Ladies 1s vs Notts Uni
From the off the Nottingham side had a strong star but Newark fought back and after some team work in the middle, the team managed to break away making the score line 1-0. Nottingham Uni were quick to react and clawed back two goals before half time.
The second half started and unfortunately Newark struggled to get many chances, Nottingham uni had upped their game putting constant pressure on Newark’s defence. Despite doing everything they could Newark lost 8-1. Goal scorer Laura Harris and player of the match was captain Megan Cocker.
Ladies 2s v Boots 3’s Cup Match
It was a bright sunny morning on Saturday and the team were ready and pumped for the first round of the cup match. Drawn against Boots 3’s who play in the league above, it was always going to be a tough match for the squad but with a good warm up and strategy from coach Sally Halfpenny, the ladies went out fighting. After an initial scrappy ten minutes, the team soon calmed down and played the ball well in pairs and three. With the defence, commanded by Anna Hall, keeping the ball out of the defensive D, winger Gabbi made a great run up the wing, slipping the ball to goal hanger Ellie Smith who took on the Boots goalie and scored a cracking goal.
This week the team benefitted from 3 subs, and regular rolling of players meant the team had fresh legs on the pitch. Defenders Amy Crouch, Lyndsey Sayer and Mel Woods kept the Boots attackers at bay, aided by some fabulous saves from goalie Lilly Dean who comfortably took on several Boots players 1 on 1 in the D.
A few minutes later, after some hard work from Rachel Vickers in the middle, Ellie took the goalie on again, slipping the ball into the corner of the goal giving Newark a 2-0 lead going into half time.
Boots responded and after winning an attacking short corner, they scored from a deflection in the D. Newark soon responded with some great runs from Bea Smith and Shanade Bradley in the centre, the ball found Ellie in the D once again, who calmly slipped two more goals past the Boots goalie. Final score 4-1 to Newark.
Newark Men’s 1s v Nottingham Uni
A team not playing their best hockey couldn't get the desired result against top of the table opposition.
After the last few results Newark went into the game against Uni of Nottingham 4s as underdogs but feeling positive they could pull a result out of the game. From the start the students played a very high pressing game and would not let Newark out of their own half. This was capitalised on as they took the lead and scored a second before the end of the first half. Newark’s best efforts came from a number of counter attacks and moments of excellent passing but with no luck in the D.
The second half started much differently and Newark won a short corner within a minute of the restart, however the ball was played just wide of the post.
Newark’s only goal came from Simon Higgs on the post with an impressive deflection from a hard James Beedham shot. The game looked like it might get more competitive for Newark as they won a number of short corners, the closest being a training ground routine that the keeper saved without his knowledge.
Uni of Nottingham took advantage of their breakaway efforts and managed to score three more to take the final score to 5-1. M.o.m Scott Robinson, Ryan Foster and Ben Brown