PUBLISHED 07 October 2019
It was an action packed Saturday morning for AKS hockey players as six teams took on the strong Stockport Grammar School and with three wins a piece it was honours even at the end of the day.
It was the U12 A team that led the way with another good win scoring five without reply. AKS played some excellent hockey switching the ball well through Lisa in defence and making use of the attack down the right hand side with both Laura and Lola. This was the route of our first goal as Laura played the ball early down the line and a perfect pass across goal found Kirtika on the left post and she made no mistake in finding the goal to make it 1 - 0. The Stockport defence worked hard and managed to handle the pressure we applied in the first half, and at the break the score was 1 - 0. AKS started the second half with determination and were keen to convert more of their pressure into goals. More good passing hockey saw the team do this with 4 more goals before the final whistle with Laura, Lisa (2) and another from Kirtika finding the net to make the final score an impressive 5 – 0 win. Players of the match were Lisa & Laura.
The U12B Hockey team faced a difficult match this weekend against a well drilled Stockport side. Our opposition were a strong team with some skilful attacking players who made use of the space given to them in defence in order to put AKS under a great deal of pressure. Niamh continued to work hard in the centre, tracking down the ball and tackling. Lucy made some excellent tackles as sweeper and fed the ball out wide to try and counter attack down the AKS right side. Unfortunately AKS were unable to create opportunities to convert their attacking play, whilst Stockport scored both their goals by breaking through the AKS defence. Players of the match were Niamh & Lucy.
Each week the AKS U13's fail to disappoint with their adaptability and versatility, as once again a large squad were given the opportunity to play against Stockport Girls' Grammar School. This week another dimension was added as the AKS U13's were initiated into their first 11 a side match. After a brief explanation of the rudimentary factors of the bigger game, the girls excitedly launched themselves into the match ahead.
With the girls now playing on a full sized hockey pitch this gave them the perfect setting to transfer what they had been working on during the week, showing how to create space to help maintain possession. This certainly benefited the team and AKS enjoyed a lot of possession and demonstrated great teamwork. Charlotte was awarded AKS's 'Player of the Match' for her vision and use of space on the pitch helping to create goal scoring opportunities along with Jessie ( Stockport's POM) who demonstrated her capability of making runs and beating players down both sides of the pitch to create crosses into the circle. 'Team Player of the Week', Katie had a solid game making some crucial tackles, distributing the ball out of defence well and her communication on the pitch helped organise her team mates to mark well in defence.
Superb team work not only allowed AKS to retain much possession, but also set up goal scoring opportunities for Alexa(2) and Katie, with the final goal coming from an AKS short corner, where a hard, direct strike by Carly was deflected en route to goal by a Stockport defender, resulting in a well deserved 4-0 win. The experience the AKS U13 girls gained can only help build foundations for next year when the girls will be playing 11 a side hockey.
The AKS U14 team had ideal preparation for the Lancashire U14 Tournament with a superb 4 – 0 win. Goals from Lucy, Patsy, Carys and Olivia sealed the win and there was a player of the match performance from Laura.
The U15 side had a superb match against a very strong Stockport side with the final score not reflecting the closeness of the game. We started slowly and were taken aback by the fast skilful Stockport team and they went ahead in the 5th minute. We slowly gained in confidence and worked very hard to match our opponents pace and skill and won an attacking corner of our own. A superb routine saw Ziv get a fantastic strike away but the ball flew just wide. Stockport continued to attack at pace but great defending from Alicia, Eleanor, Anabella and Anna together with some great saves from Eva in goal kept the score at one. We started to play some great hockey of our own with Poppy and Prisha linking well on the right to create some great scoring opportunities and win us several corners before the break but good corner defence from Stockport saw the score stay at 0 – 1 at half time. We started the second half on the front foot attacking at pace on the right and Ziv bought a superb save from the Stockport keeper. We got reward for our pressure in the 5th minute of the half when Eleanor converted a corner to make the score 1 – 1. Unfortunately, as is often the case when teams score, a couple of defensive lapses saw Stockport score two quick goals to re-take the lead only minutes later. We continued to work hard with Poppy dominant in midfield and Prisha using her pace well on the right and we had chances to score but as legs tired it was Stockport who managed to find the net again to make the final score 1 – 5. Overall a very promising performance in which the girls tried to implement training ground tactics and player of the match was Prisha for driving runs on the right and Eva for some great saves.
The Senior side also enjoyed a really close game. We got off to a great start when in the 5th minute a driving run from Prisha on the right saw her outpace the Stockport defence and slip a perfect pass to Sally infront of goal and she made no mistake in finding the net to take us into an early 1 – 0 lead. Stockport then started to pass the ball well and put us under pressure but some great saves from Tara in goal maintained our lead. Millie battled well in midfield to win back possession and in the 18th minute a superb passing move between Poppy and Prisha on the right saw us again out run the Stockport defence but on this occasion we could not find a killing pass and the chance went begging. Stockport were always dangerous up front and only more good saves from Tara and solid defending from everyone kept our noses ahead. Despite our best efforts , however, Stockport did get on level terms just before the break so at half time the scores were level at 1 – 1. Stockport started the second half on the front foot and put us under a lot of pressure early on. Good penalty corner defence saw us keep out several corners and with Hannah working hard in midfield and the forwards Prisha, Ziv and Alex pressing well we put the Stockport defence under pressure to create chances of our own but we could not find the net and Stockport scored the decisive goal 5 minutes before the final whistle. Players of the match were Millie and Poppy for their dominant midfield displays.