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Leicester HC & England Press Reports 2009/10:
Press reports will normally be placed here weekly throughout the season and many thanks go to Gaynor Nash, who also submits them to Tuesday's Leicester Mercury. | |
Aug 18th - Leic Hockey Club, Tasty New Deal
Leicester Ladies Hockey Club is pleased to announce a new and improved deal with long-standing sponsors Pukka Pies. The Syston-based company has been involved in sponsoring Leicester's first team for several seasons but a new agreement announced today sees them providing cash and pies to support the whole club.
Previously, the club's four other sides have looked on licking their lips as the first team stars and their opponents tuck into Pukka Pie favourites after England Hockey league matches. Now the club's 2nds and 3rds, playing in the Midlands League, and 4ths and 5ths, playing in the Leicestershire League will be dashing off the pitch to savour chicken and mushroom, steak and kidney and other Pukka Pie delights.
It's hard to look beyond the pies but even more important to the club's survival and development is the financial sponsorship from Pukka. This season the club will receive additional funding, signifying a major sponsorship deal in women's hockey terms. With a European competition in both indoor and outdoor codes in 2011 the Pukka Pies money is the perfect recipe for future success. The Leicester club is proud to provide six members of the England squad about to contest the Women's Hockey World Cup in Argentina. It proved itself to be the upper crust of domestic hockey last season by topping the League, winning the Cup and winning the Indoor Cup. The club's four other sides provide various levels of competitive hockey for players aged 13-56 as well as nurturing new talent through junior coaching. The Pukka Pies' motto of 'Pukka Pies - don't compromise' is matched by the club's pursuit of excellence on and off the field with the England Hockey Board recently confirming the 'Club'sFirst' kitemark, showing that the club does all it can to safeguard and develop all club players, especially its youngsters. Club President, Sarah Treanor said: "We are proud and delighted to renew and improve our agreement with Pukka Pies. I know that they too are proud to be associated with a club with such a great history, vibrant present and promising future. I hope that we can continue to provide them with reasons to savour their connection with us through the achievements of the whole club." For further info please contact Gaynor Nash 07828797693 July 6th - Six of the Best Six Leicester girls have ultimately made it through to the final 18 for the Women's Champions Trophy at Highfields Hockey Centre in Nottingham, starting on Saturday 10th July. Kerry Williams, Crista Cullen, Chloe Rogers, Hannah MacLeod, Katie Long and Laura Unsworth got the nod from coach Danny Kerry so that Leicester players form one third of the England squad, something of which the club is immensely proud. It could have been more but there was disappointment for Gemma Darrington and Maddie Hinch who did not make it through this time. It would have been particularly hard on Gemma who has been based with the squad at Bisham for some time now. Maddie has only recently joined the programme but a star performance for GB v Germany might just have got her in . We want both to know that we at Leicester are very proud of them too.
Disappointment too for our flying striker Beckie Herbert who has not recovered sufficiently from the hip operation she had in May to be able to train yet. She may not be fit for World Cup consideration in late August but will be hoping to be back for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October. England begin their WCT campaign at 2pm next Saturday v Argentina, always a tough opponent. On Sunday it doesn't get any easier with World Champs Netherlands as the opposition at 4pm. Earlier on there is a Wembley legends v Celtic Tigers match for England internationals who once trod the Wembley turf in front of 100 000 screaming schoolgirls. Our own legendary Sue Holwell will be wielding a stick for the first time in far too long. Just remember Sue that there are no bunkers to worry about.
May 16th - Perfect End for Bimson Leicester took on main rivals Reading in the England Hockey Women's Cup Final at Beeston on Saturday with the captain's armband being worn by retiring superstar, Jennie Bimson. Bimson, former England and GB player, was playing her last game after 11 years with Leicester so a win would see her fine career reach a fitting emotional end. Play was very even to start with. Alex Danson and Jo Ellis looked dangerous for Reading but Leicester's defence, in front of recent GB star debutant Maddie Hinch, was rock solid. At the other end Hannah MacLeod constantly threatened, bringing the best out of Reading's GB and England defender Kate Walsh. Gradually Leicester began to up the pace and the pressure told with Reading conceding penalty corners. Having tried variations it was the trademark Crista Cullen drag flick that did the business to put Leicester 1-0 up. Leicester could scent victory and continued to press, resulting in another Cullen drag flick at a penalty corner finding the bottom left hand corner of Reading's goal. 2-0 to Leicester at half-time was a good scoreline from a half that they had just about dominated, especially in either circle. Leicester began to turn the screw in the second half with almost total control of the first twenty minutes of the half. Chances came and went with Chloe Rogers striking a post and Cullen having a shot well saved. Kerry Williams was doing some excellent foraging and Leicester looked constantly dangerous. Leicester almost came to regret not finishing Reading off at this point; in pressing for a third to put the game beyond doubt Leicester's Irish international, Emma Clarke, received a warning green card and moments later an over-zealous tackle put her in the sin bin for five minutes. Reading, to their credit, began to push Leicester back, capitalising on the player advantage. Forcing a penalty corner, Walsh was denied by a save from Hinch but from their next penalty corner Reading drew a Leicester foul and umpire Sarah Bush awarded a penalty stroke. Former Leicester star, Helen Richardson, stepped up and sent a superb stroke into the top left hand corner of the net, beyond Hinch's dive for 2-1 to Leicester. Leicester held firm until the sin bin penalty was over and the last seven minutes saw play moving from end to end with neither side creating a clear-cut opportunity. Leicester could have sealed it with a late penalty corner but, in the end, composed play by MacLeod saw out the game in the top corner and Leicester had triumphed. Fittingly, it was Bimson who lifted the Cup, some consolation after the side's only defeat of the season in the Championship Play Off final. Back in the changing rooms after the game, Bimson's team-mates presented her with a photo album memento of her time with Leicester. There wasn't a dry eye in the house as 'Bimmo', voice breaking with emotion, thanked her friends, present and past, for 11 great years of hockey. As the football crowds say: "There's only one Jennie Bimson." May 4th - Leicester Taste Defeat After a season of unprecedented success in indoor and outdoor hockey, Leicester came up short against Slough in the Championship Final when it really mattered. And whilst the team did not play at its fluent best it was not helped by some inconsistent umpiring. As the League table gap of 12 points and 27 goals would suggest, Leicester was the better side throughout but pieces of mis-control at critical times and solid saves by Slough's GB keeper Becky Duggan meant that Slough, fast on the counter, was always in with a puncher's chance. When that punch came, it was delivered like a rocket by the excellent Chloe Strong at a 55th minute penalty corner. Leicester had the more skilful individuals and some sublime pieces of team play in build up but it was around the circle that Leicester floundered. There should have been more than two penalty corners to show for Leicester's dominance. Slough stick tackles in the top 23 were not punished with the expected penalty corners and Slough defended well against free hits 5 metres out. Hannah MacLeod looked likeliest for Leicester, her skills took her through the flailing tackles and too often the umpires let her down when a clean challenge took the ball after two rustic ones had thrown her off balance. Leicester's two penalty corners saw Duggan make regulation stops from Chloe Rogers and Crista Cullen. The rule that seemed to cause the umpires most problems was not tackling within 5 metres of the self-pass. Leicester's Katie Long was green carded for this in the first half, Slough players repeatedly offended in the second half, notably Alex Scott, whose tackle came after less than a metre. When the umpire went to her pocket, Scott should have been as surprised as the Leicester crowd that only a green emerged. Leicester will look back with frustration on some of the umpiring but will also have to acknowledge that the game was there for the taking and chances were spurned. The otherwise dangerous Chloe Rogers looked to have been put in on the top right of the circle in the first half but let the ball squirm over her stick and Katie Long mis-controlled a superb long ball from Cullen that should have seen her at least test Duggan. This defeat consigns Leicester to the second European qualifying spot for England and further disappointment came with the news that this might not be a ticket to the higher tier of European competition and that the club will have to wait two weeks for a European Hockey ruling. This would be frustrating as when Leicester agreed in principle to the Championship play-off format it was with the proviso that whoever topped the League would go to Europe as England's number 1. With most teams voting for the format that proviso was not added so a team with Leicester's array of talent, demonstrably the best across the season, may be playing teams from hockey's European backwaters rather than the best Dutch and German sides. Leicester went into the game without injured GB star Beckie Herbert, whose hip injury may keep her out of the Cup Final on May 15th and finished it minus Hannah MacLeod whose calf muscle strain could keep her out of the Cup too. They should be able to welcome back Emma Clarke, currently in Chile with Ireland for the World Cup Qualifiers. Elsewhere, Leicester 3rds completed a season of success with a 6-0 win over the club 4ths. The 3rds took the lead in the first minute when Carys Margetts took advantage of a defender missing a cross to deflect past Steph Mason in 4ths' goal. The second goal came from another defensive lapse when Abi Lester tapped in unmarked. The half ended with Sandy Yeates turning well and finishing neatly. 3rds' domination continued in the second half with two penalty corner goals from Yeates and Nicky Ginn before Yeates completed her hat-trick with a fierce rising shot that went in at the near post. 3rds now look forward to next season in Midlands Conference whilst 4ths still have two matches to play to conclude their season.
Apr 26th - Leicester Reach Premiership Final Having won the English Hockey League by a country mile, winning 17 and drawing 1 of their 18 games, Leicester have not been crowned English champions and instead must fight on to achieve that status. The Premership play offs began on Saturday when 4th and 5th placed Canterbury and University of Birmingham met, Canterbury winning 5-3. That win meant they had won the right to face Leicester in the Premiership semi-final. In what proved a tougher contest than the League table might have suggested, Leicester recovered from a goal down at half time to scrap out a 2-1 win over a determined Canterbury at Leicester Grammar School. Canterbury brought game readiness to the semi; Leicester had not played competitively as a side for the best part of a month and that ring rust showed with the game very evenly contested in the first half. Missing Emma Clarke, away for the World Cup qualifiers in Chile with her native Ireland, and Beckie Herbert, struggling with a hip problem, Leicester lacked full fluency and a combative Canterbury proved dangerous on the counter attack. Canterbury tails were up with them scoring late on in the half through South African Jen Wilson from a scruffy penalty corner that Leicester should have cleared. The story in the second half was very different. Coach Chris Mayer's team talk was effective right from the whistle and Leicester began to run the game. Veteran Olympian Jennie Bimson was inspiring at the back for Leicester, nipping attacks in the bud with telling tackles and launching Leicester's replies. Leicester pressure began to tell and thirteen minutes into the half a penalty corner strike by Crista Cullen came back off a post and fellow GB star Katie Long slotted the rebound across the keeper and into the far corner. Canterbury continued to battle and Maddy Hinch in goal had to be alert, acting almost as a sweeper to set up attacks with accurate kicks. With ten minutes to go, Leicester sealed the win from another penalty corner. This time Cullen's fierce shot came off the keeper at waist height and Lucy Brown kept her cool to volley the ball into the goal. There was still time for some nervous moments with captain Ness Hawkins being sin-binned for a stick tackle, something of an irony given Canterbury's tendency to fail to move five metres before free hit plays. Despite playing the last four minutes a player light Leicester saw the game out in the Kent side's half. The win means that Leicester now play Slough in next week's Premiership Play Off final at Cannock, chasing top Euro Hockey League seeding. Slough, 3rd in the League beat second placed Reading 2-1 in the other semi. Two weeks later Leicester faces Reading in the England Hockey Cup Final at Beeston, Nottingham. Leicester 3rds played their penultimate game of the season, battling to a 1-0 win over Half Century at Soar Valley College. Next weekend 3rds, who have already won promotion to Midlands Conference, tackle Leicester 4ths, who will be after revenge following a 1-2 defeat last time out. Leicester 5ths found Bosworth a little too strong in their last Leicestershire Premier match of the season. After Bosworth went ahead through ex-Leicester player, Laura Christie, Phil Bliss equalised with a cracking strike. Christie put Bosworth 2-1 up and Sam James extended the lead a minute before half time. When Christie completed her hat-trick a minute into the second half, it was all over. A nasty facial injury to Bosworth's Vanita Patel and a back injury to Leicester veteran, Hazel Mc Sweeney, took the edge off the second half.
Apr 13th - 3rds Take Home The Fox Leicester 3rds became the County Cup champions at the weekend beating Loughborough Students to win the attractive Pat Luckett trophy featuring the Leicestershire fox symbol. The trophy was won the hard way in very warm conditions. At full time the score was 2-2. Leicester's goals had come from Nicky Ginn and Nicole Main, the latter an instant response to Students taking a 2-1 lead against the run of play. Towards the end of normal time, Leicester looked to be running out of steam but somehow found reserves of energy to dominate extra time and draw some good saves from the Students' keeper. Extra time provided no more goals though and the match went to penalties. Caitlin Jeffries had already made several good saves in the match but in the shoot out she came into her own. Students went first and Jeffries saved with a flick of her left foot. Nic Just's penalty was a comfortable height for the keeper to save. Jeffries saved the second with a smart glove-stick save to her right. Laura Yell's penalty was too straight and their keeper saved. Jeffries easily smothered the Students' third and then Nicole Main again went for a height that the tall keeper found comfortable. Jeffries made another smart save of the Students' fourth before Maddy Smith sent Leicester's fourth wide. The Students' fifth taker found the power to beat Jeffries to her right so Emily Burgwin had to score. She stepped up and put her penalty low to the keeper's left, she got a touch but could not keep it out. Sudden death.
Leicester went first this time and Burgwin stepped forward, putting her penalty in the same place but with more power so the keeper could not get near it. It was then down to Jeffries to make an excellent save to her right to win the Cup. Victory means that Leicester 3rds, on top of their Premiership title, will represent Leicestershire in the Midlands finals this coming weekend at Cannock.
8 LEICESTER GIRLS IN GB SQUAD GB take on Olympic silver medallists China this week in two official Tests at Bisham Abbey (14th and 16th). The GB squad features 8 Leicester players, more than any other club, although Reading, home now to so many of the internationals based at Bisham Abbey, have 7, including 3 Scots. GB Olympians Crista Cullen and Chloe Rogers are joined by Kerry Williams and Beckie Herbert who both just missed out on selection for Beijing. Hannah MacLeod, Katie Long, Gemma Darrington and Laura Unsworth make up the Leicester eight. Congratulations to all of these players, the oldest of whom is still only 25, with many years of top representative honours ahead of them.
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