Chesterfield Hockey Club win to go top

Damian Jarzembowski continued his red hot streak with two goals and the in–form Andy Hodgson bagged his second in as many games to help secure all three points.

A productive day for the Derbyshire side was capped with U16s captain Tom Bacon putting in an assured display on his league debut and Joe Green returning to the side after several weeks in the reserves.

First team skipper Christian Battye was clearly happy with what was a good afternoon for his side and said: “I was delighted with the guys to be fair. We were missing one or two so what today showed was our strength in depth.

“Young Tom was excellent, Damian was immense and Andy Hodgson was easily the best player on the pitch.

“I don’t think Andy gets enough credit sometimes but he was brilliant again this afternoon. The whole squad played their part; it’s not an easy away trip but we all pulled together to get a result.”

Player coach Ben Lamb said he was pleased with his sides progress so far.

“We’re in a great position but need to keep our feet on the ground,” he said. “It’s a brilliant group of lads and everyone is willing to work for each other. It’s a big couple of weeks coming up now, starting with Leicester next week.”

A slow start from Chesterfield saw Shrewsbury take the lead but the visitors soon drew level with a typically clinical finish from the top scorer in the Midlands region, Damian Jarzembowksi.

The Polish international equalised after wriggling his way past two men before applying the finish.

Hodgson then put Chesterfield into the lead when he reacted first to a well saved shot, the young midfielder swept the ball home to make it 2-1.

The home side pressed but with little end product and they ran into a wall of Chesterfield shirts each time they moved forward with the ball.

Player-coach Ben Lamb and centre half Ben Curley marshalled the defence well and Danny Dunn displayed great composure on the left hand side.

A half time score of 2-1 did not flatter the visitors, although Shrewsbury remained a threat on the break.

A vocal home support pushed Shrewsbury on in the second half, with skipper Nick Price going close before the visitors once again took control.

Dan Molloy proved a handful on the Chesterfield forward line and Jarzembowski put in another mature display which came in for praise from Chris Battye. “Damian has found that opposition teams put two, three men on him now but what he did today was hold the ball up and bring others into play,” he said.

“He’s starting to develop other parts to his game and isn’t just about goals”.

Joe Green went close with a half volley before Jarzembowski made it 26 goals in eight games with a powerful drag flick past the goalkeeper. A draw for high flying Hampton In Arden saw Chesterfield go top with three games to go before the winter break.