Emily Crisp reports
Newark Ladies 1s Vs Belper 2s
What an absolute stormer Newark Ladies 1s had this weekendfrom the off they went out fighting and goal hungry. The hard work paid off once Newark in the first half with a goal from Sarah Pask. Shanade, Hannah and Dani each followed, all scoring before half time. Going into the second half with confidence, the side conceded a penalty corner which led to a goal from Belper, but Newark held the lead with the final score being 4-1 Player of the match – Hannah L
Newark Ladies 2s v Notts Uni 2s
Newark entered into the high-performance zone at Uni to try and break their winning streak and excessive goal difference. The first 5mins saw Newark attack hard narrowly missing a few shots on goal. The midfield team of Sara Jackson and Sue Tate criss- and fed balls wide, high and deep but the pace of Uni was hard to keep up with so the screen of Amy Crouch and Rachel Vickers had to move fast to intercept and block Uni midfield attacks.
The first 15 minutes remained an end to end game with both teams playing impressive hockey however Uni found a small gap in the defence and in the bottom right hand of the goal. After the restart, Uni thought they found a weakness, however, right and left backs Mel Woods & Lyndsey Sayer prevented multiple attempts for Uni to get back into the D but due to an overload of Uni players they managed to find a Newark foot which they converted with a narrow injection, leaving the top exposed for a straight strike. Half time score was 2-0 to Notts Uni.
Dani Croson turned up to set her stance in defence and interceptions were fed high and deep to Gabi and Bea holding beautifully on the wings to give Newark the much-needed width and space to play but Uni’s pace didn’t wain and the slightest mistake by Newark was taken advantage of. In quick succession Uni scored 2 goals from open play which came from tactical passing and patience catching defence of guard and drawing GK Lilly out as that last point of defence. Their 5th goal came from another short corner.
Newark’s defensive line up was bossed by Anna Hall who consistently found gaps in the Uni set up on hit outs even finding Ann Crocket Mclean or Ellie remaining high up front. In the last few minutes of the game Newark camped in Uni’s 23 and in a single play saw Ann, Gabi, Bea and Sara all have a shot on goal from deflections and with the last hard hit found a defender’s foot on the line awarding a penalty flick. Anna Hall stepped up from defence and slipped it right passed the keeper resulting in a 1-5 score line.
Newark Men’s 1s v Mansfield 2s
The men's 1s continued their return to form with a 2-0 victory against local rivals Mansfield 2s. With both teams needing a win the game started with high energy before Newark settled down and took control of the game. The first goal came early on from a penalty corner, when Ben Eagles found a gap under the keeper to push the home side into the lead. Mansfield tried to push back soon after with a shot on goal being cleared off the line.
Newark scored again before the break with another penalty corner, this time with Ben Brown placing the ball into the bottom corner. The second half followed a similar pattern as the first, lots of pressure from both teams but with no final touch to get a goal. Man of the Match: Sam Smith
Newark Men’s 2s v Nottingham 2s
Newark were on the back for from the start and struggled to get out of their own half for large parts of the game. Nottingham scored an early goal and then from two unfortunate deflections by Newark defenders scored two more which otherwise would not have gone in.
The 2nd half continued the same way with the odd counterattack from Newark threatening the Nottingham keeper. Which so much pressure Newark conceded 3 more goals in the 2nd half before one breakaway from Dave Fellows saw him one on one with the Nottingham keeper which he calmly beat which a quick shot as he entered the D.
Score could have been worse apart from another man of the match display by goalkeeper Robbie and a couple of clearances off the line by Newark defenders after he was beaten. M.O.M:- Robbie Robertshaw
Goal Scorers:- Dave Fellows
Newark Men’s over 40s v Long Sutton
Newark over 40s welcomed Long Sutton for a knockout game in the England Hockey Tier 3 competition. Newark add the advantage from the start with a squad of 15 players against the bare 11 of Long Sutton.
Newark had the majority of the possession and territory in the match but struggled to create any clear cut chances in the 1sthalf. They did get the break through from a Steve Littlewood drive into the D and his cross/shot took a deflection from a Long Sutton defender to go in. 1-0 was score at half time but Newark knew then superiority should have seen them score more goals.
The 2nd half saw Newark create more clear chances and this was reflected in the score , Ben Brown scored a short corner goal again taking a deflection on the way in to the goal leaving the keeper stranded. Then Simon Higgs beat the last defender and went around the keeper although going a bit wide which then saw his shot have to go through a host of defenders which again saw the final touch by a Log Sutton player.
Newark final goal was probably their best which some smart passing and final ball from Adrian “ace” Smith through to Arran Coggan who put the ball in the net without the help of a Long Sutton player.
So, a good 4-0 result for Newark which sees them go through to the next round in January
Goal Scorers:- Steve Littlewood, Ben Brown, Simon Higgs, Arran Coggan
Newark Mixed Adults v Repton Vikings
The first round of the mixed cup saw Newark drawn against Repton Vikings. Newark’s all star team drew together a large selection of players from Ladies 1s and 2s and Men’s 1s and 2s, all of who were in good spirits for their second game of the weekend against a historically strong side of students.
Very much to the oppositions surprise Newark took control of the game from the start and came close to a goal when Eagles hit the post with a diving effort. They soon took the lead through Sarah Pask from a well-played series of passes with Laura Harris.
A relentless spell of attack from Repton couldn't quite find the target and was kept out with some 'strong' tackling from the Newark defence. Going into halftime with a lead Newark was full of cheer, the opposition not so much.
A powerful through ball from Scott Robinson found Kian Hunter alone in the oppositions half and left him one on one with the keeper, Hunter took full advantage and extended Newark’s lead. The game kept going Newark’s way as Tricia Trafford scored a powerful bottom corner shot at a penalty corner.
A clean sheet was denied as one of the Repton players showed their skill in the D and just narrowly beat the keeper. At this point Newark shut down the defence and did not allow any more chances for Repton to find their way back into the game.
A great result sees Newark progress to the next round of the cup and hopefully on their way to Lee Valley for the finals!