Morpeth 1st XI v Newcastle Medics 1st XI

 Result: 3-2 loss
Scorers: Shafiq, McPate
M.O.M: R. Brown
D.O.D: A. Shafiq

Reporting this game without the use of stereotypical cliches will be just about impossible. It was definitely a case of this encounter being a game of two halves.

The first half saw Morpeth explode out of the blocks. The Medics were keen to push high from the off and had to resort to relying on the high crash ball which the defense did well to deal with and clear. When Morpeth had the ball they looked dangerous. They kept posession well and were putting together some great passing moves.

Within 10 minutes Morpeth pressed down the right hand side with Valentine and Carmichael linking up well to work the bal into the D…sorry, the circle.  The cut back ball found Ayad Shafiq at the top of the D…..erm…circle, who took control and had time to pick out his spot as he flicked the ball excellently high and wide into the net. 1-0 to the home side.

The lead could have been extended in Morpeth’s best period of play with Brown, Danecki and Dixon all having efforts saved or go narrowly wide. Half time loomed and despite some good surges and attempts from the visitors, the score remained 1-0.

During the break the Captain urged his team to keep their heads and build on their lead and keep up their slick movements. But the second half would turn out to be a completely different story. The explosive start to the game was soon to be cancelled out with an implosive 15 minutes.

Morpeth were not in the game quick enough after the break, and despite having the ball from the restart the ball was put out in error to force pressure on themselves. The visiting Medics pressed on this, and an equaliser was soon notched up after a series of phases in the attacking 23 metres.

Two wins from the previous two weeks saw Morpeth pass the ball really well with one and two touch hockey. Pass and move, give and go…it worked well. The home side looked to have kept that going for some of the first 35 minutes, but a false sense of confidence started to creep in for the second period and there were far too many school boy errors with forwards running into flat sticks and holding on to the ball for too long allowing the opposition to engage and break down the play. The quality of the passing in all sectors of the pitch deteriorated too and this would only niggle away at the home side’s efforts to claim the points.

This was quite uncharacteristic for Morpeth, and frustration crept in, as a series of bad decisions that went against the home side began to take its toll on the men in Green and Gold. Having played so well in previous weeks and kept the communication positive, players began to snap and soon enough Morpeth became their own enemy as well as their opposition.

Reacting to poor decisions and poor periods of play it was only a matter of time before the umpires would have to take action, and soon it was the initial goalscorer Shafiq who was given his marching orders for dissent. With an already weak squad, the lasat thing the home side needed was to lose men from their 11 on the pitch.

This was the perfect invitiation for the industrious Medics to take advantage. Perhaps a positive to take for Morpeth is that they did not allow the Medics much chance to play the ball, and it was just a series of hit and hopes to the high man. Soon enough if you try enough times it will pay off eventually, and soon they were 2-1 to the good.

There were few of the Morpeth side who had kept their head, but those that did allowed their experience to show, and with some hard work Morpeth were soon awarded a penalty corner. Captain McLean injected the ball for Danecki to set up the perfect drag flick for coach McPate…and the scores were even again with time running out.

But the numbers were in the visitors’ favour and before Morpeth returned to 11 men the Medics scored their third which would eventually prove to be their winner.

Luck had run out in devestating fashion for Morpeth, and the mood at the end of the game was definitely one that the points had been there for the taking and lost through a few moments of madness. There were still some great periods of play however, and some great positives to take forward. With any luck this irregular show of hot headedness will be just a flash in the pan, and will be out of the system allowing the lads to get their league campaign back on and build on the solid performances they have already shown earlier on this season.