Newport hockey starlets impress on finals day
With three games remaining, Newport turned up the heat in their promotion push with a fine 11-2 victory against Bloxwich. With a near full strength squad to pick from, Newport made the most of being able to rotate players and played the game with pace and intensity from the outset. Newport took an early lead after 5 minutes courtesy of Benji Howells, who tucked the ball away from 6 yards out. This set the tone as Newport piled on the pressure, quickly adding to their lead with finishes from Alex O'Keeffe, Ferdie Brookes and Brad Cronwell. Bloxwich grabbed a goal back from a short corner on the stroke of half time. Knowing that golf difference could come into play to decide the promotion places, Newport went up another gear in the second half and Ash Williams, on his return from injury entered the forward line and netted 5 goals, which included a three-minute hattrick. Matt Sanders also got on the score sheet with a trademark reverse stick strike and Benji Howells grabbed his second. This leaves Newport second in the table, just one point behind league leaders Stone and two points ahead of Keele University in third.
The 2nd team fell to a 5-1 defeat against high flyers Leek. A great learning experience for the young side, with Leeks team including an ex-Barbados international! The badgers played out an entertaining, end to end, 4-4 draw against Stone.
The other stand out performers of the weekend were the U12 boy's 7aside team, who represented the club at the regional finals, which were held at Nottingham Hockey Centre. With Newport and Telford qualifying to represent the Shropshire sides on the day, Newport faced the top 16 teams across the region, including sides such as Beeston and Repton, who are the premier league clubs of the hockey world. With by far the youngest team within the tournament, Newport played exceptionally well and won three of their matches, which included an epic penalty shoot out where goalkeeper Will Crabtree kept a clean sheet! Newport finished 10th on the day and can be incredibly proud of their achievements. 7 of the squad are eligible to play again next year and with two 8 year olds in the team, the result is even more remarkable.
The team from back left: Monty Edge, Sam Crawford, Will Crabtree, Ben Crawford, Joe Swann
Front row: Finn Lo, Joe Crawford, Jack Cole
