Mens 1s
10-0 win at home vs South Notts
Newark welcomed South Nottingham this week, Newark where looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season last week. Newark started the game very strong pressing the South Notts defence back and not letting them get out, this pressure soon told when Scott Robinson drove down the right hand side, taking on a couple of South Notts players before slipping it to Alex Davies on the penalty spot who managed to force the ball under the on rushing keeper and into the back of the net. Newark carried on to apply the pressure and got their reward again soon when Sam smith was found free in the ‘D’ and managed to fire the ball into the back if the net, Smith was not finished yet he pressed the South Notts defence and got his reward when he took the ball past a couple of defenders and finished with a fantastic strike into the back of the net. The pressure kept coming from Newark who were eventually rewarded with a short corner, where Scott Robinson dragged it low and hard onto the right post where the defender put his leg in the way giving the umpire no choice but to award Newark a penalty stroke. Davies stepped up to take the flick but only managed to put it into the diving South Notts keeper. This gave South Notts some hope and they started to put some passing moves together but the Newark defence stayed strong and they managed to break down the pitch where a saved shot fell right in the path of Jack Mcmunn who fired the ball into the empty net. The game took a very calming turn for the last 5 minutes of the half where Newark ended it 4-0 up. After the re start in the second half it did not take long for Newark to get back on track with them winning another penalty corner this time Robinson dragged the ball into the top right corner leaving the South Notts keeper no chance. As the game progressed the South Notts team started to tire and Newark took full advantage of this pressing them back into their half, unfortunately an incident caused Craig Joynes to pick up a Yellow Card and leave the pitch, this however just spurred Newark on further with both Davies and Smith adding a couple of Goals this did bring up Smiths hat trick. Not to be out done by his strike partner Davies reached his hat trick only a few moments later. Davies celebrations were short lived when he managed to pick himself up a green card, now Newark were down to ten again and they managed to keep control of the game creating more and more chances, giving Wakeland the chance to score his first ever goal for the men’s 1s after many years stopping them going in at the other end. He was found diving in on the back post by a great ball from Smith. With only a couple of moments left Newark switched to a 3-4-3 bringing davies back on to the pitch where he picked the ball up on the edge of ‘D’ and rounded a defender and firing into the back of the net, giving him 4 for the day and making it Newark’s 10th. Man of the Match; Alex Davies Goals: Alex Davies x 4, Sam Smith x 3, Scott Robinson, Jack Mcmunn, James Wakeland
Mens 3s
1-1 draw away at Northampton
With five missing from the team that faced Lichfield at home and three new players coming in Newark travelled to Northampton with 11 players and unsure of how the game would go.
Northampton started strongly and Newark’s new look defence were soon under pressure but with Harry Troop in goal they held firm from the first wave of attacks. With time Newark grew into the game and started to build possession and territory and started to create chances of their own.
Tim McManus opened the scoring after being the first to get to a bouncing ball and somehow found a way past the Northampton keeper and just got the ball into the goal nearly putting it wide. This lifted Newark’s spirit and with solid defensive work saw them finish the 1st half 1-0 up.
Newark continued to thwart Northampton’s advances and create chances of they own the best falling to Tim McManus from a well struck cross from Nigel Bett finding him unmarked on the back post but a save from the opposing keeper kept the ball out.
Northampton finally got the better of the Newark defence in the last few minutes to finally beat Harry Troop in goal but Newark’s heads didn’t drop and they held on for a draw.
Goal Scorer:- Tim McManus
M.O.M:- Tom Broome
Mens 3s
9-0 loss away vs Leicester
Right from the start Newark under Pressure from Leicester, we were closed down quickly & struggled to keep possession of the ball, inside the first 5 minutes Leicester had score.
Newark fought back tried to gain shape started to pass the ball with some good 1,2s, we were just unable to score any goals.
Newark defence was under pressure from Leicester for most of the game and without the Sterling Job of Robbie Robert shaw the score line would of been far greater. Final score Newark 0-9 Leicester
Man of the Match: Robbie Robert Shaw and rightly deserved.
Mens Over 40s Newark's veteran side travelled to Coalville as they took part in England Hockey's knockout competition. With the opportunity to bring in guest players, Newark managed to put out a full side. Coalville, with the aid of several subs, managed to keep Newark on the back foot and soon opened the scoring. Newark pushed for an equaliser but everything came off but the goal. Towards the end of the half Coalville scored again and doubled their lead into half time.
The second half saw Newark run out of steam, and team work, although co-captain Simon Higgs managed to score what turned out to be a consolation goal. Coalville put a further two goals away to take the game. Newark move into the Shield competition and have another opportunity for glory later in the year.
Ladies 1s
4-0 win vs Beeston
The Ladies 1s welcomed Beeston Ladies 4s to Newark as they sought to stay on top of the Nottinghamshire Premier Division. Despite some frantic play in the first half, the home side settled into the game and their account was opened following good work from Dani Ashwell leading to Laura Donaldson to see her shot sneak past the 'keeper.
Donaldson soon had the opportunity to double the lead but her penalty flick went wide of the post. The game turned scrappy and stretched, and Newark had to keep an eye on Beeston's quick breaks. However, when Newark got hold of the ball and moved it around they dominated proceedings. Millie Hill finished from close range after Ashwell and Donaldson combined again.
In the second half the game petered out for the visitors and Hill turned from scorer to provider as she ran into the circle, drew the goalkeeper and crossed for Hannah Coe to finish clinically. Newark got a late goal from Becky Wells who was on hand at the back post to finish the game off.
Player: Charlotte Staniforth was awarded Player of the Match for her running and domination of midfield.
Ladies 3s
4-1 win vsRedhill Ladies
The sun was shining at Redhill’s temporary home and shone on Newark with a penalty corner awarded to them in the first 2 minutes of play. Zoe White took a strike from the top of the D to Sara Jackson on the left post who slotted it past the keeper.
Newark continued to keep Redhill’s defence working hard with a fast pace and lots of passing, utilising Izzy Wells and Hannah Laughton’s young legs. Opportunities were rife with multiple penalty corners and the addition of Rachel Spolton in the attacking team working well but Newark were unable to get the ball across the line.
Redhill managed to find holes on their hit-outs and got the ball high catching the defenders out. Their hard hits resulted in a penalty corner just as the half time whistle went. Despite the best efforts of Rachel, Emily Crisp, Sue Birkett and Hannah Bond, the penalty was re-awarded twice more with the last making its way into the goal. Half time score 1:1.
A half time talk from Paul Halfpenny highlighted some training needs and gave the team the focus needed. They started the second half determined and set up the “W” effectively, stopping further threats from Redhill. Despite Izzy trying to head the ball, a sub-less Newark thankfully remained injury free and some lovely runs up the right wing by Laura McMunn helped Ann Crockett-McLean to take a straight strike on goal, taking them back into the lead.
Continuing to dominate and with Freya Grocock being mostly redundant in goal, Newark struck home twice more before the final whistle with Zoe striking from the top of the D first and then claiming a second after a shot rebounded off the keeper.
Player: Zoe White.
Ladies 4s
2-2 vs Aztecs
Newark L4s were thin on the ground with just 9 players due to illness and injuries and despite mind games from Aztecs requesting to see all ID Cards this was not going to break the fighting spirit of the Ladies 4s. Aztec were quick off the mark hardly giving newcomer Sally Halfpenny chance in goal and quickly scored. This soon woke up Newark who then went onto domineer the first half with skill, speed and determination. Gabbie Lucas and Ellie Smith made a great passes with Ellie quickly equalising for Newark. Gabbie Lucas consistently made several great runs being in the right place at the right time but unfortunately wasn’t able to find the back of the net. Ellie Smith made some great tackles outsmarting Aztecs supported by Chloe Sloan, Kanky Andrews and Ali Wells and soon netted another goal for Newark making the score at half time 2-1.
Aztecs came back hard in the second half man marking Ellie Smith. Louise Goodman making some great runs with Abbie Moisey channelling which kept Aztecs away from the defending D most of the time. Unfortunately, Aztecs broke free and the defence were outrun by Aztecs who slipped a goal passed Sally Halfpenny within the last 10 minutes not giving Newark time to gain another goal despite never stopping until the final whistle blowing. L4s so deserved 3 points on this occasion but had to settle for 1 point with a final score of 2 -2.
Goal Scorer: Ellie Smith
Player of the Match: Gabbie Lucas