Busy weekend of fixtures for men and women

It was a busy weekend for Louth Hockey Club with games for both men and women on Saturday and Sunday.

The Men's Firsts won at home 4-2 against Cambridge on Saturday. On Sunday the Men's Firsts went down to a narrow 2-1 defeat to Wellingborough, with Alex Bell providing the goal.

Louth Men’s Seconds were 3-0 victors against Wisbech on Saturday. The team was on top in the first half but couldn't find a goal. However, in the second half, Louth took the lead through Adaam Peera when he smashed the ball into the bottom corner from a short corner. Louth added a second soon after when Max Greenfield tapped in at the back post following a George Cruckshank pass. Greenfield added a third when he pushed the ball into the bottom left corner from the right hand side of the goal.

Also on Sunday, the Ladies Firsts won 3-0 against Sheffield-based Grasshoppers.

Right from the start, the Louth Ladies Firsts were attacking with some excellent passes and movement, getting the ball down to the end of the pitch. There was a great use of the wings throughout the match and by putting lots of pressure on the Grasshoppers defending goal. The first goal came when Louth were awarded a short corner, an amazing ball came out and when returned back in, it was slipped it in on the. By half time, the score was 1-0.

Louth went into the second half knowing what they needed to work on and put this into practice straight away. There was some great passing. Louth were given another short corner, resulting in another great goal making the score 2-0. Louth worked very well as a team, calling for the ball which allowed some great passes.

In times when Grasshoppers had the ball their attacking end, the Louth defence was very quick to take control and immediately return the ball back to the Louth midfielders, sending it down the wings. In the last ten minutes, a ball in the attacking D resulted in a fabulous goal which made the end result 3-0 to Louth.

On Saturday, Louth Ladies Seconds took on Spalding Ladies, who are sitting one place above them in the league.  It was a tough game as Spalding are a very attacking team and Louth lost 5-0 at to them earlier in the season.

After winning the toss and taking the first push back, Spalding were soon attacking the Louth goal, with some excellent defending from both the keeper and the defenders, the ball didn't cross the line.  The ball soon found its way up field with some great passing in the midfield and this time the ladies were putting pressure on Spalding goal. The score at halftime was 0-0.
The second half started in much the same way with the ball backwards and forwards up the pitch.  The younger Louth midfield players were in great form moving the ball around nicely to create more opportunities for the strikers.
Spalding kept attacking and were desperate to score, but Louth defenders had a great game frustrating their right wing with some excellent close marking.  As the final whistle loomed Spalding were awarded a short corner which was cleared and the ball was sent up the other end where Louth were awarded a short corner just as the whistle went.  With the whole team now attacking the ball was struck cleanly, but their keeper made a great save to keep the final score at 0-0.