Ladies 1s vs Ladies 2s
Newark Ladies 1s played host to Newark Ladies 2s on Saturday. Festive cheer in the changing rooms was brought to the pitch as both teams did their best to conceal their apprehension. Laura Donaldson scored first for the Ladies 1s, running down the left wing and cutting in to find the back board whilst Dani Ashwell acted as a decoy. Ladies 1s had four short corners, which the Ladies 2s and Lily Dean - Goalkeeper - dealt with time and time again. The second goal was initiated by Hannah Coe who hassled down the left, before releasing Becky Wells who crossed for Donaldson to sweep in reverse stick. Next it was the turn of Millie Hill to find Laura in the D making it 3-0 to the hosts at half time.
Rosie Staniforth of the ladies 2s showed her speed and skill throughout the match and was rewarded with a short corner for her efforts. The short corner was textbook from the 2s and their goal was applauded by all - a Shanade Bradley to Sophie Chambers routine. The 2s played a brilliant passing game in the second half and had much of the possession thanks to strong communication from Anna Palfreyman in defence and the dynamic duo of Mel & Sue in midfield. A Laura Donaldson solo run resulted in her fourth goal, with the fifth from Hannah Coe. A special mention to Lily Dean for her work in goal on Saturday and Sunday for the Ladies 1s in their cup match against Beeston where she kept the team out of trouble on many occasions.
Final Score 5-1
Ladies 1s Player: Laura Donaldson
Ladies 2s Player: Rosie Staniforth
Ladies 3s vs Southwell Brincliffe United 3’s
Newark were away against Southwell on a bright, cold Saturday. Newark started strong, pushing straight up into the Southwell defence but the game soon evened out with play in both halves of the pitch. Newark continued to battle but Southwell were fast with their breaks, taking defenders Hannah Bond, Sue Birkett and Rachel Spolton by surprise. They failed to make the most of penalty corners though with the addition of Emily Crisp and first runner Sara Jackson in the defensive penalty corner line up firmly stopping the ball. Freya Grocock once again showed her goal keeping prowess and team work paid off.
After much back and forth, Newark thought they had finally got one past the experienced Southwell keeper but much to their frustration, the goal was disallowed. A penalty corner in Newark’s favour saw Zoe White make a cracking straight strike which was deemed too high and also disallowed. Newark showed determination and Niamh MacDermott, Tash Gresswell, Jacky Nullis and Hannah Laughton worked hard in midfield to keep the ball up. Success finally came as the Southwell keeper made a slide to save the ball, which slid under her arm. Suzie Gray kept pummelling until she finally got the ball past the last defender and over the line.
The second half showed a more dominant Newark but the ball was given away several times in the first 5 minutes of play before an injury to Southwell’s most dominant player. After this, Newark were more vocal and passed more accurately with some quick runs up the right wing by Laura McMunn resulting in another penalty corner. A dummy ball to Zoe saw her pass swiftly to Rachel on the left. She took a strike and the goal was finished by Sara on the post.
Newark played defensively for the remainder of the match, knowing that the 3 points for a win were more important than goal difference. The final whistle sealed Newark’s move up to the top of the table as an early Christmas present.
Score 2:0
Player: Hannah Laughton
Mens 2s
Newark travelled to Boots looking to put the disappointment of defeat against Chesterfield last week behind them.
For the early part of the game Newark's intensity kept Boots on the back foot and surprised the 2nd place team with their work effort and dominance in possession unfortunately this was not converted into goals
As Boots found their way into the game they showed the ruthless streak Newark missed earlier with two well taken goals which could have been cut but for Tim McManus unable to convert a free shot from two feet out on the back post. So 2-0 to Boots at half time.
Newark continued to battle hard in the 2nd half with good work from the defence of Andy McMunn, James Barker, John Reynolds and Ciaran Louge keeping Boots hanes down to a minimum however they were able to get one more goal with Newark still unable to score any themselves. So finished 3-0 to Boots.
However if Newark an show this level of effort and intensity in future matches results will improve.
Man of Match:- James Barker
Mens Over 40s
The Men's over 40s travelled down to St Neots for the first round of the England Shield competition and after dominating most of the first half only had a Ben Brown goal to show for their efforts.
2nd half didn't start as well which saw St Neots score two goals from short corners to see Newark fall behind.
This finally got Newark going and two short corner goals from John Reynolds and Simon Higgs saw them take the lead and then another goal from Simon and a fifth from Dave Woods saw Newark finish strongly and go through to the next round in early January.
Thanks to Dean Newell for umpiring.
Goal Scorers:- Ben Brown, John Reynolds, Simon Higgs (2), Dave Woods