Leicester Hockey Club

Leicester made it ten out of ten in the England Hockey League to go into the mid-season break clear of the rest of the field. Opponents Brooklands Poynton must be sick of seeing Leicester's heels having been beaten twice already this season but they certainly provided dogged resistance for much of the game. Beckie Herbert, Hannah MacLeod and Katie Long, all celebrating call ups for Great Britain, ran defenders ragged in the first five minutes resulting in a block on the line by a body. Crista Cullen, another on GB's list this week, stepped up to send a missile beyond the Poynton keeper. Three minutes later it was Cullen again, putting everything behond a drag flick penalty corner to put Leicester two up. Herbert's speed was a constant thorn in Poynton's side but somehow the score stayed at 2-0 at half time.
Leicester continued to batter Poynton in the second half. Another of Leicester's magnificent GB seven, Chloe Rogers, probed and prompted but Poynton held firm. It took two well worked field goals to undo Poynton with MacLeod notching her fifth of the season and 46th all-time League goal and Lauren Turner scoring in the 63rd minute. Leicester's other two GB selections, Gemma Darrington and Laura Unsworth, both put in fine defensive stints, mostly in providing support for Leicester attacks.
With Reading only managing a draw at Birmingham University the gap at the top is now five points and Leicester's next outdoor action is in Barcelona early in the New Year in the RC Polo Los Reyes international tournament. But first, attention switches to the indoor game with Leicester playing four matches over the weekend of 12th and 13th December.

Leicester 2nds go into their mid season break in fourth place in Midlands Premier but they allowed a gap of five points to open between themselves and the top three falling to a 2-1 defeat at eighth placed Towcester. Leicester had much more of the play and should have won by some margin but chances went begging and when Towcester had opportunities they did not miss them.
Leicester 3rds were firing on all cylinders against one of the teams a point above them in Leicestershire Premier, Loughborough Students 4ths, and raced into a two goal interval lead playing fast and committed hockey. The Students had much the better of the second half and pulled a goal back but there were some great saves from Caitlin Jeffries to ensure Leicester took all three points. The win leaves Leicester second in the League just a point off top spot.
Leicester 4ths are struggling at the moment and suffered a third consecutive defeat to slip down the Premier League. Hinckley 2nds played well to take advantage of Leicester being depleted by illness and unavailability to win 2-0. Leicester will hope to bounce back midweek with a game against Lutterworth 2nds.
On Sunday, Leicester had sides in three age group competitions. Leicester's U14s missed absent captain Hope Senior but a 2-0 win over Towcester u14s was enough to see them progress to the Midlands finals in April. Freya Taylor and Holly Mould supplied the goals. They then lost 6-1 to Buckingham who won all five of their League matches by high scores, the only goal they conceded was to Leicester with Lauren Potter grabbing it.
Leicester U16s won through to the last 16 of the England Hockey U16 Cup in the most dramatic fashion via penalty strokes. Opponents Cannock made it 3-3 in the last minute of normal time and the game went straight to penalties. Leicester scored their first three and Cannock missed one to give Leicester the advantage. The Cannock keeper saved Leicester's fourth but had advanced  off her line to do so and so a goal was given. When Cannock missed their fourth attempt Leicester had made it through.
This game was immediately followed by the U18s match in the U18 Cup against reigning U18 National Champions, Belper. The Belper side is predominantly their Saturday National League side and contains several current internationals. Leicester only had 11 players available due to illness and school activities but shocked the champions by taking a first minute lead when captain Tori Moore finished off a lighting attack.
Belper came back forcing some quality saves from Caitlin Jeffries but eventually pressure told and in a fifteen minute spell they took a 3-1 lead. Leicester never gave up and their spirit was typified by right back Becky Hutchinson who made several surging runs despite having had a mad dash from a family gathering in Devon to arrive ten minutes before start time.
Belper must have felt comfortable when they went 4-1 ahead early in the second half but most of the rest of the game was Leicester's; great play down the right resulted in Annie Wiffen putting Laura Yell through to send an unstoppable shot past the keeper. Yell almost returned the favour a few minutes later but Wiffen's shot missed by inches. With Leicester stretched, chasing a third, Belper went 5-2 ahead but after 70 minutes they knew they had been in a game.