Durham Mens 2s suffered a crushing defeat at home from an in form Morpeth side. The prematch emphasis was to try and take the game to a known attacking team. Despite this, right from the start, Durham were quickly on the defensive trying to soak up wave after wave of Morpeth pressure.

A few early warning shots kept the Durham defense focussed. Mark Scott denied Morpeth getting a strike in at the early short corner attempts. Chris Russell in goals made some excellent saves during the match but the sheer scale of the onslaught couldnt prevent the inevitable. Even Jamsie Cowan was witnessed putting a lot of effort into defensive duties (at least until hitting the invisible barrier on the half way line preventing him from dropping further back).

Durham's resilience faltered when a cleverly worked move by the opposition allowed the Morpeth captain to be left free at the back post to softly caress the ball across the goal line for the opener.

Ambiguous umpiring resulted in Morpeth being awarded a second goal several minutes later. This 2nd goal triggered a temporary collapse in the Durham City lines, exasperated by poorly timed decision making on substitutions by the captain, Alan Dawson. The anger and frustration were starting to show with formation and focus faltering as a result. Inevitably the third goal followed swiftly afterwards. The battle was fought to regain some composure, aiming to get to the half time interval without conceeding any further goals.

Following the captains rant at the break, the response was very positive. Ignoring the fourth goal from Morpeth which was inadvertantly set up as a by product of over enthusiasm by Mark Scott, Durham started to hold their own and made structured attacks into the Morpeth D. Midfield players Paul Rockliffe and Liam Farrar worked tirelessly to distribute the ball to the deprived forwards.

This was by far Durhams best period of the game. Joe Reynolds worked his magic in and around the D and was unfortunate not to score. Having recieved a side line ball from new lad, Lewis Phillips. Alan fired a penetrating ball from outside of the top D towards Jamsie running in at the back post but was denied by the slight deflection from a Morpeth defender. Further attempts came in and both Jamsie and Joe were within inches of scoring but for the luck of the bumbling GK getting the ball stuck under his feet.

Into the last 15mins, fitness and resilience ebbed allowing Morpeth to capitalise on a few loose passes and counter. These efforts were mercilessly despatched allowing a further three goals in quick succession to be scored.

A well oiled Morpeth machine posed too steep a challenge for the Durham side this early in the season. Plenty of positives can be taken from this match and built upon. My respect to the team for giving 100% commitment, especially in the second half.

MOM = Chris Russell - for saving all but 7 shots?!??!

DOD = Scotty - for theatrical swan dives

Durham City Hockey Club

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