Newmarket Ladies 1s: Suffered their first defeat in over a year, in a close encounter with Cambridge City 4s. Missing a couple of key players through injury Newmarket still put in a good performance but came out on the wrong end of a 2v1 defeat. Newmarket’s consolation was scored by Jess Richardson. Newmarket now know the standards they have to maintain in 2NE, but have shown that they are more than capable of matching them. Next week they face fellow early pace setters Cambridge South 5s.
Newmarket Men 1s: suffered their second heavy defeat in a row 9v3 at Dereham 2s. With a squad heavily depleted by injury and non availability, obtaining any sort of result was going to be difficult. However in open play Newmarket whilst on the back foot were a match for Dereham in fact outscoring their opponents 3v2 thanks to goals from captain Simon Donald, Dylan Hardy and Kane Astin. Dereham, however, had clearly been practicing their short corners over the summer, scoring seven times from them from ten attempts.
There were some excellent periods of play by Newmarket particularly in the first 20 mins of the second half when they dominated the game, scored twice and kept Dereham at bay and with many of the regular first team coming back over the next couple of weeks, Newmarket will provide tougher opposition for the likes of Felixstowe 1s who they host next week.
Ladies 2s: Cambridge City Ladies 6 made the trip east to Newmarket and both teams had a solid start to the match with end to end play. Helen Hansgate worked tirelessly in the middle linking well with Tracey Cockerill who ran the city defenders to the ground. Jazz Freed and Stef Heslop commanded the defence with a solid return to match play by Maddy Henry-Jones who reliably stole the ball from the opposition. The break came from a pass from Jess Malings to Jess Griffiths who scored after a battle with the goalkeeper. Her tenacity paid off and was shown through the whole game, resulting in the Player of the Match reward.
A lack of concentration from all Newmarket players saw Cambridge City break down the pitch and a goal was scored.
Newmarket used the break to regroup and have a well deserved break before being ran around by City. There was a renewed determination from Newmarket with Katie Barrett and Peggy Rose Claydon down the right and Jess Griffiths and Robyn Kennedy. Finally, Malings scored with a bottom corner short corner strike to make it 2-1 to Newmarket. A break and good run ending with an accurate pass from Barrett to Griffiths with a quick shot at goal meant Kennedy was there to slot it in form the post to make it 3-1 up. It was a long 10 final minutes with City pressuring Newmarket defence, but Newmarket kept their composure to come away with a well deserved win.
Next week Newmarket travel to Spalding 3s for an 11am start.
Mens 2s: Newmarket M2s made it 2 wins from 2 in 4NE with a 5v2 home win over Bury St Edmunds 5s. In all honesty Bury 5s dominated possession and chances, but struggled to convert them. Newmarket on the other hand were mostly on the back foot but when they found themselves in Bury’s D, more often than not scored. Peter Terrett notched up his second hattrick in two weeks , before Bury pulled one back before half time. Captain Andy Baker scored a short corner and Matt Lewis with a strike from the penalty rounded off Newmarket’s scoring before Bury got their second consolation at the end. After last season spent struggling at the wrong end of the division, Newmarket find themselves in the top 2 this time round.
Next week they will travel to Kings Lynn for a game against Pelicans 3s
Mens 3s: Newmarket M3s also won against Bury St Edmunds, this time their 7s in a dominant 6v1 win. Jack Baker and Peter Booth gave Newmarket a 2v0 half time lead. The game remained close until the final 15 minutes when both teams decided to start scoring. Baker scored two more to complete his second hattrick for the club and Olly Pitt returned to haunt his old club with an unstoppable short corner strike. Bury scored their consolation when Newmarket waited for a whistle that didn’t come. However, it was down to Peter Booth to put the icing on the cake with a tomahawk shot into the opposite top corner, that would have graced the premier league.
Next week a 5pm pushback and a trip to Ipswich beckons for the M3.
Ladies 3s: Made the short trip down the A11 to Cambridge South 6s. With only 10 players available they were always going to be in for a fight. The team fought a brilliant defensive action for the full 70 minutes and many lessor teams would have cracked more often than Newmarket. A single goal in each half was enough for South to win the match but not the plaudits as Newmarket marshalled by Zoe Bailey and with youngster Melly Benedikz in fine form in goal heroically made South struggle for every chance.
Hopefully back to full numbers next week Newmarket host Wisbech 4s.