Sheffield Hallam 1

Pendle Forest 4

What a fantastic week for Pendle Forest Hockey, helping to put Pendle on the map with sport. They were visited by Richard Askem, BBC Northwest Tonight’s Television reporter to highlight the unbeaten run of games. This run continued with a 4-1 victory at Sheffield Hallam.

Forest faced a youthful side and soon settled into their stride, dominating possession and creating chances. Olivia Bythell dribbling round the D towards the base line at speed, crossing the ball, only to watch it glide across the open goal and see the opportunity lost. Forest managed to take the lead after 10 mins when Hayley Baines, sent an inch perfect pass through to Charlotte Hartley, who reached the back line, drew the GK out and passed to Steph Bedford who put the ball away. 2 mins later Freya Bythell intercepted a midfield ball, burst into the D, taking a shot at goal, it was saved by the keeper but the deflection fell into Bythell’s path and she was able to strike the ball again with Bedford on hand to deflect it in and bag her 2nd.

Meanwhile Lisa Crewe and Hartley were running riot forcing the Sheffield keeper to make saves but it was Hartley who gave Forest a 3-0 lead when using her pace, she intercepted a square ball by the defence, leaving her 1 on 1 with Gk, who she convincingly beat, slipping the ball into the back of the net. She went close again just before the break only to see her reverse stick strike go over the bar.

After the break it was Sheffield who came out the stronger and earnt 2 penalty corners in succession. The second giving them a lifeline with a scrappy goal from a defensive mix up!

Forest regained control and it wasn’t long before they gained a 3 goal lead from a penalty corner with a strike from MOM Bedford taking a deflection towards Freya Bythell who swept the ball home in front of goal. Forest dominated the rest of the game, Hayley Baines going close on 2 occasions andCrewe bringing a good save out of the Keeper. Sheffield kept trying to break out but great work down the flanks by Liv Purtil, Sam Parker and Dani Hornby regained the possession, feeding Bedford and Thea Cormack in midfield giving them the opportunity of showing their stick work.

A comfortable 4-1 away victory sees them stay at the top of the North Prem and extend their unbeaten run to 84.

Tomorrow they travel again to an away fixture at Durham.

A cold and crisp November morning saw Pendle Forest 2nds host 5th place rivals Lancaster University 1st team. From the whistle both sides came out strong, in what provided a fast paced and energetic match. Lancaster earned a number of penalty corners during the half that were dealt with and cleared by a calm and efficient Pendle defence. Chances of their own came from Zoe Kidney, Cathy Killgallon, Judith Hind and Karen Wignall who unfortunately couldn't capitalise with a goal. A worrying moment came for Pendle when a free hit outside the D was struck high hitting a retreating Harriet Ashworth in the side, time was stopped whist the young defended caught her breath. The deadlock was broken just before half time when Pendle seemed to switch off momentarily, allowing a Lancaster forward a clearline into the D. Sliding keeper Jayne Kirkpatrick unable to keep the ball from trickling over the backline from an initial save off her pads. The second half continued to be as lively as the first, excellent communication and a high press from Forest saw them camped in the attacking half for the first 10 minutes. A Pendle infringement in the Lancaster half saw a break from the visitors. Keeper Kirkpatrick was unable to deal with the two on one situation, a slipped ball and first time touch into an open goal, along with Rebecca Whitham who ended up in the netting after her valiant attempt to get back. After a team talk about being more clinical in the D, Pendle earned their first penalty corner. A move created by Killgallon down the left wing to Francesca Ratcliffe who drove the ball into the D, a Lancaster foot denying her a shot on goal. Hind injected to Killgallon who's straight strike hit the backboard, centimetre perfect in the left corner. Lifted by a goal Pendle pressed harder to level the score, Wignall driving into the D and slipping to Hind who just couldn't connect. Pendle didn't have it all their own way, having to defend and clear several penalty corners. With 2 minutes left Pendle pressed in earnest sure they would get something out of the game. A penalty corner was awarded and the final whistle was blown. All 10 players surrounded the D, but all it took was for Hind to inject and Killgallon with her textbook strike to beat the keeper with pace. A perfect strike to finish the match 2-2, a fair result for a well played match. Sarah Towers was player of the match with her resolute performance in defence.