M1 v Buxton

Tuesday 22nd August 2023,
Chesterfield v Buxton
St Marys, 8.15pm

Tuesday night saw the Men’s 1st XI in their first friendly match of the pre-season against Buxton HC Men’s 1st XI. With holidays and other players missing, the team was bolstered by players from the 2’s.

Having trained hard so far during pre season the team were looking forward to match conditions to put to test their training so far. Preseason has been a mix of fitness and core skills, with the performance squad welcoming a new coach, Clive morris, who has been putting them through their paces.

The first half started nervously with chesterfield conceding an early scrappy goal. However, the team then rallied, and through structured play and simple passing,2nd team captain, Louis Johnson grabbed an equaliser. The second half was evenly matched by both teams. Some scrappiness and tough tackles from either side resulted in the match finishing a 1-1 draw.

1st team captain Rob Cooke had this to say:
“It was a great performance from the lads. They showed their fitness in the dying stages of the match and continued to work hard. A couple of players haven’t played at this level before and to see all players really push themselves and work hard is great, I can’t really ask for anything more than that. Huge shout out to Martin Todd and Charlie Nixon who had a great read of them game and incredible work rate. Of course there are work on points for the team, which we’ll take forward and work on with Clive. But overall, a great starting point for us to launch into the season. I’m really pleased with where we are”

Next up in the preseason calendar for the 1s is an away fixture against old midlands rivals, Barton 1s. The teams play on Saturday 2nd September, and the Men's 1s league campaign starts at home against Doncaster on 16th September.

#evergreen