Keswick Hockey Club host four home games - but can't claim a win

The Ladies 2nds did best, being involved in a 1-1 draw with Ulverston.

It was clear from the first whistle that Keswick had a real determination to get a good result from the fixture.

Keswick applied the pressure with some great runs from the midfield, in particular by Sarah Hobbs, Jenny Hunter and Hattie Lory.

The ball was distributed to Lucy Andrews who broke through their defence and tested the Ulverston goalkeeper but was unable to find a way past her.

Ulverston fought back and, just before half-time, scored the first goal to give them their lead.

After an inspirational teamtalk at half-time by captain Ali Lister, Keswick came out fighting and were hungry for a goal.

Ten minutes into the second half they were awarded a penalty corner which was executed immaculately and the ball found the back of the net, only for it to be disallowed.

This did not knock Keswick’s confidence as they showed true team spirit and continued to work hard and build-up good play.

Sure enough, their hard work paid off as another short corner was awarded and Andrews slipped it past the keeper to make it 1-1.

After conceding the equaliser, Ulverston applied the pressure but Keswick’s defenders Ella Lister, Rosie Andrews and Claire Scougal really showed their ability and kept them out.

As time was running out, Ulverston were getting closer to scoring, however Mel Avery produced some acrobatic saves to keep the final score at 1-1.

The men’s 2nd team took on Blackburn 2nds and they were two fairly evenly-matched teams.

Although the action was end to end, there was little to trouble either goalkeeper in the opening exchanges.

It was the visitors who were the first to take advantage of their attacking chances, and went ahead after 10 minutes.

Keswick then started to get into some good positions before Ryan McCully got two minutes on the sidelines for a stick tackle after 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, the Keswick momentum was halted as a result, even though Ewan Styles went close for them after 19 minutes.

Then, after 26 minutes, Keswick were awarded the first penalty corner of the game, only to see the resulting chance go agonisingly wide of the post.

After half-time, there were more chances for the Keswick side, but the Blackburn defence showed their experience to thwart every attack.

Towards the end, Keswick were attacking nearly constantly, but were unable to grab the equaliser and finished on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline.

The men’s 3rd team were in action against Salford and the visiting University team played very cohesively with sharp passing between defence and midfield through to their attacking players.

Salford were two up before Chris Bicknell was able to score for the home team. Even then, the visitors replied to make it 3-1 at the break.

The second half saw a more even game with both teams passing the ball well, but creating few clear cut chances.

The visitors did eventually add to their lead with the half’s solitary goal to give Salford a 4-1 victory.

The final game was played on Sunday when the men’s 3rds were in action again, this time at home to South Lakes.

This was a much better performance from the previous day.

Paul Heap, playing in midfield, showed some of his experience to settle the players around him, giving them confidence to go forward and create chances.

It was South Lakes, however, who went ahead after eight minutes.

Keswick heads didn’t drop, and they were soon on the attack themselves, eventually being rewarded by a strike from Dan Dutton to draw them level.

The visitors, however, were also playing some assured hockey, and it was they who scored the winner to grab all the points from a 2-1 victory.

Keswick, however, should take heart from a better performance.