North Shields 2nd XI faced Morpeth 3rd XI on a cold Saturday morning. Shields struggling with availability this week with the bare 11 were hoping to make amends for throwing away 3 points last weekend against Durham City.

Captain Gordon welcomed 2 new recruits to the fold Alistair Crawford and Simon Kristiansen both relatively new to the area but not having played Hockey for a considerable period.

North Shields started the game at a fast pace camped out in the Morpeth half. Moving the ball well into spaces and creating chances down the right wing with young Reah making some impressive runs. Shields nearly had the ball in the back of the net after 3 minutes however debutant Kristiansen couldn’t control at the back post. With a strong midfield core of Brunton, Crawford and Kimber Shields continued to control the pace of the game and again another dangerous attack down the right end up with Kristiansen making up for his earlier miss and putting the ball in the back of the net. Shields 1-0!!!

This provoked a reaction out of Morpeth who began to play some impressive hockey with their young side. Some great triangles caught Shields off guard and would have been back level if it wasn’t for a fantastic goal line clearance from David Murray. Shields remained calm after being pinned in their 25 for a period and worked the ball out well from the back. Brunton turning back the clock and dancing round defenders and spreading the play wide where Shields have been so dangerous. Reah manged to switch play back into Crawford who found Kimber in the D, with his back to goal Kimber came a little pirouette which a ballerina would have been proud of calmly finished in the bottom corner. 2-0 Shields!!

Shields with the momentum behind them went seeking for a 3rd. Debutants Crawford and Kristiansen working well together managed to find space down the left and the latter winning a penalty corner. After being shut out last week by the Durham keeper Chater was determined to find the back of the net this week and he did just that, maintaining composure after a typical Marden bobble took it round the 1st runner and finished in the bottom corner. 3-0 Shields!!

Half Time – North Shields 3 Morpeth 0

Morpeth started the 2nd half with a lot of energy and caught Shields napping with a well worked goal. This seemed to rejuvenate them and minutes later they had the ball in the back of the net again to make it 3-2 Shields. Captain Gordon called on his team to regain composure and not let a repeat of last week happen when Shields threw away the lead against Durham.

Shields holding firm at the back with some great tackles from Murray, Grant and Gordon kept the lively Morpeth attackers at bay. It was one of those tackles that sent Shields on a counter with Gordon playing the ball into midfield with some good interlinking play between Turvill, Crawford and Brunton, Crawford sent Chater through on goal 1 on 1 with the keeper. Chater made not mistake rounding the keeper and putting the ball in the back of the goal. 4-2 Shields!!

Shields managed to regather the momentum after a nervous 20 minutes where Morpeth dominated territory following the goal and managed to see the game off after Kristiansen capped a fine performance with his 2nd goal. 5-2 Shields!!

Full Time North Shields 5 Morpeth 2

Overall a much better performance compared to last week however still some things to work on. Some fine individual displays from David Murray at the back with a goal line clearance at 1-0, Simon Kristiansen with 2 goals on his debut but it was another debutant who stole the Man of the Match award with Alistair Crawford controlling the play with his midfield partners and his tireless effort around the park.

Next week North Shields face Newcastle Men’s 1st XI away at Coach Lane.