Aylesbury Hockey Club bring home the points from weekend games
With most of sides having a well-earned break over the weekend due to school half-term, it was left to just two teams from Aylesbury Hockey Club's senior sections to hit it out on the turf in what was two very exciting games.
The red and black's Mens Devs welcomed league leaders Wootton Wanderers to their home turf in a game that was always going to be a tough one. However, the homeground advantage obviously worked, because from the opening whistle Aylesbury held strong and gave it their all against their top opposition, with Player of the Match, goalkeeper Mark Collins, absolutely on-fire all game, making it very hard for Wootton to get the ball past him, he made sure with save after save that he kept the boys in the game.
Around 60 minutes into the game the mighty ducks broke through the opposition’s defence and with a sensational assist from Chris Owen, with a perfectly placed ball through to Dave Skinner in the attacking D, it was the crack the boys had been waiting for, with a stunning goal past the keeper, taking Aylesbury in the lead 1-0.
It was still anyone's game, with both teams aiming for the points, but with just five minutes to go an opposition player slipped and badly injured himself and it meant a 10-minute pause to the game, and with players getting cold and Aylesbury's control waning slightly upon return, Wootton took advantage and scored to even the score 1-1 at the final whistle.
In the Women's 4s match, the ladies hit the road to travel to Northampton to take on Wootton Wanderers 3s and the two teams were sitting on even points going into the match so both were looking to grab some important points from this match. However, it was the Aylesbury girls who took the game to their opposition from the opening whistle and made their defence work hard the whole game.
Within the first 10 minutes a fantastic team play from defence through midfield to Abigail Pybus in the D, who swiftly drew the defender and passed it perfectly to Bella Nickless on the P-spot, she turned and cracked it past the goalie to score the first goal of the game in convincing style.
Constantly fighting for more opportunities, the mighty Ducks grabbed a penalty corner at 30 minutes in and with their regular injectors both off the turf, the newest member of the Womens 4s team, young Hannah Kiernan, stepped-up to push out to Michelle Robertson on top of the D who fired an absolute cracker to the far post with Lexi Evans being in the perfect position with her stick down and the ball reverberated onto the backboard for the red and blacks’ second goal.
In the second half Wootton had most of their players in their defensive 23 with Aylesbury constantly pushing for more goals, but just couldn't get it through the numbers, but they enjoyed an eventual well-deserved 2-0 win and brought home the three points.
Two thrilling matches for Aylesbury over the weekend and two great results and with all teams back out on the pitch this weekend, the red and blacks are looking forward to keeping those points coming.