Whilst the Men's 1st team struggled away from home to Bolton HC with a depleted side the others teams got off to an amazing start.
Ladies 1st team - Dot keeps a clean sheet...
A solid start from Ladies 1’s with a 3-0 win over Urmston Ladies 2’s. With a few new faces playing this season Wigan made a strong start, gaining some early penalty corners; a nicely worked penalty corner resulted in a goal from Sophie Cooper. Urmston created chances and kept Dot busy in nets who made a number of impressive saves throughout the match. Wigan’s defence played calmly under pressure and led the team to play some lovely hockey and earn 3 solid points to kick off the season. Goal scorers: S. Cooper, S. Fiddler and K. Ogden Ladies 2nd Team - off to a flyer.... The ladies set the season off to a great start with a 5-3 win against Moss Park 3s. Struggling for numbers meant we only just managed to get 11 players, however that obviously didn’t affect our performance! The team worked hard setting a strong press and putting the opposition under pressure in the first half. After some hard work from the midfield they managed to pass to Kim Ogden who finished off the job- our first goal. With many opportunities in the D it was Kiera Jones who scored the second with a wonderful slip into the back corner. Our new keeper Grace Eastham played very well (complimented by umpire) saving 5 goals in the first half. Unfortunately Moss Park played some great short corners, scoring 2 goals. In the second half Kim Ogden scored again by running from almost the half way line but keeping composure enough to shoot accurately hitting the backboard. Alice Shelmerdine helped set up 2 goals which Kiera Jones finished off with challenge from Moss Park defence. With an unlucky injury to captain with 20 mins to go, Wigan were left with only 10 players but that didn’t stop them from staying strong, playing excellent hockey and jumping back to help each other out (just like we’ve been working on in training). Fantastic start to the season! Mens 2nd team - Mission impossible....
Player unavailability was an issue on the run up to the game, and changes on the morning meant that Wigan started the game with only 9 players on the pitch. However, massive amounts of determination and discipline saw them take the lead through David Clarke, who despite describing himself as "unable to hit a barn door with a banjo" found the backboard after some neat passing down the left hand side. Buxton equalised after some sustained pressure and a penalty corner, and seemed sure to take the lead after being awarded a penalty flick, Ben Coupe unluckily seeing the ball strike his foot on the goal line. However, man of the match Lee Ashcroft saved, just one of many outstanding contributions to the defence. Anthony Harrison arrived on the pitch and immediately scored to give Wigan a 2-1 lead, combining well with Dave Clarke again down the left hand side. After the break Wigan fended off a lot of sustained pressure, Buxton equalising again to make it 2-2. Anthony Harrison was forced off with an injury, sending the team back down to 9 men. Lee Ashcroft produced some outstanding saves, with goal line clearances from Ben Coupe and Phil Houseley to keep the scores level. A very hard fought point in difficult circumstances.
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