Emily Crisp reports
Ladies 1’s v Derby
The match started at pace with both teams having opportunities but Derby capitalised when the ball rebounded off the post and was slipped past the Newark keeper. 10 minutes later Newark turned it around and equalised. Only 2 minutes after that Derby then went up 2-1. Newark carried on Fighting to grab the equaliser again taking it to 2-2.
Going into HT Derby nicked another 2 making it 4-2.
Second half Newark conceived another 2 goals FT 6-2
Ladies 2’s v North Notts 2’s
Newark Ladies 2s took on a strong North Notts side early on Saturday morning. But the Newark side weren’t phased, with some great movement resulting in an early goal in the first ten minutes from Sara Jackson. With some strong pressure from North Notts and constant battling from the persistent Newark side, Notts were kept out of the attacking D and finished the first half 1-0.
The second half whistle went and Notts went in strong, working the ball around and around the defence. They finally got a break and managed to slip it past Lily to equalise the game.
After what seemed a very long wait and a lot of running, Newark finally took their chance and Ellie Peachment(making her debut for the 2s) smashed the ball nearly past the goalie to take Newark to a 2-1 lead.
After a nervous 2 and a half minutes the final whistle was blown and Newark walked away with another win.
Player of the match was Gabrielle Lucas for her brilliant work.
Ladies 3s v Worksop
The threes where playing at Worksop College on a renowned bouncy pitch. It took a while for the team to get used to the conditions which Worksop took full advantage of, scoring two goals in quick succession in the first 10 minutes. Newark soon woke up and responded with hard work from the centre forward and wing players, although did not manage to get on the score board. Worksop scored again, this time from a penalty corner rather than open play.
The defence fought back hard, with the addition of Susan Tate man marking one of the strongest Worksop players, Newark held the score at 3-0 to reach half time. Down to 11 players after Louise Hopper was injured from a lifted ball, the team fought back gaining a couple of penalty corners, it was Zoe White who got Newark on the score board from open play in the attacking D after some great stick work from Sophie Chambers.
Minutes before the final whistle, Worksop broke play and slipped another goal past the Newark GK making the final score 4-1. Joint player of the match was Emily Crisp and GK Freya Grocock for some incredible saves.
Ladies 4’s vs West Bridgford 5’s
With the squad settling in and beginning to play as a team, we were confident of a good result. Good end to end hockey with Newark keeping possession for more than 50% of the time gave us several chances, with great runs from Kate Revill and Imogen Kennett into the D. However it was just before half time that Newark were awarded a penalty corner, with Jess Hull stepping up from the back to receive, slipping the ball back to Alex Olivant to slot into the back of the net just on the half time whistle.
In the second half, a rejuvenated West Bridgford kept the ball into their attacking half but were repeatedly blocked by the Newark backs with George Redican at the forefront with the ball going down Bridgford’s right wing time and again. Working together with the remaining backs, all attacks were blocked and the ball sent up front for counter attacks by the Newark forwards.
Vicky Jones and Kanky Andrews both back in midfield this week proved invaluable as the linchpin between the backs and forwards. However, a lucky break from West Bridgford beat the keeper to level the score at 1-1. The Newark keeper this week was Lydia Smith, making her debut at senior level - she did a great job keeping the back four in order, particularly at penalty corners.
The luck started to roll away from Newark with a series of penalty corners given against them, but West Bridgford repeatedly used the same sequence so Newark were able to defend effectively. Once this run against them had turned, the ball was kept well up and Alex found the back of the net for a second time, with great back up from Kate and Imogen.
With control of the match now back in Newark’s hands, all that was needed was to keep possession and run the clock down, but a final flourish saw Kate Revill get her name on the scoresheet again to make the final score 3-1 to Newark.
Player of the match was Kate Revill - although votes were spread across the squad from front to back!
Mens 1s v Chesterfield
A narrow loss saw Newarks unbeaten record broken in the fourth game of the season.
The game started off strong with Newark pushing Chesterfield deep into their own half. After many chances there was a scramble at the top of the D and Kian Hunter managed to score a deflection for the second week in a row.
Chesterfield got a short corner and with a drag flick into the bottom corner saw the game go to one all.
A short corner for Newark came with a missed chance on the back post.
Chesterfield came back again with a strong attack and a deflection off the keeper made it 2-1 for the final score.
A disappointing result with the majority of the game played in the oppositions half, the lack of final touches was the key difference between the two teams.