Newmarket Hockey Club

Newmarket Hockey Club
Ladies 06-07

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Saturday, 13th January 2007. Cambridgeshire Ladies' League Div 1 - round 8
Newmarket Ladies 1	5 - 1	Cambridge South 1
Fison Thomas 3 Cockerill

The first league fixture after Christmas produced a feisty contest between Cambridge South and Newmarket Ladies.

Cambridge South were eager to get the match under way and demonstrated a focused and sprightly warm up. This did not intimidate the home side and they immediately sprung into action on the pitch. Cambridge were forced to defend as Newmarket were given a short corner. Tracy Cockerill took the ball and sweetly picked out Lydia Fison who was waiting at the top of the D. One touch was all that Fison needed to produce an unstoppable shot.

The possession remained 80% Newmarket's and another short corner was given to the home side after 10 minutes. This time Cockerill slipped the ball short to Di Thomas which took Cambridge by surprise. Thomas was left to score in a practically open goal to make it 2-0.

Constant pressing produced a 5 minute period where Cambridge South could not get the ball out of their own half. Gail McDonnell had some storming runs as did Isabel Hooley- they both showed great awareness of their team mates. Rachel Allen also made some very timely runs down the right wing which is where the build up for Town's third goal came from. Short, sharp passing and again good movement from Town gave Di Thomas time and room to lift the ball on the reverse past the keeper's left leg.

Cambridge were not in the mood to be easily beaten and produced a counter attack. This panicked Newmarket, and their keeper Sue Bullimore issued her instructions to the defence. Louise Downs tracked the running player early and dived to retrieve the ball which had drifted out of the Cambridge player's control. From this point Newmarket were the ones on the back foot and Cambridge produced a goal after they loaded the D with players.

The first half score ended 4-1 due to Di Thomas completing her hat-trick. It came about with similar circumstances as her last where she found herself in front of the keeper with a static ball. Thomas shifted the ball left then right which wrong footed the keeper and gave her space to slot the ball into the bottom right hand corner.

Perhaps the time off for Christmas was starting to show in the second half as both teams struggled to find rhythm and pace. It was Cambridge who showed more willing and made some early chances. Claire McDonnell had a positive impact, and Newmarket began to focus on the game again. Another set piece gave Town their 5th goal. Cockerill took the ball and passed short to Thomas who shot. Cockerill was on the keepers pads to collect the rebound and classily put the ball home. The return after injury for Beth Wombwell was successful and she was strong and skillful to get Town out of trouble on occasions.

The second half performance was slightly disappointing for Newmarket and their spectators as they never seemed to get into full flight, but they happily took the victory and the three points and aim to remain consistently strong in future games.

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