PUBLISHED 15 January 2023
AKS U14 & U12 hockey teams continued winning ways in 2023 with good wins against Cheadle Hulme to maintain their season’s unbeaten records.
The large U14 squad, who are preparing for the North West Finals next week, started slowly against a skilful Cheadle side and it was Cheadle who enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the first period of the game. Cheadle put us under pressure and slack marking provided them with a lot of space in the circle and only good footwork and movement from GK Niamh M kept the scores level. We slowly gained in confidence and started to pass the ball to each other and create some good scoring opportunities with Lucy W on the right linking well with Amelia H only for her strike to fly just wide. Good defending from Sophia M, Ella A, Lilly G and Ellie S thwarted the Cheadle attackers and with our midfield trio starting to dominate we took the lead just before the break when a great corner strike from Charlotte L was deflected in on the post by Amelia H to make it 1 – 0.
We started the second half with greater confidence and went 2 – 0 ahead in the first five minutes with another well worked corner with Hannah A linking with Amelia H to score her second of the game. The goal again boosted confidence and we started to switch play effectively and pass to each other to create spaces and scoring opportunities and we went 3 – 0 ahead with a superb individual goal from Charlotte L which saw her drive through the heart of the Cheadle defence and dispatch an unstoppable reverse stick shot into the top corner of the goal. With us enjoying most of the possession we started to dominate play and Amelia H topped a POM performance with her hat-trick goal before the final whistle to make it a deserved 4 – 0 win. Players of the Match were hat-trick hero Amelia H and Hannah A for her superb work rate in a number of positions.
The U12a team continued their impressive form from before Christmas with a 6-2 win against visitors Cheadle Hulme. After a somewhat slow start to the game with players finding their playing feet again, Olivia W scored her first goal of the day after an evenly contested opening 10 minutes. This goal gave the team a real boost and by half-time their dominance was evident as AKS went into the break 4-0 ahead. Olivia had completed her hattrick and Emily F had added one as well. The second half allowed the team to try some new positions for certain players which gave Cheadle a chance to come back into the game despite some fine saves from Natalie in goal. The team finished with a more consistent and usual line up and with further AKS goals the final result was 6-2 to AKS Lytham. Olivia finished with an incredible 5 goals to her tally and the opposition voted Esme to be player of the match. Well done to all the girls involved!The B team has a close fought match but just came out on the wrong side of the 2 – 1 scoreline. Connie F scored the AKS goal with GK Jenay G being the player of the match.
The U13 A team also had a close fought match. Camilla C put AKS in to the lead in the first half but Cheadle equalised after the break to make it 1 -1. Cheadle posed a constant threat but great defending by Reya B and goalkeeping by Shelby Q kept the scores level. Maisie W was a threat up front and we took the lead with another goal from Camilla. Cheadle ,however, continued to put us under pressure and a Cheaadle goal before the final whistle made the score 2 – 2. The U13B team added another victory with a deserved 4 – 1 win with two goals from Sophia McG and one from Izzy A and Kate H. The team worked hard for each other and played some good hockey with Anika R being named the Player of the match.
AKS U15 team had an exciting high scoring match against Cheadle Hulme with the final score being 3 – 4. Star of the show was hat-trick hero Eleanor J who was named as the player of the match.