Hockey men win again
ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE TITLE
SOUTH NOTTS 1st XI 1 – 8 Newark 1st XI
Saturday’s fixture saw Newark, in top spot , take on local rivals South Notts who are rooted firmly at the bottom. A walk over you may think, but in recent weeks South had “upped their game”.
Newark started with a firm game plan…..keeping the ball, which paid off on just 4 minutes. An inspirational piece of quick thinking by Sam Smith, took the home defence by surprise & Ryan Foster sweetly finished the move.
In recent weeks Newark couldn’t execute a penalty corner if their life depended upon it, but this week on 5 minutes, their first of the game was awarded & Scott Robinson sent an unstoppable drag flick into the top right of the goal.
Newark thought they had scored 2 out of 2 penalty corners on 12 minutes as Jack McMunn’s deflected effort flew into the roof, only to be ruled out by the umpire.
Newark were on fire as they totally dominated play, the hosts unable to get the ball over the half way line let alone near James Wakeland in the Newark goal.
The visitors perseverance paid off on 18 minutes which seemed to open the flood gates.
Captain Alex Davies turned provider as he burst through on the right & a pin point pass into the “d” enabled Sam Smith to deflect the ball past the rooted Notts keeper.
Just 2 minutes later it was groundhog day as once again Davies provided Sam Smith with a cross to complete his brace.
Just 45 seconds later Davies showed why he is top scorer, as pace & skill took him past 4 defenders & the resulting strike flew into the roof of the goal to make it 5 – 0
We then had to wait 11 minutes for the next goal. This time a moment of inspiration from Tom Smith as he stole the ball on the edge of the Notts “d” & with a pin point pass to Davies on the penalty spot, Newark’s leading scorer was not going to squander that opportunity & the visitors finished the half 6 to the good.
The second half was a completely different story, the hosts received the “hairdryer treatment” at half time & came out fighting.
Their passing at times was exquisite & brought out Newark’s best defending qualities. For much of the game Brown, Reynolds, Colcombe, McMunn & Mepham were inspirational from an attacking point of view, but now they were having to defend with depth, showing just why we have the best defensive record in the league.
Unlike the first half it took the visitors 20 minutes in the second to add to their lead. Unbelievably a penalty corner, the rebound pounced upon by Davies & ruthlessly dispatched.
Five minutes from the end South Notts deservedly appeared on the score sheet after a period of short sharp passing down the Newark left, but at 7 – 1 its really just a consolation.
With virtually the last touch of the game Alex Davies stepped up to fire in Newark’s 8th goal & his 4th of the day.
So with just 5 weeks remaining it looks like the title challenge is a 2 horse race. Newark are top by 3 points, but have a 13 point lead over third. In 2 weeks Newark have a mouth watering tie away against 2nd place team Leicester Panthers, which could be winner takes all.
Big thanks to Paul Halfpenny for this report