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8th March 2012

Manchester secure final victory

University of Manchester Men’s Hockey 4 Newcastle University Men’s Hockey 2
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TLDR

The University of Manchester secured a hard-fought victory against Newcastle to finish the season on a positive note. It was a blustery day at the Armitage centre with Manchester competing against a team who had already beaten them twice this season. It leaves them either second or third based on results elsewhere, and with a slight chance for promotion depending on the potential restructuring of the league.
In the opening five minutes Newcastle had the better of proceedings as they pressured the Manchester defenders high up the pitch. The pressure resulted in Manchester errors as they conceded a short corner after 5 minutes. The resulting effort was well saved by Manchester keeper Peter Sidwell and this signalled a change in the momentum of the game. Manchester started to look more confident and nearly carved out their first clear chance as Oliver Clement attempted to feed the ball to Kavaldeep Jabbal, The ball just running out of touch.
However, Manchester did not have to wait long until they did find the net. Their goal came from Clement’s short corner in the eighth minute and was neatly finished by Jacob Plummer. Newcastle had a brief period of pressure following the goal until Manchester again began to assert their authority over the game. With increasingly blustery conditions, captain Kieran Mulholland began to make an impact with his runs proving difficult for Newcastle to contain.
Manchester were growing in stature as Newcastle started to look increasingly frustrated. This manifested itself in ill discipline but Manchester failed to capitalise on multiple set-pieces. The home side were however playing some flowing hockey and were unfortunate not to score in the 31st minute as Mulholland shot narrowly wide following good link-up play with Phil Dutoy and Andy Rusbridge. Manchester would have been satisfied with a 1-goal advantage at half time even if their play perhaps warranted a greater lead.
Following the half time break Newcastle came out the stronger side and put pressure on Manchester with only a last ditch tackle from defender Nick Clegg preventing them from drawing level. Nevertheless, it only delayed the visitors opening goal by a further 3 minutes as they converted from a short corner
This parity did not last long as Manchester responded in the best possible way. They quickly forced Newcastle into conceding a short corner following a goalmouth scramble. Clement again found Plummer whose shot to the bottom left hand corner proved unstoppable. The goal gave Manchester confidence as they began to look increasingly dangerous and looked the much more likely to extend their lead. Clement was influential in this period and was at the heart of much of Manchester’s increasingly attractive hockey, However, despite Manchester’s pressure it still required a fine save from Sidwell on 58 minutes to keep Manchester ahead.
This proved crucial to the game as a long run from Clement followed by some neat passing in the D resulted in another short corner. Newcastle were unable to deal with Plummer’s shooting as he powered the ball into the top right hand corner past a flailing keeper to complete an emphatic hat-trick. At 3-1 the game looked to be over with only 9 minutes remaining and Manchester in complete control.
Indeed, Newcastle were lucky to as Dutoy shot narrowly wide, but they remained determined and managed to fashion a goal against the run of play from a short corner in the 66th minute. Tensions were rising on and off the pitch with the referee warning Manchester’s coach about his behaviour. The players however remained focussed and as previously, responded brilliantly to the latest setback. Within two minutes of conceding Manchester restored their two-goal advantage as Dutoy finished from close range following a Mulholland shot.
The goal deflated Newcastle and Manchester were able to comfortably see out the rest of the game to secure a well-deserved victory. After the game, captain Mulholland had mixed feelings. Despite being happy with the result and performance, he had hoped for a higher league position at the start of the season. However, in an extremely competitive year Manchester can be satisfied with a top-half finish and look to build on this for next season.


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