The Men's 1s left Bowdon disappointed after only drawing their North Premier league game against Bowdon's 2nd XI.
Edge started comfortably with neither side really threatening and it came as a wakeup call when Bowdon took the lead after a turnover and poor marking in the D from Edge. The pattern continued throughout the half until Angus McCormick was able to pick out James Warburton who deflected in from a short corner strike. 
The second half was not too dissimilar, although a little feistier, with players from both teams spending time on the sidelines courtesy of cards from the umpires. Edge took the lead when Ben Whitehead won a free hit and picked out Warburton who deflected the ball into the roof of the net. Bowdon then drew level through a penalty corner. Final score 2-2.
The Men's 2s played arguably the toughest fixture in their history in North div 1 against Durham University 2s, whose 1st XI plays in the National league. Edge fought hard and narrowly lost 3-2 with goals from Matt Hardy and Joe Coxon. Youngster Alex Jones had his best game for the Edge, earning himself Man of the Match for his efforts.
The 3s enjoyed an excellent 6-2 win over a very vocal Northop 1s in div 3, while the 4s snuck a 1-0 win over Oxton 3s in div 4 South.
A long road trip saw a much improved team performance by the Men's 5's, despite them losing 4-1 to Colwyn Bay 2's. The 6s also put in a fantastic all-round performance, showing great ball pace, positioning and passing and earned themselves an 8-2 win over Triton 4s in North West div 7. The 7s enjoyed a 5-2 win against Sale Men's 4s in their first league match of the season in div 8.
The Ladies 1st XI had a busy weekend. They drew 0-0 against Newcastle University at home in North league div on Saturday and then beat Timperley Ladies 1s away 2-0 in the quarter final of the Cheshire Cup on Sunday, both goals coming from Annie Hebb. This was a real achievement as Timperley have just been prompted into the National league, playing two divisions higher than AEHC. A semi-final clash against Wilmslow awaits the ladies next.
The Ladies 2s beat Neston Ladies 2s 6-1 in Cheshire league div 1 in a fast-paced game which gave Man of the Match Jude Offer her hat trick. Further goals came from Tori Blackwell, Ruby Nelson and Caitlin Polley.
An early push back and clashes with school games resulted in a depleted Ladies 3s going down 6-1 away to Northop 1s. Edge's goal came courtesy of Brogan Tennant. Special mention goes to Joy and Katie Hazeldine who managed and played respectively, before rushing back to coach one of the Badgers teams – true dedication! The 4s beat local rivals Wilmslow 3s 4-1 in div 3, making it 4 wins out of 4 games for Edge so far this season.
The 5s took on Timperley Ladies 5s in another away fixture in div 4. Edge were slow to start and GK Grace Hardy was challenged within the first five minutes of the game, with Edge then successfully defending a number of short corners. Emma Fluck scored just before half time, before netting two more in the second half. Ella Oakes and Gemma Holland also scored one apiece bringing the final score to 5-0. The 6s went down 2-0 to Bowdon 6s at Fallibroome in div 5 and face Crewe next week.
The weekend also saw Edge field several teams of young Badgers (u14s) and Beavers (u12s), giving young players invaluable experience of competitive hockey.
One Badgers team played away at Deeside and won 3-1 with the other team beating Chester Badgers 8-1 at Wilmslow High School. The Beavers had a hard-fought match against Chester and were unlucky to lose 3-0 to bigger and stronger opposition. A stern talking half-time talk reminding Edge to mark their players saw an improved second half performance.
AEHC youngsters achieve National recognition
As testament to AEHC's coaching programme, the following 11 players have made it through to the final stages of England Hockey's 2016 Player Pathway, the goal of which is to identify and further develop some of the most talented young hockey players in the country:
u18s - Annie Hebb, Jenni Park, Issy Reynolds Duffy and Nat Stevens
u17s - Abi Cook and Greg Johnson
u16s - Catrin Parry, Ella Partington and Charles Barnes, with Olivia Moores as a reserve
u15s - Caitlin Polley
All the non-reserve players will now represent the Pennine Pumas (North region) in forthcoming high performance assessment camps and Futures Cup competitions under the watchful eyes of England selectors. Good luck to them all!
Photo (l-r): Abi Cook, Caitlin Polley and Olivia Moores.
Report by Sue Polley.
