Newark and South Notts hockey clubs compete in tough games

Newark Hockey Club celebrated success in a must-win game for their men’s 1sts as the side ran out 2-1 winners over Loughborough Town 4ths.

The Newark team picked up a much-needed three points against the bottom of the league side.

Playing at home, the Newark men made a rocky start to the contest, with Loughborough taking an early lead thanks to a back post-tap-in.

Determined to come back strong, a quick ball by Ivan Dundich to Danny Hendrie allowed Hendrie to hit with a quick reverse stick through the keeper’s legs which levelled the playing field in the first half.

Newark came out strongly in the second half as they won a lot more of the tackles and worked well as a team.

The play eventually led to a break from the back to Danny Hendrie who lifted the ball over the opposition back line to Logan Tustin.

Tustin made a great run onto the ball, went one-on-one with the keeper, and went around him to score the winning goal.

Newark held out with great defending toward the end of the match to win the game.

Logan Tustin was awarded the man of the match for his solid performance.

The South Notts men’s 1sts unexpectedly lost a very tight game against West Bridgford as they went down 2-0.

Newark Ladies 1sts were seeking a home win in their match against Belper 3rds but were narrowly defeated 1-0.

The first leg match earlier in the season had also been a closely fought affair with Belper coming out on top in that fixture.

There were plenty of new faces in the travelling squad and it became evident from the start that it was going to be a tough and physical match.

Newark struggled to play the possession hockey that has become their trademark over the last couple of months.

The strong Belper side were quick to close down and put pressure on the Newark defence.

The deadlock was broken by a very well-taken short corner strike by Belper, which was hit home accurately inside the post.

Newark continued to find their form and created some good chances themselves while also securing several short corners before half-time.

The second-half saw Newark raise their game and retain more possession.

The physicality from the visitors continued, but Newark kept their cool. More chances came and went for the home side who didn’t manage to tie the game up before the final whistle.

Anna Hall was awarded player of the match for Newark.

Newark now faces a tough succession of matches against top-of-the-league opposition.