Chelmsford 4 Sutton Coldfield 0

Premier Division

Chelmsford 4 Sutton Coldfield 0

On Saturday, Chelmsford welcomed Sutton Coldfield to Chelmer Park for their Slazenger EHL fixture. The home side were looking to getting back into the winning habit having won only a point the previous week against lowly Doncaster. Sutton Coldfield, even though still looking for their first point of this league campaign, did include ex Olympian & GB player Jane Sixsmith in their squad who is still a threat in front of goal.

Chelmsford started strongly and within the first couple of minutes play, Marie Arber found Lynn Bollington with a 25 metres cross field pass, who then brought Chloe Rogers into play on top of the attacking 'D'. Rogers, in sparkling form since returning with the England squad from the World Cup in the summer, connected with the pass from Bollington and hit the ball high into the net without giving the keeper any chance of making a save.

The early breakthrough gave Chelmsford a visible confidence boost and, encouraged by a loud home crowd, continued to out play and out class Sutton Coldfield. After continued pressure, Chelmsford won a penalty corner which they successfully converted to double their lead to 2-0. The goal was scored by player of the match, Becky Alltree, who was quickest to react to the initial shot on goal by Tracy Willmore and deflected the ball at an acute angle into the goal.

The first half of the match was played virtually all in Sutton Coldfield's defensive area. There were few chances for the visitors to threaten the Chelmsford keeper Helen Fagg, who following her recent inclusion in the England U18 training squad, was now making her debut in the Premier Division, deputising for current England goalkeeper Katy Roberts who was unavailable due to work commitments.

The second half continued much the same as the first. Within the opening two minutes, Chelmsford increased their goal tally to three after Willmore had skilfully out manoeuvred two Sutton Coldfield defenders and shot on goal, which Kirsty Smith was able to deflect past the keeper.

Throughout the match, there were some fine hockey played by Chelmsford and their fourth and final goal was taken straight out of a text book on how to play one-touch hockey. Becky Alltree, continuing to influence the team with her non-stop energy and passion for the game, won the ball on the half-way line. She was able to play the ball across the middle of the pitch to Maria Merrigan who quickly found Chloe Rogers on the left side of the midfield. Rogers then hit the pass of the match, a diagonal ball to Lynn Bollington who was unmarked the attacking 'D'. Bollington kept her calm and drew out Sutton's keeper and passed to Kirsty Smith, who had the simple task of pushing the ball into an open goal. It was the perfect goal, enjoyed by both home team and supporters.

Over the next couple of weeks, Chelmsford will be aiming for consistency in their league results, which is not helped with the continued interruptions to the squad made by national team priorities. This is typified this coming weekend when Chelmsford will be without Irish pair Emer Harte and Ciara O'Brien who have been named in the Irish squad to face Scotland. Chelmsford travel to Canterbury, with whom they currently share fourth position in the league.