Newmarket travelled to
Cambridge for their last game of the year before the Christmas
break. After last week's loss, Newmarket had to win to stay top of
division 5NW.
The yellow and blues
had to play some players out of position due to some regulars unable
to make the fixture. Simon Greenwood stepped into a midfield
position, he worked hard but did not look comfortable. Adrian
Atkinson swapped over to right back, he also worked hard but again
found it difficult to fulfil his defensive duties.
The Nomads obviously
saw the holes in Newmarket’s formation and did well to score, making
it 1-0. The away team were not prepared to lose again to yet another
Cambridge team, and made good use of long passing to find young Josh
Dawson, who made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
This boosted
Newmarket’s confidence and the last 15 minutes saw the home team on
the back foot. Jez Harris won Newmarket a short corner, and after an
unsuccessful strike from Adam Gallop the ball fell to the “midfield
dynamo” Jez Harris who slotted it passed the keeper to net his first
goal of his Newmarket career.
The second half started
with Newmarket’s captain, Neil Badcock, swapping Greenwood into his
position of right back and Atkinson into a defensive midfield role.
The change of formation
made it difficult for the home team to break into Newmarket’s D, but
when they did they managed to get awarded a penalty flick. Keeper
Dan Brown went the right way but the ball went beneath him, making
it 2-2.
Club coach Colin
Seakins watched from the sideline and supported the team, urging
them to get back at the home team and to go back to simple short
passing. This advice was taken well by Newmarket and possession was
held by the away team until they saw it fit to release the ball to
Dawson, scoring his second and making it 2-3. The game had less than
10 minutes to go, Newmarket looked tired but pressed on, and in a
goal mouth scramble, one Newmarket player cheered, for Josh Dawson
had scored again, making it his 3rd hat-trick this season
and keeping Newmarket top of the league, clear by 3 points and an
impressive goal difference of 27.
Newmarket’s next game is in the New Year, playing Alford II on the
20th of January
