Emily Crisp reports
Saturday 8th December
Ladies 2’s vs Manning
Cup Match
Newark had a strong side out for their second-round home match in the cup against Manning. The opposition play in the league above the 2’s so it was always going to be a tough match to win but Newark came out fighting and the match was very even in the first 20 minutes.
Manning used their speed up front to drive the ball into the Newark defensive 25, but the defence held their own, marking players effectively and calmly clearing the ball. Rachel Vickers stood in for absent Anna Hall as sweeper, coordinating the defence, aided by Amy Crouch and Lynsey Sayer. The defence conceded several penalty corners, which were well defended until Manning finally converted one with a slick deflection into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.
Newark responded, causing disruption in the attacking half with runs from Shanade Bradley on the left wing sending the ball to Ann Crockett-Mclean in the D who had a couple of shots on goal, eventually winning a penalty corner, although Newark were unable to get on the score board.
After half time and a quick team talk from coach Sally Halfpenny, the team picked up the pace, moving the ball well around the pitch with some great work from youngsters Gabbi and Bea in the middle and lead runs from Sophie Chambers. However, the hard work was met by Manning who continued to apply pressure on the defence and despite some great saves from GK Lilly, the 2’s conceded two more goals, making the final score 3-0 to Manning.
Coaches Players of the Match – Lyndsey Sayer and Emily Crisp
Ladies 4’s vs South Notts
Shield Match
The match did not get off to a good start for Newark when after a matter of only a couple of minutes South Notts scored from a penalty corner. Newark struggled to get back into the game with such an early setback and several unforced errors kept the balance of play with South Notts.
The game was quite a physical one, with Vicky Jones taking several hits from the ball and some of the younger players being somewhat intimidated. However, great runs through from Kate down the centre and Heather on the wing did give us hope that we could stay in the game. However, two more goals from South Notts before half time without reply from Newark left the half time score at 3-0 to the visitors.
The team talk from coach James Barker during the break was forceful and gave the team new direction for the second half. We did go out stronger and with more determination to take and keep the ball and some excellent defending from Sinead and Jess Hull started the turn. Holly played a tenacious role out wide and took the ball numerous times from the opposition to help keep possession. The second half was a totally different game and we held the visitors to only one goal, leaving the final score Newark 0- 4 South Notts
On a more positive note, we rose to the challenge in the second half and need to remember that we were playing a team that is in the league above us!
Joint players of the match were Sinead and Jess.
Sunday 9th December
Ladies 1s vs Lindum
Cup Match
Newark were pumped and ready to go right from the first whistle, which was reflected in their performance for the first 20 minutes of the first half until a Newark defender went down with a unfortunate injury taking a ball to the face.
Having to reshuffle Newark's defence gave Lindum the chance to push the attack and they soon slipped two into the goal in the last 10 minutes of the first half making it 2-0 into half time.
This didn't stop Newark going into the 2nd half strong and their hard work was rewarded with a well worked goal making it 2-1 15 minutes into the second half. Newark carried on battling to equal the score line and scored a goal soon after which was unfortunately was disallowed. Newark created a few more chances but the score remained 2-1, an unlucky loss, but overall was a cracking performance from the team who left the pitch with their heads held high
