University of Sheffield 1-1 Newcastle University
Sheffield’s men’s hockey firsts were left cursing defensive errors and missed chances as they departed Goodwin with just a point against Newcastle after a hard working display.
Newcastle were lucky to come away with a point (Photo: Andrey Vasilyev)
Despite their midfield dominance, Sheffield could not turn this into goals and it was Newcastle who found a foothold in the game and really started to press the home side.
As a result, errors crept in to their play and they were increasingly indebted to goalkeeper Clem Teagle, who kept Newcastle at bay.
As the half wore on, Sheffield began to turn the screw and forwards Jed Mills, Marcus Booth and Ross Barrable started to look dangerous in the final third of the pitch.
This resulted in four penalty corners which came to nothing despite the best efforts of the home side. Despite this, the game was increasingly open and both sides could easily have gone in to the break ahead, but the half time score remained 0-0.
The second half was one that will not last long in the memories of both defences.
Newcastle came out all guns blazing and really piled the pressure on Sheffield. Whilst they coped admirably, it was from one defensive error that Newcastle took the lead midway through the second half; the right back was dispossessed, and the away side walked the ball around goalkeeper Clem Teagle into an empty net.
This kicked Sheffield into gear and they started to play some excellent hockey, with Owen Davies, Joe Battman and Sean Collins looking dangerous down the flanks.
This time it was from a Newcastle defensive error that Sheffield equalised as Matt Godden poached the ball and ruthlessly slammed it home after an exchange of passes with fellow midfielder James Wright.
The final result was possibly the only fair conclusion after such an even game.