Alnwick Ladies hockey return to action

Alnwick 1sts 0

North Shields 1sts 1

Alnwick 1sts hosted North Shields 1sts at Longhirst for their opening game in the newly restructured Yorkshire and North East, North East 1 League.

It was six minutes before North Shields were able to break into the Alnwick half, and 16 minutes before they entered Alnwick’s D.

Alnwick were frustrated in their attempts to convert possession into goals, with six shots well saved by a talented Shields’ goalkeeper, and two further shots cleared by defenders on the line.

It remained 0-0 at half time.

In the second half, play was more evenly distributed. Shields were able to go ahead with one of their few shots on goal, a reverse strike that took the defence and goalkeeper by surprise.

North Shields 2nds 5

Alnwick 2nds 0

Alnwick 2nds were likewise happy to start a new hockey season after 2020-2021 was aborted in autumn 2020 due to the pandemic. Coincidentally they also faced a North Shields side, visiting Shields at their Marden Bridge home which was recently reopened with a new playing surface.

The game on Sunday saw a strong North Shields team featuring some excellent players. The Alnwick side also had some overlap with Saturday, and featured Waterfield in a strong debut for the club, as well as a welcome return for Broom and Lauder-Frost.

Shields’ striker Day opened the scoring and Alnwick went down to 4-0 at half time. In the second half the Alnwick team settled and showed considerable potential, being unlucky to concede one further goal.