Morecambe & District Hockey Club

Junior Training will be taking a two week break for half term. There will be no training on Sunday 12th & 19th February.

Enjoy your half term!!

Training begins again on Sunday 26th February.

Due to recent poor weather conditions, Junior Training is cancelled tomorrow 5/2/2012

Clitheroe Ladies 2nds  1   Morecambe Ladies 1st  1

Morecambe met Clitheroe this week, prepared for a tough game and determined to take three points.

Still missing injured captain, Standeven, they were heartened by the return of Gomersall up front and Central midfielder, Knowles returning to full fitness.

Morecambe started brightly, with some positive play up the right wing between Winder, Johns, Hurd and Burnside. Within five minutes, Morecambe had their dream start. A long corner on the right allowed Hurd to drive the baseline and feed in Broadfield. The attacker drew in the defence and slipped the ball back through to Hurd, who reversed it past the onrushing keeper, into the far corner of the goal.

Clitheroe fought back however, and made some positive moves through the field. Bowman, Winder and Fawcett were up to the challenge however, keeping the home side at bay.

Both teams were playing strongly at this point – Johns, Knowles and Williams created space and opportunities in the middle of the park for wingers Fawcett and Hurd; and the relentless running and pressure of the forwards, reduced Clitheroe to playing long balls. The home side did earn themselves a penalty corner however, and converted their first opportunity with a straight strike at goal.

Morecambe took the game straight back to them with Broadfield running at the Clitheroe defence right from the pushback. Morecambe kept the pressure on, with great work from Gormesall, Burnside, Broadfield and Rogerson up front, but Clitheroe kept the doors firmly shut, 1-1 at half time.

Morecambe stepped the game pace up in the second half, and really found their stride, playing some very classy hockey. They played with confidence from the back and worked some lovely one-two’s around the opposition on both wings. Knowles and Johns played some great inviting balls, cutting the Clitheroe midfield to shreds and encouraging right midfielder Hurd to push forward and join the attack. The forwards worked the by-lines tirelessly and were rewarded with numerous chances in front of goal.

Johns hit the post and Morecambe had a string of penalty corners, but it seemed destined not to be. Despite spending the majority of the second half inside the Clitheroe half, and limiting the home side to only a few attacking moves, Morecambe were unable to convert any more of their chances and the game remained tied at one all. Morecambe have plenty of positives to take home with the point, a team performance to be proud of.

Team: J.Lawson, H.Winder, K.Bowman, P.Fawcett, J.Knowles, D.Hurd, H.Johns (capt), D.Williams, A.Broadfield, C.Rogerson, N.Gomersall, G.Burnside.

Team Sponsor: Morecambe Press

Junior Training – Cancelled today (29/1/2012) due to frozen Pitch.

North West Division 3.

Liverpool Sefton Men’s 2s 3     Morecambe Men’s 1s 5

Morecambe made the trip to Liverpool for their away fixture against Liverpool Sefton, a destination that has provided plenty of drama and mixed fortunes for Morecambe in recent years.

Morecambe were without key players, Steve Goodwin and Matthew Seddon and consequently Gordon Davidson and Luke Heap returned to the squad.

In blustery conditions, Liverpool Sefton started the game strongly, pushing Morecambe on to the back foot. The home side started well and created a number of good chances.  Determined runs down the flanks, resulted in some excellent crosses that Morecambe struggled to deal with and were lucky to escape being punished.

Morecambe tried to get into the game, but struggled to produce the free-flowing passing play that has contributed towards their recent victories.

Liverpool Sefton managed to earn themselves a number of penalty corners and it was from one of these that the first goal came, when the ball was struck into the bottom corner of the net.

The introduction of Heap changed the game for Morecambe and it was some good work from the forward who left the defenders standing, before his deflected pass found Phil Molyneux in the circle. Molyneux still had work to do and he made no mistake, skilfully dribbling to the byline, before finishing from a tight angle to equalise.

Morecambe persevered and managed to get a grip on the contest, which was turning into a scrappy affair, as both sides battled for possession.  They took the lead, when a goalkeeping error allowed Heap to finish coolly into an empty goal.

Morecambe’s tails were up and after a period of pressure they asserted themselves further with a slick set piece as Rob Pritchard hit home.  His powerful completion of a penalty corner left the Sefton ‘keeper no chance.

Skipper Matt Wright’s half time team talk focused on consolidation, and warned that the home side would come out reinvigorated.  His prediction was to be proved accurate as Sefton hauled themselves back into the contest when Craig Allison hesitated at the back, his clearance hitting an oncoming attacker and cruelly beating Morecambe goalkeeper Jack Lennon.

After the restart, Morecambe found their feet quickly and soon regained their two goal advantage.  Pritchard made the most of a defensive error, drawing in Sefton’s backline before unselfishly finding his strike partner Molyneux.  Morecambe’s leading scorer struck the post with his shot, but in the ensuing melee Crabtree found Heap with a seemingly perfect pass. And the confident forward found the space to finish expertly, for his second of the match.

The game came to a temporary halt soon afterwards as defensive midfielder Andrew Crabtree suffered one of the perils of the sport, as a stray opposition stick found the top of his head.  The resulting injury saw the young player taken to hospital by ambulance for treatment.

After a ten minute stoppage, the game was put out of Sefton’s reach when Molyneux made a powerful run into the home side’s territory.  In typical style, he skilfully found his way into the circle, before unleashing a trademark reverse strike for Morecambe’s fifth.

Sefton would strike once more late on in the game, but Morecambe were not to be denied another vital three points.  The race for promotion continues.

Morecambe Men’s 1s: J. Lennon, S. Mounsey, I. Burstow, M. Wright (capt), C. Allison, A. Crabtree, M. Sambell, J. Davidson, N. Davey, R. Pritchard, P. Molyneux.

Subs. J. Belshire, L. Heap, G. Davidson.

Man of the Match: Luke Heap.

Matchball sponsor: Duncan Hall Financial Planning Services.

Keswick West Cumbria Men’s 3rds 2 Morecambe Men’s 3rds 1

As dusk fell and turned to night in Cockermouth, Morecambe started rather more brightly than the floodlights of which only half worked. The Morecambe defence and midfield quickly took full control of the game with good interplay forcing Keswick onto the back foot.

Keswick had to rely on stout defending and desperate clearances out of defence as Morecambe continually drove forward. All that was lacking was the final touch and by half time the game was disappointingly still level when Morecambe should have been three or more up.

The second half started in similar vain though Keswick began to find a better balance as Morecambe’s midfield began to tire.

Against the run of play a foul led to a firm strike into the D which collected a Keswick stick deflection en route and shot into the top corner before the Morecambe goalkeeper had time to flinch.

Undeterred Morecambe strove forward and quickly equalised as a quick turn and pass in the D gave George Elley the opening to sweep the ball home.

Still with the majority of possession Morecambe should have gone on to wrap the game up but it was Keswick who found a rare gap in defence to put them ahead.

With one of the most frugal defences in the division but the lowest scoring team, Morecambe need to start finding the openings up front if they are to achieve a top three finish which should be within their grasp.