Hockey: Lancaster 1s 2'“0 Garstang Ladies 1s

From the first whistle Lancaster pressed Garstang high up the pitch, creating overloads and forcing mistakes.

The deadlock was broken after only five minutes when an early ball from Toni Fagan found Chloe Ranson high up the pitch; her pin point cross evaded the keeper and Annie Park slotted the ball home with a perfect first time strike. Lancaster kept pressing and Hayley Johns and Hannahlise Morris worked well together to move the ball forward.

Lancaster made it two after 15 minutes when Holly Farquharson found Ali Standeven on the left who charged forward with the ball before checking back and crossing the ball into the D where once again, Park was in the perfect position to flick the ball past the keeper with a deft touch.

Into the second half and coach Chris Simcock reminded Lancaster to keep it tight and keep possession and Lancaster did just that.

Nina Swarbrick and Eve Park held the ball up well in the middle and Julie Walker worked hard upfront to keep the pressure on Garstang’s defence.

Lancaster worked hard and kept their structure well to frustration of Garstang.

Garstang kept pressing forward looking for a breakthrough but Katie Benter and Heather Andrew were organised and solid at the back to deny them.

Abi Symonds was strong in goal making a great save from a corner.

Into the last 10 minutes and Lancaster were putting their bodies on the line to keep their lead.

Swarbrick and Eve Park needed head injuries patching up and Johns and Andrew played on with hand injuries; but with grit and determination Lancaster saw the game out.

Lancaster Development Team 6–2 Ulverston Development Team

Lancaster Development Team were inspired by the performances of Lancaster Hockey Club’s big wins on Saturday and wanted to score lots of goals.

The team weren’t disappointed as Karen Foster scored her hat-trick within 15 minutes, they were all scored following rebounded shots and tap ins into the side of the goal.

There was some fantastic play and passing around midfield from Kate and Molly Ayrton, who were able to feed the ball through to forwards Ailsa McKirdy and Julie Ashworth.

McKirdy and Ashworth worked hard to win a flurry of short corners and credit to the Ulverston goalkeeper who made save after save.

A formation change saw Shreya Kakkar and Abby Foster moved up front. Foster’s pace unsettled the Ulverston defence and she was able to run the ball down the baseline and create a number of chances.

Molly and Kate Ayrton’s hard work was rewarded by a goal for each of them.

In the second half Ulverston’s young players never gave up and despite Abi Watson’s strong tackles were able to break the Lancaster defence and score an early goal.

Lancaster responded well with Abby Foster scoring Lancaster’s final goal.

Ulverston made it 6-2 after converting a short corner in the final seconds of the game.