Mens 1s vs Beeston 4s
6-3 victory at home
Mens 2s v Belper 3s
Newark travelled to Belper for the first league game of the season unsure of what to expect after relegation last year.
It was soon evident that Belper were a well organised team and they continually kept the Newark defence under pressure with a high press making it difficult for Newark to get out of their half. For the first 15 minutes it was an open game with neither side dominating too much but two short corners from Belper within 5 minutes if each other resulted in goals. Both initial shots were saved by David Henderson but the rebounds fell to Belper players who put the ball in the back of the net.
Continued pressure on the Newark defence led to the Belper 3rd goal with an unlucky deflection taking the ball pass the helpless keeper. A quick change of structure by coach Sally Halfpenny strengthened the defence and saw Newark hold out for the rest of the half.
In the 2nd half Newark finally got more possession and more attacking chances however also saw Belper have multiple counter –attacking opportunities. Belper got their 4 goal from one of these attacks and a fifth came from another short corner.
Newark never gave up in the game and hard work from the defence and midfield kept Belper from scoring any more. Man of match Steve Littlewood worked tirelessly in the middle of the pitch to be a continued thorn in the side of Belper.
Final score: Newark 0, Belper 5
Next week Newark welcomes Derwent 2s to Magnus for the first home game of the season.
Ladies 1s v Trent Uni 1s
The Ladies 1’s hosted Notts Trent at Magnus on Saturday and knew they would be up against a strong and fast University side. Availability across the Ladies section meant that there was a squad of a bare 11, so it was always going to be a difficult day, facing off against a team who put 9 past Ashbourne the previous week.
As expected NTU Started very quickly scoring within the first couple of minutes from a well worked move down the right, with the ball deflecting off first the stick of Anna Hall, with the follow up deflecting off Keeper Georgina Barratt’s pads into the Path of the oncoming NTU attack to make it 1-0.
NTU’s second came not long after, when Hall under pressure from the NTU attack, failed to clear the ball from a position deep in the D. Trent stole the ball and passed the ball calmly into the goal.
Trent put the game to bed scoring on 3 more occasions making it 5-0 going into the Half time break. Newark however rallied as the half went on, putting together some good passing moves through Bea Smith, making her debut for the ladies 1’s, and Rosie Staniforth continuing her form from last week down the right.
Newark started the second half brightly and more determined, although Trent started in much the same form as they played the first – scoring an early goal to make it 6-0. Newark put together some nice play through the middle between Katherine Hawkins and Shanade Bradley which resulted in the ball being laid off to Staniforth, who confidently took the ball into the D who had her initial shot blocked. The ball fell to Trish Trafford who followed up onto the Keepers pads. Newark scrambled the ball desperately towards goal, with their efforts finally rewarded through Melanie Woods, who got the final touch to put the ball in the goal making it 6-1.
Newark continued to work hard and looked far more organised than earlier in the game, frustrating both the NTU Attack and Defence, but were unable to break through. NTU were dangerous from Short corners, but the Newark defence stood firm, with Anna Hall taking a Ball deflected up into her face mask, the umpires agreeing that it had done so dangerously.
Newark’s defence worked hard to clear the ball from the back, but were put under pressure from the hit out time and time again. Megan Cocker found some success with her Aerial balls out from the back, finding Smith and Bradley. In the dying moments NTU finished the game off how they started it, after crossing the ball in from their right, across goal, Anna Hall was first to the ball, but unfortunately deflected passed Barratt into her own goal.
Player of the match – Megan
Ladies 2’s v Manning
With the bare 11 players, Newark headed to Manning this week for their second fixture of the season. After a short warm-up, the team headed out onto the pitch to face an experienced team of players who from the off-set showed skill and ability. Newark soon settled into the match and began to move the ball well, switching sides and using the centre pivot players to make the ball to the hard work.
Manning persisted and their experienced forward players managed to take the ball into the Newark defensive D, winning a number of short corners and had several strikes on goal, all of which were calmly saved by Goalkeeper Lilly Dean. Captain Lyndsey Sayer guided the defence, key tackles were made by Jacky Nullis and Dani Croson who then cleared the ball from the danger zone with some great balls to upfront players Evie and Zara.
Using their skills and speed, the two youngsters played the ball around the Manning players with help from Felicity and Sacha who put the defence under pressure and won an attacking short corner. Newark were unable to convert the penalty and were unlucky with a shot on goal from Evie.
Manning looked frustrated and began to fight back, sweeping the ball to their midfield they worked around the Newark defence and after a scrap in the D, scored to make it 1-0 going into half time.
Coach James Barker made some changes to the Newark formation, despite the lack of substitutes Newark were strong on the attack with some great runs down the pitch from Amber Smith, but the away side were unable to get on the score board.
Towards the end of the match, Newark began to tire and Manning took advantage, sending players to goal hang in the D resulting in a number of shots on goal and winning consecutive penalty corners. The Newark defence began to make mistakes, but kept Manning from adding to the scoresheet. Final score 1-0 to Manning.