Match Reports, compiled by Sean O’Kelly, for the 26th and 27th of November. Written by Sean O’Kelly, Helen Clarke, John Harrison, Alex Cooper, JoMcGrath and Mandy Warrilow.

Men’s 1st Team

• v. Newcastle University 1 (home), written by Sean O’Kelly
• Abandoned at half-time with scoreline at 2 – 1 (Goal scorers: Mike White, Ric Corbett)
• NHML Division One

The weather was the victor on Saturday as the match was forced to be abandoned at half-time due to fog, with Lindum recovering from a goal down to take a 2-1 lead. Mike White despatched a trademark drag flick into the top left corner, before Ric Corbett converted from close range from another penalty corner. The result won’t stand, so will be replayed on Sunday 15th January. Next up is a trip to Alderley Edge.

Team: Ward (GK), Ferraby, T White, Saunders, G Johnstone, M White, Temple-Baxter (Capt.), Treadgold, Swift, Corbett, R Johnstone, L Sadler, Dewhurst, Johnson

• Head Coach: Gary Johnson
• Manager: Sean O’Kelly
• MOM: Sam Temple-Baxter – solid midfield performance
• DOD: Sean O’Kelly – wearing Newcastle Uni stash

Ladies 1st Team

• v. Lowestoft 1 (away)
• Won 2 – 1 (Goal scorers: Libby Thorne, Vic Fiddies)
• EWL Division 1 North

The ladies 1sts moved further away from the bottom 2 with a close 2-1 victory away in Lowestoft.
Men’s 2nd Team

• v. Grimsby 1 (away)
• Lost 3 – 2 (Goal scorers: Josh Hughes, Dave Knowles)
• YHA Men’s Premier

A spirited performance for the 2nds who had opportunities to rescue a point with a squad missing several key players. They sit a point and a place above the drop zone.

• v. Wisbech Town 2 (away) – Sunday, EH Men’s 2nd XI Cup (Round 3)
• Won 7 – 1 (Goalscorers: Rob Johnstone (2), James Dewhurst (2), Ben Lowe, Angus Graham, Alex Bernstein)
• Sunday – EH Men’s 2nd XI Cup, Round 3

Victory for the 2nds secured a place in the quarter-finals of the national 2nd XI cup. They now await the draw which contains some real heavyweights of the hockey world.

Ladies 2nd Team

• v. Driffield 2 (away), written by Helen Clarke
• Drew 1 – 1 (Goal scorer: Kirsten Parslow)
• YHA Women’s Division 1

Driffield sit just above Lindum in the table, with only goal advantage separating the two teams, so this was an important match. With the fog gradually lifting Lindum made a great start and went in ready for the fight. The play went from one end to the other with both teams making some excellent defensive clearances. Lindum took the chance to upgrade in their attacking D, but it wasn’t until mid-way through the first half that their second short corner gave them the lead, with the final touch coming from Kirsten Parslow. The game continued with both teams evenly matched. A run of dubious umpiring rattled Lindum just before half time and a break made by their attack unfortunately found the back board and created the equaliser.
During the second half Driffield gained slightly more possession and at one point had a clear view of an open goal. Thankfully some gritty defensive work, and just a little luck, kept the ball out of Lindum’s goal for the remainder of the game. This was a tough game against well-matched opposition and a draw was probably the right outcome. Coincidentally we meet Driffield again next Sunday for the Semi Finals of the Yorkshire Cup.

• Man of The Match: Kirsten Parslow

• v. Lichfield 2 (away)
• Lost 2 – 0
• Sunday – EH Women’s 2nd XI Cup, Round 3

Defeat for the ladies sees them exit the Cup at the final 16, in what was an uncharacteristic performance.

Men’s 3rd Team

• v. Doncaster 3 (home), written by John Harrison
• Won 2 – 1 (Goal scorers: Ant Gorman, Stu Kirk)
• YHA Men’s Division 2

With the early push-back at Lindum, the 3s welcomed close rivals Doncaster 3s. The day saw Doncaster sitting atop Division 2, having only lost once prior to the game. Grandad hoped this would be their Achilles heel (or more appropriately for modern times and our club, Sean O’Kelly’s knee!). Setting up in Grandad’s tried and trusted 3-2-3-2 (a.k.a. the Christmas tree), Lindum were set for a game of soaking up pressure and using the pace and guile of Casburn, Middleton, O’Sullivan, and Gorman to keep Doncaster honest.

The game started as envisaged with Lindum using the height and width (one for the coaches there!) while Donny came hammering through the middle. As the half wore on, Lindum grew in confidence as Donny became more and more frustrated, missing out on several short corners. About halfway through the half, Lindum took the lead with a well-executed short corner, with Grandad drawing the defence before slipping the ball left to Kirky who fooled the keeper into letting one through his legs into the bottom corner. At half-time, the team came together, and although 1-0 up it almost felt like we were losing (such are the standards set by the 3s these days). We were leading, but hadn’t played to our full potential. A few words of encouragement and wisdom from the senior players and self-analysis from the youngsters, and we were ready for the 2nd half.

The first 5 minutes were dominated by a refreshed and rejuvenated Lindum side, and not long after, we doubled our lead. A lucky bounce allowed Ant Gorman to draw out the keeper and slot into an empty net. However, the lead didn’t last long as Donny pulled one back as the game began to become stretched. It was at this point that the remaining minutes would be a test of character and discipline. It was here that the defence and central midfield would earn its living for the next 25 minutes. Marshalled from centre-back by the calming influence of Mr Anderson, the super 7 of Anderson, Thomas, Powell, Davis, Denham, Kirky and Grandad went about their work of disrupting, delaying and diverting Doncaster’s repeated attacks, whilst the high and wide players for Lindum kept them occupied up the other end. As the game went on, Donny started to lose their discipline as Lindum gained more and more confidence. As the game closed out, they went down to 10 men as the pressure told. It’s testament to the calm umpiring from Bingham and young Holm-Johansen that they allowed the game to flow and only showed 1 card late on. As the final whistle came, Lindum had taken control of the game playing high in the Doncaster 23, killing all hope.

It shows that even with 4 regulars missing, the squad has the strength and depth to beat any side in this league. Saturday was a complete team effort from Slator in goal, all the way through the forwards, where the defenders and central midfielders mixed physically with Doncaster and soaked up the pressure. It was the wingers and forwards that brought the fear to Doncaster.

Full-time: 2-1

• MOM: Stu Kirk – a goal, and surprisingly disciplined for a change.
• DOD: Grandad – unusually played well

Ladies 3rd Team

• v. Hull Hawks 1 (home)
• Lost 3 – 2 (Goal scorer: Victoria Michalke (2))
• YHA Women’s Division 4 South

Defeat against the league leaders sees the 3rds drop to 5th position coming up to the halfway point of the season.

Men’s 4th Team

• v. Doncaster 4 (away), written by Alex Cooper
• Lost 4 – 1 (Goal scorer: Kurtis Nelson)
• YHA Men’s Division 4 South

While I write this, I’m imprisoned on my sofa by gravity (though worse things happen on a Sunday), I can’t move and my head’s doing something odd under the influence of painkillers and anti-inflammatories. With that in mind, I’m definitely not going over the top when I suggest that Doncaster’s hockey pitch ought to be condemned. Or the subject of an arson attack. Changes of direction at speed, while arguably foreign to me, should be achievable on the average hockey pitch – not on the one at Town Fields which felt as though it’d been given a seriously good oiling before we went on. Currently wondering if I’m going to require a hip replacement before my 40th…

The Men’s 4s have been through some pretty tough times of late. The darkest point was, undoubtedly, losing to some ramshackled side called Lindum 5 but since then we’ve started to turn things around. The results may not be coming our way yet but we’re definitely moving in the right direction. This isn’t made easy when you head off to the Doncaster ice rink to meet the top-of-the-table team on their ground. Nevertheless, despite Doncaster’s lead skaters making some breaks in the first half, Toby Harper-Lawrence did a brilliant job of keeping us in the game. The team captain may have been taken out by the pitch but everyone else put in a superb effort and as half time came round we were 1-0 down to the home side.

Into the second half and we were moving the ball well around the pitch, often invading the home team’s 25. Young guns John Davies and Ryan Vaughan, especially, worked very well together to often work the ball around the home team’s midfield. Doncaster were incredibly quick on the breaks and, despite the play being around 50/50, simply managed to achieve what we didn’t in getting the ball into the back of the net more

often.
The final result was 4-1 but there are plenty of positives to take from this game.

• MOTM – Toby Harper-Lawrence
• DOTD – Max Rutherford (for not having a shower afterwards, living on only chips and sweets, and not having ketchup on his chips)

• v. Driffield 2 (away)
• Lost 10 – 0
• Sunday – YHA Men’s League Cup B, Semi-final

The 4ths were knocked out of the YHA Men’s League Cup B at the semi-final stage against a strong Driffield side.
Ladies 4th Team

Ladies 4th Team

• v. Hull Circle 1 (away), written by Mandy Warrilow
• Won 3 – 2 (Goal scorers: Emma Wright, Leann Anderson, Caroline Loates)
• YHA Women’s Division 5 East

Early and foggy start to the usual drive up to and across the now very familiar Humber Bridge! At pitch side the fog had lifted and the sun was shining and the Ladies just had enough time to warm up and stretch out the ‘car’ legs before we were under umpires’ orders to get the game started. Good early pressure from Lindum on a crowded out ‘D’ saw Hull Circle close down on our chances on the ‘no goalie goal’. Emma Wright opened the scoring for Lindum and Leann Anderson got goal number 2. Hull Circle responded with one goal to make it 1-2 at half time. Second half and our backs to the sun, we thought we would increase our goal scoring chances but Circle had other ideas and took the game to us and equalised, 2-2. Spurred on by this and lots of attacking pressure by Circle led to a string of short corners which were defended over and over again and fortunately they were unable to take advantage. Lindum’s third goal came with a sigh of relief with Caroline Loates getting the ball over the line. 3-2 to Lindum. Lindum continued to try to increase the score line but Hull Circle were reading a different script, and held the game to a respectable score line (considering they had no goalie) of 3-2 to Lindum.

In-spite of being a 10 sided team, Hull Circle gave the 4s a tough game and the score line reflects this. A win for the 4s, but you get the feeling of “we came here expecting to win rather than wanting to win”.

• MOM was Caroline Loates.

• v. Halifax 4 (away) by Jo McGrath
• Won 3 – 3 (3 – 2 on flicks) (Goal scorers: Dawn Edington, Jo McGrath, Evie Prescott)
• Sunday – YHA Women’s Division 5 Cup, Semi-final

The overnight rethink on formation brought the girls out fighting, against another tough opposition. We started positively, with quick advances up the pitch, play looking good. Dawn Edington was quick to start the scoring, smashing it in after 6 minutes. This gave us the lift we long for every week, making us sharper on the passes, quicker on the attack and dominating the opposition. On a lucky break the opposition found the back of the net, but this did not deter us. Remaining strong there was lots of strong passing, quick runs up the field and we worked it through the opponents to find Jo McGrath on a quick turn at the top of the D to smack our second goal in. Halifax made it their mission to equalise again just before half time. With a short corner denied as Dawn lifted it a touch too high we ended the first half 2-2.

The formation was working, tightening the gaps between midfield and the forward line, yet still allowing us to support the defence. As we have found over the last 5 games, it was end to end, relentless battling, but we kept finding each other, with Brittany Overmiller reading the game well allowing the midfield to switch and shift the ball to find the forwards. With a couple of injuries and quick substitutions, panic took over, but experience eventually brought it back to order. Good positioning up front meant Emma Wright found the back of the net, only to be disallowed. But on another attack, great passing worked it through the opposition again to find Evie Prescott who buried it in the goal. 3-2. They weren’t having any of it though, and were quick to comeback, despite our defence trying to stop the lone attacker, she got through. The pile-up in the goal was not a pretty site, made even more bitter by the sneaky forward who tapped it round the 3 on the floor to equalise again!
Final whistle 3-3.

Penalty strokes: After 5 penalties, 2-2 Erena Rawlins started off, with Dawn Edington finishing. Nicola Harrison made some superb saves, so with sudden death Erena brought it to 3-2. As the team all formed a line with arms around each other, all eyes were on Nicola, it was a real Olympic moment for Team 4! With Nicola smashing the high ball out with her hand, we were winners! Awesome effort from everyone. It feels good to win!

Jo McGrath, proud captain

Men’s 5th Team

• v. Doncaster 5 (home)
• Postponed due to fog
• YHA Men’s Division 4 South

Men’s 6th Team

• v. Rotherham 3 (away)
• Won 3 – 0 (Goal scorers: Rhys Jones, Oliver Cocks, John Simpson)
• YHA Men’s Division 5 South

A victory for the 6ths keeps them mid-table but within touching distance of the promotion spots.

Mixed Team

• v. Long Sutton Mixed (away), written by Sean O’Kelly
• Lost 5 – 3 (Goal scorers: Harry Swift (2), Breesha Foxton)
• Sunday – EH Mixed Cup, Preliminary Round

The mixed team made the short trip down to the south of the county for a local derby against a strong Long Sutton side. Lindum got off to the best possible start, taking a 2-0 lead in the first eight minutes. Harry Swift beat three defenders and then slotted past the keeper to open the scoring, before Breesha Foxton doubled Lindum’s lead with a reverse sweep that was misjudged by the goalkeeper and went in underneath him. After dominating the early stages of the game, Sutton started to gain confidence, and pulled a goal back in the 14th minute when a deflected effort was tipped past Toby Harper-Lawrence by Lindum defender Bev Steel. Ten minutes before half-time, Sutton equalised after a well-saved drag flick was converted at the second attempt. Swift restored Lindum’s lead minutes before half-time following a quick break then firing into the far corner. HT: 3-2 to Lindum.

Sutton came out strong at the beginning of the second half and found themselves ahead five minutes in after some sloppy defending and then a quick break up the pitch. Moments later, Lindum were awarded a penalty stroke, and it was Swift who stepped up to convert for his hat-trick. He sent the keeper the wrong way, but missed the target. Lindum chased the game and it soon became end-to-end, also mixed with a flurry of cards for both sides. With just over ten minutes remaining, Sutton were wrongly awarded a penalty corner, but converted it with a well-worked routine back to the injector to slap under the impressive Harper-Lawrence, who had made some outstanding saves throughout the game. The game finished 5-3 with both sides a player down for the remaining five minutes, and were it not for more clinical finishing and composure across the pitch, Lindum may have advances into the next round of the EH Mixed Cup competition. Lindum now enter the EH Mixed Plate hoping to go further than the final 16 of last season’s competition. Good luck to Long Sutton in their Cup campaign. FT: 5-3

Team: Toby Harper-Lawrence (GK), Sophie Price, Lee Thomas, Bev Steel, Matt Powell, Shane Barr, Maxine Clark, Sam Temple-Baxter, Vic Fiddies, Harry Swift, Breesha Foxton, Craig Finter, John Simpson

• Coach: Sean O’Kelly
• MOM: Breesha Foxton – outstanding performance up front, unlucky not to score more
• DOD: Harry Swift – missed flick, 2 greens, 1 yellow