Team: Rose, Hindmarsh, Wardle, Wilson, Bryson, Bowler, Bell, Hagan, Cully, O’Mahoney, Telford-Cooke, Corbett.

After a disappointing result in Wakefield last weekend, Morperth were keen to get back to winning ways and remain contenders for a place at the top of the table. This week’s visitors would certainly be a handful having won their last three games and situated just two points above the mighty green and gold in the league. Morpeth would need to be on top of their game to maintain their unbeaten home record and they couldn’t have hoped for a better start.

Within seconds of the whistle being blown, a short pass in the Leeds midfield was gratefully intercepted by Ciara Corbett who surged towards goal with skill, linking well with Bowler up the centre of the pitch towards the opponents D. Having driven to the base line through an army of defenders, Corbett played the slightest of passes back towards the penalty spot allowing the captain to sweep a first time shot past the keeper’s right side and put her team in the lead. Surely the fastest goal scored so far this season, Leeds were stunned to silence and an elated Morpeth couldn’t believe their luck.

The visitors now had their work cut out and to their credit they kept possession well, switching the ball across the pitch at pace and driving into space. Morpeth however held their shape and set the press high, forcing Leeds wide and allowing them little time on the ball. A flurry of Leeds attacks created chances on goal and they looked to dominate the game for much of the first half but the visitors were denied an equaliser with some excellent tackling from Hindmarsh and Bryson at the back. The home side struggled to maintain possession on occasions but some good two touch hockey up the left flank involving Cully, Bell and Bowler lead to some strong counter-attacks with the hosts picking up several short corners.

Despite executing many of their penalty corner routines without success, it was an accurate straight strike into the bottom left hand corner from Bell that got Morpeth their 2^nd with five minutes still to play before half-time. A much needed break and a positive team talk at the interval ensured Morpeth were hungry for a fight and if a victory was to be secured then the next 35 minutes would require concentration and a strong work ethic from all eleven players. Hagan and Corbett were back to their best showing skill and determination which led to some great steals from the Leeds defence and resulting in a number of goal scoring opportunities. Telford-Cooke and O’Mahoney made some good runs up the right wing allowing Morpeth to gain momentum and put pressure on the visitors. It was however an evenly matched second half with both teams creating chances that kept the keepers at both ends busy.

A string of penalty corners for the young Leeds side ultimately led to a breakthrough which once again brought the familiar nervous tension that has a habit of appearing in the final third of Morpeth matches. The home side coped well with the pressure and managed to stay disciplined until the end with Wilson and Wardle making some crucial tackles to deny the visitors a result. A hard fought and well deserved victory for the mighty green and gold takes them to third in the league and ensures fortress Longhirst is a place to be feared for travelling opponents.

Team: Rose, Hindmarsh, Watkins, Wilson, Bell, Bowler, Bryson, Smith, Hagan, Corbett, Pick, Pollock.

A 12 o’clock game meant an early start for the Morpeth Ladies down the M6 to Preston.  After some directions and sat nav issues we arrived at the club with little time to warm up; however this did not concern the Morpeth girls as we started strongly from the first whistle.

The first 10 minutes saw some good defending and pressing from the girls putting the Preston players under pressure where we were able to capitalise on their errors, spending the majority of time in the home side’s half of the pitch.  Some strong play through midfield and good link up play between Hagan and Corbett up front saw numerous breaks of attack which eventually ended in a penalty corner.  A great first strike by Hagan at the top of the circle hit the backboard allowing Morpeth to take the lead.

With Morpeth maintaining a high press, the Preston players grew increasingly frustrated with some bad stick tackling resulting in the first of what was to be many yellow cards of the game.  As Preston defended well for the following 10 minutes, Morpeth were unable to take advantage of being a player up.  The intensity of the game remained strong throughout the first half with some quick passages of play and breaks of attack from both sides.  Strong defending around their circle by Morpeth saw Preston unable to get a shot at goal.  Smith was awarded a penalty corner within the last few minutes of the first half following a great run down the right sideline and in to the circle. Emma Cockburn was unable to get a first strike on the ball and following some skilful play slipped the ball to Bowler who managed to knock the ball in mid-air with her reverse stick to make the score 2-0 just before the half time whistle.

Preston changed formation for the start of the second half and came out strong to look for the comeback however good communication and composure on the ball meant the visitors coped well.  An unfortunate foot in the circle gave Preston a penalty corner and an opportunity to bring the game to 2-1 which they took.  Morpeth managed to maintain their lead through a difficult ten minutes which brought more frustration to the Preston players and once again, resulted in another yellow card. This time Morpeth were able to take advantage of being a player up and from some good open play through midfield, it was Pollock who slotted the ball past the Preston keeper from a difficult angle on the left.  Preston were determined to get something from the game despite being 3-1 down and kept the pressure on the Morpeth defence.  With their full team back on the pitch they attacked the circle well and were awarded a number of penalty corners, of which an unfortunate incident on the line saw an own goal by one of the Morpeth defenders.  With the score now 3-2, frustration from both sides was apparent with some unpleasant tackles being made from the home side causing the umpires to pause the game to speak to both captains.  Once again, the mighty green and gold held their nerve and continued with some good passages of play linking around the back and keeping hold of the ball.  In the last remaining minutes of the game, a further bad tackle by a Preston player saw a third yellow card, making it easier for Morpeth to maintain possession before the final whistle and come away with a 3-2 win and an important 3 points.

Morpeth Ladies: Janice Rose; Lyn Watkins; Karen Hindmarch; Cara Smith; Sally Bryson; Brooke Cully; Emma Bell; Nicky Bowler (c); Dani Hagan; Ciara Corbett; Robyn Pick; Arran O’Mahony.

Morpeth’s unbeaten run came to an end on Saturday as a long trip to sunny Chester, a slow, sandy pitch and determined opponents proved their undoing. 

With several new players still being integrated into the line up, Morpeth struggled to find any fluency in their build up and the sandy pitch seemingly making the ball stick in the surface, didn’t assist their normal high speed forward play.  Everything was just a little slow and ponderous.

Cully was finding her way into the game and impressing at right half but for all the hard running, harrying and chasing down from Corbett, Hagan and O’Mahony came to nothing, as they just couldn’t get the decisive touch in the Deeside circle.

At half time the match was anyone’s and Morpeth were confident they could take a grip on proceedings but the first goal was always likely to be crucial in such a tight affair and it fell to the home team. A scramble in the circle saw the ball flying about waist height when a Deeside forward volleyed the ball through the crowd and into the net. 

Morpeth pushed forward again in search of an equaliser but as the game wore on, nothing seemed to fall their way and their normal fluid attacking style couldn’t master the sand and doughty Deeside defenders.

The clinching goal was again hardly one from the coaching pitch as a scramble on the Morpeth left saw the ball shoot across the circle where it was met by an on-rushing attacker who managed to sneak her stick to the ball just ahead of the defender.

Although they battled to the end, there was no way back for the visitors and the game petered out to a tame end. Morpeth will hope to get back to winning ways next week as their new players settle into the team as Lancaster visit Longhirst.

Result: 2-1
Scorers: Smith, Hagan
MOM: Brooke Cully
AOM: Ciara Corbett

Team: Janice Rose; Karen Hindmarch;Lyn Watkins; Cara Smith; Emma Bell;Sally Bryson;Nicky Bowler(c); Brooke Cully; Robyn Pick; Ciara Corbett; Dani Hagan; Arran O’Mahony; Emma Gibson.

On a lovely autumn day, Morpeth Ladies went into this encounter determined to win on two levels – firstly, to get over last week’s disappointing loss, and secondly to get revenge for losing to the opposition home and away last year.

The away side started positively and for the first 10 minutes dominated possession.  However, crucially much of their ball retention was on the half way line rather than in front of goal.

Gradually Morpeth started to gauge the situation and began to bring up their plays through some sheer hard graft – with the forwards in particular covering a lot of ground to provide the first line of defence.

Eventually a short corner was won. Bellreceived the ball and shot goalward.  The keeper was up to the challenge but could only parry to Bowler.  Amazingly theLancasternetkeeper managed to keep the lifting ball out despite saving the ball from a prone position.  Unluckily for her, the second shot rebounded to one in green and gold and Smith was able to hit home for her first goal with her new club.

Morpeth continued to pour forward and O’Mahony’s tireless pressure was rewarded with the ball breaking to her fellow forward.  Hagan didn’t squander the opportunity.  She jinked past a couple of defenders on the left and drove across the face of goal.  Just when it looked like the opportunity had been scorned, she hit an angular shot on the run.  She was rewarded with the reassuring clunk of the backboard and after 20 minutes the home side was two to the good.

Apparently cruising though, Morpeth seemed to lose their way a bit and allowedLancasterto get a bit of momentum.  Rose was increasingly pulled into action and despite making a good save to keep a rising shot from the left winger out, the rebound fell to their centre forward.  From a couple of yards out, she deflected the ball back toward goal and much to the anguish of the home team, the ball trickled off the far post to cross the line.

The second half started with the home side realising they had a game on their hands.  Indeed, the vast majority of the half was spent on the back foot in their own defensive half.  To their credit, Morpeth did not buckle and indeed for all their lack of territory gave very few goal-scoring opportunities away.  Cully, playing only in her second match for the Club, in particular, showed a bit of maturity in sticking to the fundamentals of solid tackling.

 Frustration started to creep in and as a resultLancasterstarted to lose their shape. Nonetheless the last seven or eight minutes were a bit fraught with Morpeth simply determined to keep them at bay.  And so it proved, a lot of hard work and robust defence management won out and another three points were secured.

Result: 5-0
Scorers: Hagan (2), Feldman (2), Bowler
MOM: Feldman
AOM: Bowler

Team: Rose, Hindmarsh, Watkins, Wilson, Bryson, Bowler, Bell, Feldman, Cully, Hagan, Huish, Pollock.

After a tough match in the blistering heat at York last weekend, Morpeth were relieved to return to their fortress this week to host a Leeds side that looked to have made a promising start to their league campaign.

With the home side fielding two debutants (Brooke Cully and Sarah Huish), communication would be the key to success and Morpeth were keen to build on their unbeaten form.

Within the first few minutes the hosts put their opponents under pressure, attacking in numbers and forcing the visitors defence to make a number of vital tackles. With plenty of slick passing in midfield and some good movement off the ball by the forwards, the Leeds defence became increasingly frustrated and inevitably conceded a string of penalty short-corners. A well struck straight strike from Bell was blocked by the keeper only to find Feldman on the left post who slotted the ball over the line to claim her first goal for the club. It was only a matter of minutes before the home side were surrounding their opponents D once again after Pollock drove skilfully into the circle only to be fouled by the defence. Another straight strike, another poor clearance and another goal for Feldman allowed Morpeth to double their lead with 20 minutes still to play before half-time.

With Leeds on the back foot, Morpeth, running powerfully and using the width of the pitch, took control. Only on a few occasions did the visitors manage to break through the robust midfield of Wilson, Bell and Bowler and win a couple of penalty corners but the ever reliable Rose in goal rarely looked threatened. The defensive duo of Hindmarsh and Watkins combined well to regain possession and avoid any costly errors and on the half-time whistle, the home team’s clean sheet remained intact.

 The restart bought no respite for the visitors with Morpeth once again dominating the midfield and playing with the kind of skill and fluency a Brazilian side would be proud of. Feldman at right half showed confidence with some great ball distribution across the pitch allowing Morpeth to quickly build pressure down the left and produce a siege of attacks on the Leeds goal. The third came early in the second half and this time it was the Captain who found the score-sheet with a deflected clearance on the penalty spot swept into the centre of the goal.

 It got worse for Leeds as Hagan, Huish  and Bell employed some deft movement and ball skills to break down the defence and earn another flurry of penalty corners. It was a well drilled routine that got Morpeth their fourth with Bell’s straight strike to Bowler on the penalty spot being deflected to Hagan on the left who sent the ball into the bottom left hand corner. Morpeth were enjoying themselves and continued to keep the Leeds keeper busy with some coherent possession and persistent attacks. Another short corner for the home team looked to replicate the previous effort only to be stopped on the line by the body of a Leeds defender. With a penalty flick awarded, it was Hagan who stepped up and converted to clinch her second of the day and a fifth and final goal for the home side. It was a top-class performance and a convincing victory for Morpeth who will certainly be force to reckoned with this season.

Result: 3-0
Scorers: Hagan, Corbett, Bell
MOM: Teleri Wilson
AOM: Ciara Corbett

Morpeth kicked off the new season having had the benefit of only one warm-up match and with a slightly different line-up so could have been given forgiven for being a bit sluggish out of the blocks.

Instead the home side started with a bang.

Straight from the whistle they looked to take charge of the game with Corbett and Hagan combining early to put the Broom defence under pressure.  Eventually they had to foul to stop the onslaught and from the resultant short corner, Cockburn struck a crisp rising shot goalward.  The height was such that the defender on the line could only deflect the ball into the roof of the net.  A dream start!!

With Broom still on the ropes, Morpeth took control of the midfield with Wilson, Bowler and Cockburn working hard to break up the play by winning tackle after tackle.  Pollock, making her debut at right half, was often the outlet from this regained possession and from one of her drives into the circle another short corner was won.

This time though Hagan’s pass didn’t quite fall straight to Corbett on the stick stop and it looked like the opportunity had gone.  However the Irish centre forward recovered quickly and still got an accurate shot away before the advancing defence could close her down.  The reassuring clatter of the backboard was the result with the lead doubled.

Perhaps not surprisingly given the frenetic start, the pace and intensity dropped a little and Broom started to get more possession.  However, Watkins and Hindmarch looked comfortable in defence and were able to mop up any attacks before they threatened the goal.  And the first half finished with Morpeth trying to wrap the game up with a third goal, with Pick in particular doing some excellent chasing down to force more and more errors.

It wasn’t to be and so the half-time team talk focused on getting back to the initial momentum and closing the game off.  Broom was still in it and could only get better.

In the first spell of the second half, Morpeth pressed forward but couldn’t secure the clinching third goal with strike after strike going narrowly wide.  The away side seemed to take some heart from this and started to build some attacks.  Bryson broke down a promising attack with strong challenge but Morpeth were increasingly getting forced back.  The pressure increased with the home defence conceding a couple of short corners but with Wilson charging out, Rose was able to deal with the resulting shots without too much difficulty.

Finally, Morpeth closed the game off.  Another solid passage of play led to yet another short corner.  This time Morpeth changed their tactics with Hagan taking the straight strike and she didn’t disappoint hit a rocket passed the stunned keeper before she had a chance to react.

With the match won and with tiredness setting in, Morpeth’s play got a little disjointed for the last few minutes but they did enough to keep their shape and ensure that a morale-boosting clean sheet was added to the three points.

On a tropical October (not often those two words are used together) morning Morpeth Ladies set off to York determined to bring home a result following the same fixture last year were they were denied anything from the match.  The warm-up proved tough in the exotic conditions but the game was to prove tougher.  Morpeth were under lots of pressure in the first half conceding a vast number of short corners, some slightly contentious.  York were probably kicking themselves after not converting any, mostly due to the defensive stalwart trio of Rose, Hindmarch and Watkins.  Throughout the first half York’s work rate seemed to surpass Morpeth’s which denied Morpeth building up any pressure.  York were able to work in pairs all over the pitch using their three substitutes effectively compared to Morpeth’s one.  This was definitely a day for a full squad.

Towards the end of the first half Morpeth demonstrated glimpses of their true passing game but the closest they came was a great long cross field ball from Smith, making her debut, to O’Mahony in the circle who neatly laid it off to Cockburn making a run from deep.  However, a York player fouled to concede a short-corner that Morpeth could not convert.  Morpeth players began to demonstrate their frustration with Hagan warned by the umpire after one small tantrum.  The end of the first half was a welcome opportunity to consume some much needed fluid.

Following a stern talking to by Bowler Morpeth started brightly, creating more chances and transferring the ball with the pace and accuracy that they are used to.  However, shortly into the second half, York finally converted one of their many short corners.  This fired up many of the Morpeth players and if there is one factor you can guarantee with Morpeth it is their ‘never give-up’ attitude.  Morpeth continued to try and play the passing game with Feldman, another debutant, providing some great ball distribution to the forwards and Smith playing passes of disguise up the right wing.  Some so disguised they surprised Morpeth’s own players.  One attack ended in Morpeth winning a short corner.

Cockburn’s straight strike was easily saved, however, Hagan was able to pick the rebound up, demonstrate her skill to travel along the baseline and play a ball to the penalty spot.  Cockburn in the right position first time struck into the bottom corner to give Morpeth the lift they needed.  The second half ended with both teams running out of steam, and neither maintaining possession.  In the extreme heat, Morpeth were content with taking a point back up North.

Team: Rose, Hindmarch, Watkins, Bryson, Feldman, Smith, Bowler (C), Cockburn, Corbett, Hagan, O’Mahony, Pick

Please check back, but if you wish to have further information about the ladies sections, and training for the 2011-2012 season.

We look forward to seeing you soon……..WATCH THIS SPACE

Be sure to keep checking this page for any announcements that may concern upcoming games.

Match Reports will also be posted here in the future, below is an example.

The game started off rather tentatively, as expected, with each team checking out their opposition. North Shields tried to use their youth and pace by putting long balls beyond the defence, but these were well dealt with by the experienced back four of Fairbrother, Ogden, Kendall and Mulligan.

The visitors closed down play well which didn’t allow Morpeth much time on the ball at all. The long aerial balls were working well in so far as terrorising the North Shields defence, but the bright conditions made it difficult for even the Morpeth forwards to pick up the ball.

15 minutes in to the game Morpeth were awarded a short corner. Set pieces would have to be well executed if Morpeth were to win the game, and they certainly didn’t disappoint with their first attempt of the game. Will McLean sent a pin point accurate injection to Danecki to set it up perfectly for an Ogden special drag-flick into the roof of the net. 1-0 to Morpeth.

North Shields tried in vain to equalise before half time, but the home side defended well, marshalled superbly by Hugh Potter and Bruce McPate in the middle. Sitting back and luring North Shields out of their half worked well allowing wingers McLean and Gayner to break and cause havoc with counter attacks, but North Shields’ defence stayed just as solid keeping the score at 1-0 at the break.

Despite being happy with how they were playing, and clear on how the second half needed to be played, things couldn’t have gone worse for the Division 2 Champions as North Shields equalised immediately after the break.

Morpeth certainly had their chances to win the game back with many attempts squandered. Not wanting the game to finish a draw, or even worse a loss, Morpeth did not want to waste too many more decent chances. They ventured into their opposing D on several occasions but just couldn’t apply the finishing touch.

North Shields, ever resilient and refusing to give up, pushed to steal a late winner if possible. This ended up being their downfall however when gaps were left in the midfield. A North Shields attack was tidied up by the defence and moved quickly up front for Danecki to surge into the D drawing out the keeper to then centre the ball for youngster Ritchie Brown to apply the finishing touch to send the ball in to the back of the net.

2-1 the game finished to Morpeth capping off a fantastically successful season for the northerners. 21 wins from 22 games played, and 11 points clear of 2^nd place. A great performance throughout the season from all of the squad. Going up into Division 1, Morpeth will look forward to this repeated fixture and hope that they will continue as they left off and do enough to stay in Division 1 for some time.