Blades provides the cutting edge
Newmarket men's 1st team went into Saturday's
Norwich Union East League Division Two North match having scored ten
goals in their previous two games. Their continuous hard work was
again rewarded with a victory in which they scored another five
goals.
With Cummins taking the pivotal role in midfield,
due to the absence of captain Bob Townson through injury, Newmarket
worked hard from the start, putting the Alford defence under a lot
of pressure.
Robinson provided an almost perfect start when he
scored with a fine shot from the top of the circle after only five
minutes.
With fine interplay particularly on the right
flank between Mangell, Gurnell and Bennett, Newmarket dominated the
first half, having four chances cleared off the line by defenders
and one netted attempt disallowed.
Alford equalised from a penalty stroke from one
of their few attacks of the first half.
The second half saw Newmarket again applying
pressure. Their attack found it hard to penetrate a packed defence
and signs of frustration began to show as they pressed for the
second goal.
This came from a short corner strike from Blades
halfway through the second period and marked the beginning of a
four-goal blitz in 15 minutes.
Blades netted again from a short corner and
Bennett got the third from a penalty before Blades rounded off the
scoring with a diving reverse stick shot, giving him a hat-trick in
consecutive league games.
On Saturday, Newmarket travel to Horncastle for a
game against one of the stronger league sides. They will have to
continue to show their skill, determination and team spirit which
has so far brought them nine points from their first four games.
Hot-shots
Newmarket have replaced Cambridge Nomads as the
division's hot-shots with Lee Blades hitting his second hat-trick in
successive league games as they followed a 6-0 win over Boston with
a 5-1 demolition of pointless Alford.
But it could have been a much bigger victory with
Alford clearing four off the line and Newmarket having one
disallowed in the first half. Jimmy Robinson's individual opener was
cancelled out from the penalty spot before Newmarket ran riot
through Blades and Bennett (penalty).
