Sat 29 October 2011. Morpeth 2nd vs. Richmond 3rd
Morpeth 8 -3 Richmond
Scorers: Craggs (2), Gilmore (2), Mooney, Murgatroyd, Minty, Calder
M.O.M: Mooney
Morpeth returned home this week after a tough win against Newcastle with everyone hoping for an easier game. This task was complicated by the absence of a keeper however Calder and Murgatroyd valiantly volunteered to do a half each for the greater good!
Morpeth started very brightly with flowing hockey and with some hard work in Midfield, Robin, Minty and Murgatroyd all playing well, the ball was fed to Craggs to slot it past the keeper to open the scoring in under 5 minutes. Encouraged by this, Morpeth quickly got another with Gilmore finishing off an excellent move. With it quickly emerging that this game would not be competitive Morpeth slowed the pace slightly but still had another two goals before half time as Minty and Murgatroyd each deflected in a short corner to make it four, following good work from Tordoff and Mooney wining the short corners.
Richmond did unfortunately get a goal back from a short corner after Calder in nets, lost sight of the ball. The only other blight on a superb first half was Mooney not finishing a number of chances, much to the amusement of Father Mooney cheering his son on from the sidelines!
The tempo dropped in the second half as Morpeth got comfortable and both sides scored twice, Craggs and Calder scoring for Morpeth, whilst Murgatroyd’s efforts as a first time keeper were not enough to keep the ball out the net!
Morpeth’s play became less fluid as players pushed forward looking to grab a goal, leading to the slick passing of the first half descending in to chaos at times. The urge to score but this did not stop Gilmore grabbing a second with a cover drive even Michael Vaughan would be proud of! Mooney grabbed the final goal of the game as Mellor danced through Midfield to feed the ball in and Mooney flicked it into the goal, much to his relief!
A game Morpeth comfortably won, with the true balance of play not reflected in the score line. With goalkeeper stewart returning next week, Morpeth will look to maintain their impressive start away to Durham, Viva la peth!
