah Hamilton, Chippenham opened the scoring. Now playing with confidence, Chippenham were able to spread the game out wide to open up play. Good support from Kate Potter and Rhiannon Roberts pushing through the Marlborough defence enabled Emma Joyce to extend the lead to 2-0. Sustanined pressure from Chippenham lead to a series of well-worked passing from Jo White to Kate Potter who added a third. With half-time approaching, Chippenham found that extra effort from deep in their defence, with Penny Edwards racing up the left wing, switching play into the middle for Joyce to score and take a 4-0 lead going into the break. Determined to keep their lead, Chippenham started the second half as they ended the first. Hamilton soon added a fifth goal, hitting the ball into the top right hand corner. Marlborough then got back into the game and turned defence into attack and despite some fine saves from Sian Rhys-Price in the Chippenham goal, the pressure from Marlborough told and they pulled a goal back. But Chippenham were also quick to turn defence into attack and two quick successive goals from Joyce put them back on track and increase the score to 7-1. Marlborough continued to fight back, forcing Claire Bennett to run players down and for Angie Whiteside to make some great tackles to prevent them from doubling their goal count. Chippenham's next goal came from Joyce who completed her double hat-trick. The player of the match award was shared by Kay Tucker, Angie Whiteside, Emma Joyce and Penny Edwards

Chippenham Ladies 4ths 2, Frome Ladies 3rds 1

CHIPPENHAM 4ths were celebrating as they recorded their first win of the season.

Frome started well, and against the run of play, opened the scoring. From then on, Chippenham were the stronger of the two teams, creating several chances which eventually lead to their opening goal by Julia Keegan. The second half saw a now confident Chippenham come out strongly and mount pressure on their visitors. They were awarded many short corners, none of which were converted but eventually Kelly Blake did put one such short corner away to seal a deserved victory for the home side. Player-of-the-match was Kelly Blake.