Last minute winner and a sending off as Ladies win thriller
Newark Men’s 1’s v North Notts 2’s
A damp afternoon saw a fiery start to the second half of the season for the Newark men's 1s at home to North Notts 2s. The home side played an impressive passing game, with lots of effective movement which lead to Dan Beeching scoring his first senior goal for the club and taking an early lead for Newark. Notts reciprocated with a goal from a penalty corner soon after. Newark fought back to take the lead once again with a strike on goal from Sam Gallop, but yet again, Notts found an equaliser making it 2-2 at half time.
Newark’s performance dropped in the second half for periods, the free-flowing passing and movement was replaced with unforced errors and high pressure from the opposition. Kian Hunter took the lead for Newark mid-way through the half and helped push the team on to try and seal the win. Unfortunately, a counter attack drew the game just before the final whistle, leaving the score line a disappointing 3-3 for Newark.
Man of the match - Scott Robinson Scorers Dan Beeching, Sam Gallop, Kian Hunter
The men’s 2s lost to Mansfield 2’s 8-2 with both goals from junior players Cameron and Ryan, man of the match was Tom Scotney.
Newark Ladies 2’s v Worksop 2’s
Newark ladies 2s are fighting for promotion this season and faced Worksop 2’s this week who are also strong contenders for promotion. However, after beating the team away earlier this year, Newark had the confidence and knowledge that victory was in sight. It was an even match, with Newark scoring first only for Worksop to equalize, followed by a second Newark goal and another for Worksop. The battle continued into the final minutes, and despite having a goal disallowed, Newark came out on top winning 4-3 and retain their position as 2nd in the league.
Goal scorers – Shanade Bradley (2), Sara Jackson (1), Hannah Beckett (1) Player of the match – Hannah Beckett
Newark Ladies 3’s v Nottingham Players
The first half of the season for the Ladies’ 3s side was a tough one. With several teams including Newark fighting to stay out of the relegation zone including Nottingham Players, this week’s game was a must win for the team. The first half started well, Newark were moving the ball around the pitch and had several chances at goal in the first twenty minutes, although failed to score thanks to a strong Players goalie.
Players worked hard and broke the Newark defence, winning several penalty corners and putting GK Freya Grocock under pressure with several scraps in front of goal, which she calmly cleared. Newark began to lose their cool under the pressure, despite having several subs on the side-line providing fresh legs on the pitch and Players scored, making it 1-0 at half time.
After a re-group, the Newark side were hoping to regain possession, but sluggish play led to Players scoring another goal after several penalty corners and pressure in their attacking half of the pitch. Rachel Copson, returning from maternity leave, was calm in the sweeping position but with little movement from Newark and a well-coordinated Player’s attack, the opposition made it hard for the Newark defence to move the ball up the pitch. There were some promising runs from Sophie Chambers and Ellie, who had shots on goal, but it was Felicity who finally gave Newark some hope of a draw with a sweep into the bottom corner of the goal making it 2-1. With 5 minutes to go, Newark substituted GK Freya for an outfield player known as kicking back in the hope of overloading the attack. However, Players continued to apply the pressure, leaving Newark exposed when they conceded a penalty corner and with no GK to defence a drag flick, Players scored once again, making the final score 3-1 and leaving Newark with a lot of work to do in the next few matches to stay in the division.
Players of the match – Susan Tate, Emily Crisp and Freya Grocock.
Newark Ladies 4’s v Boots 6’s
First match back after the festive break saw the Newark Ladies in fine form and eager to get a win. With Captain Moira Chambers winning the toss and first pushback, Newark were on the attack from the off without giving Boots a look in. The first goal came after just four minutes with a great cross from Lucy Wade on the right wing to find Sam Wade in the D to slot the ball past the keeper. The goal galvanised the team into some strong attacking play and after a further five minutes Lucy put a cracking shot past the keeper and into the far corner to make the score 2-0.
From then on, there was some good end to end play, but Newark started to rest on their laurels too early with Boots gaining their first goal from a penalty corner less than two minutes later. They quickly followed this up with an equaliser when they made a break and the Newark defence couldn’t quite clear the ball before it dribbled over the line.
With Newark working out who the stronger Boots players were, it enabled them to channel play around them and out to wings Thea and Lucy to push forward. Kate was her usual strong self-down the centre and made several runs a long way down the pitch using her skill to get round the Boots defenders, but Newark’s next goal was another run in from the right by Lucy, finishing off with a good strong hit into the left-hand corner. Kate did get onto the score sheet herself just before the whistle to give Newark a lead of 4-2 at half time.
The second half appeared move evenly matched, although fitness did seem to be an issue for both sides! Polly at Right Back made some cracking tackles to halt the attack from Boots and new recruit Beth Dickens had a great game up front and it was only bad luck that saw her unable to get her name on the score sheet. Keeper Clare Dent was kept on her toes with several shots at goal kicked out wide and despite several breaks, neither team were able to add to their half-time tally. The match ended with a 4-2 win for Newark.
Player of the match - Lucy Wade
Sunday 13th January
The men’s over 40’s lost away to Beeston 4-2. After leading at the end of the first half 2-1, the team ran out of steam and with a lack of substitutes, failed to seal the win and progress in the cup. Both goals came from Arran Coggan.
