10.10.16 U12 9-a-side Football – County Cup V Highfield

In their first competitive match of the new season, Newminster U12’s took on Highfield the first round of the County Cup. With an extremely strong starting line up it was Newminster who came out of the starting blocks fastest , sailing into an early 3-0 lead. Highfield shocked by the early onslaught, never really got back into the game. As the game progressed, Newminster went from strength to strength, they dominated possession and ended up as 13-2 winners! Outstanding performances on the night came from James McConnell, Orla Callaghan and Josh Grenfell, as well as a sterling performance from our captain for the game, Louie Gourlay. Next up for the U12 team is St Marys in the National Cup on Wednesday evening.

U11s League – v Chantry

The boys took part in the Newminster and Chantry Open Evening football game. A big test for them as they faced their first 9-a-side game and the first match where they had played as a team. The boys lost to a strong Chantry team, however they demonstrated some great play and a massive effort from everyone. Special mention goes to Louie Wilson who scored our only goal, with a great run from the halfway line placing the ball comfortably past the keeper.

11.10 – U13 Girls Football- Malcolm Berry cup vs NCEA and Meadowdale Middle

This was the girls first 2 games in the Malcolm Berry cup and not even the horrible cold and rainy weather was going to stop these girls from playing. The girls took on NCEA in their first game, getting off to a good start with Lucy opening the scoring within 4 minutes. The girls played some fantastic football and worked well as a team. Great link up play from Orla, Lucy, Laura and Fran resulted in further goals from Lucy (5), Orla (2) and Laura (1) finishing their first game with a 9-0 win.

Going into the girl’s second game saw them take on a more challenging game against Meadowdale. Solid defending from Emma, Eadie, Alysia, and Ruby saw nothing get past them. Again Lucy opened up the scoring for the girls with a great strike. The girls then had a good spell of 5 minutes with loads of chances but were unable to finish off any. A break from Meadowdale caught Newminster defenders out, but a save from Alysia kept the girls 1-0 up. The goals then kept coming with more from Lucy (2), Orla (1) and Laura (1) seeing the girls through their second victory of the night with 5-0 being the final score.

Orla Callaghan 7R (3)

Lola Jackson 7R

Ruby Gerrard 7R

Eadie Barakat 7R

Esme Scott 7R

Emma Gerrard 7R

Fran Takher 7J

Izzy Bird 7J

Lucy McConnell 7J (9)

Ellie Chrinside 7J

Laura Stevenson 8SW (2)

Alysia Donnison 8U

U13s Boys – League –  v Ponteland

A fantastic performance that didn’t deserve the score-line of a 2-1 defeat. The full squad (including currently injured player-coach James Allan) was superb and played with a real team spirit. Playing some delightful football in the midfield, bringing in the full-backs they created several good chances and looked solid at the back. Both team managers agreed we were the better team, but once again in the league, the victory has escaped us. Roll on next league game against Richard Coates.

U13s Boys – County Cup –  v Seaton Burn

Another superb performance from the entire squad and this time they got the result they deserved with a 7-1 win. After a nail-biting first half the game was level at 1-1 which included an equalizing goal from Ben Loknes, who looked dangerous throughout. The match definitely turned into a game of two halves with much more gritty battling in central midfield from Ben Morrison, Ben Waterfield, Ben Loknes, James Herron and  Will Wood who all took their turn extremely well. The back four and Dan Lloyd looked solid again throughout and the midfield and strikers performed exceptionally well in the second half in particular. They created chance after chance with another goal from Ben Loknes, plus others from Will Wood, Fergus Barclay, Tom Wales and two from Joe Buxton.

U12s Sky Try Rugby League Tournament

Well done to the whole squad for a fantastic display at their first Rugby League event of the year. After only 3 weeks of training the lads played so well as a team and dominated each of the 3 games they played in this tournament. The first game was arguably the hardest of the lot against a well drilled Churchill team. Both sides played with real determination but it was with superb organisation both in attack and defense that Newminster won the game. The team then went from strength to strength with dominant displays against Chantry and Mortimer to finish the tournament with a 100% win record. Special mention goes to Captain Marvel Chris Johnstone for his leadership and organisation; James McConnell and Tom Wales for fantastic individual running with the ball; and player of the tournament Ollie Crooks who not only ran the ball with superb power and agility but his defensive work and breaking down opposition attack on numerous occasions.

17.10 – U11s 9-a-side League vs Richard Coates

This game finished with a close 5-3 defeat after a great fightback from 4-1 down at half time. The scorers were Joe Stark with 2 great goals and a long range effort from Louie Wilson. The attitude of the team was fantastic throughout with the team being a credit to themselves and the school!

19.10 – U12s Boys – Sports Partnership Level 2 tournament

It was fantastic to see so many pupils involved in this tournament, especially considering they were all playing in a match either on the same night or the day after. So firstly a huge thank you from me for the effort displayed throughout both these days. Our second team played with fantastic determination throughout all their games but were unfortunately narrowly beaten in each game. The first team also played with similar determination, but possibly with one eye on the Cup game later that day, they could only manage 2 draws in the first 2 games. This unfortunately effectively meant they could not gain top spot in their group. However, with the pressure off they played some superb football and convincingly beat Chantry’s second team in their last group game. This set up a 3rd/4th place playoff game which they again won, playing some great football.

Also many thanks to our Sports Leader referees: Ben Morrison, Ben Waterfield, James Allan, Dominic Marshall, Aidan McInally, Fergus Barclay and Tom Holden.

19.10 – U13s Girls – Sports Partnership Level 2 tournament

The Under 13 netball team have got off to a great start in the 2016/17 season. The girls have played 3 matches and really displayed an excellent standard of game play. In their first match at home against Meadowdale their ability was clear to see with some lovely flowing play, resulting in a convincing win of 17-3. Rihanna Brennan -Davies was voted player of the match.

In their second match the girls took on a well drilled Chantry team. From the first quarter it was clear to see that this was going to be a really tight game. Excellent defending from both teams resulted in a low scoring game. Chantry crucially took their shots with poise to eventually win the game by a 2 goal margin. Laura Stevenson was voted player of the match.

In their third match the girls faced Cramlington Learning Village. Due to the absence of some players, in Paris, others confidently stepped in along with two Year 7 players. Straight away the girls jelled and played so well as a team. Lessons learnt from the previous match, against Chantry, the girls took every chance to shoot and it paid off, winning the game 18-3. Player of the match was Ava Da Costa.

19.10 – U12 9 aside Football – National Cup V St Marys

Newminster took on St Marys of Newcastle in round 2 of the ESFA National cup on a wet Wednesday evening at the back end of half term. The team already depleted of players through sickness and injury were dealt a hammer blow going 1.0 down in the opening period of the game. However, heads did not go down and the team dug deep equalising through Georgia la Rosa just before half time to go in level at the break. The second half was a similar story as Newminster went 2.1 down in the opening exchanges. From this point on though, it was Newminster who bossed the game. Our second equaliser came through Josh Grenfell and a wonderstrike from James McConnell in the dying minutes gave Newminster a well earned 3.2 victory and booked our place in round 3. A superb team performance all round!
Player of the match – Tom Wales who produced a resolute performance as our make shift centre back for the afternoon.

20.10 – U12s B-team National Cup Game

We traveled to Valley Gardens the day after the disappointment of the tournament with the players determined to get a better result in their first round of the National Cup. The game started fairly evenly with both sides creating chances. However, with a combination of solid defending, goalkeeping and more clinical finishing in front of goal, we took the lead and looked much the more confident team going into the break with two goals from Evan Logan. The second half was more of the same, with plenty of chances created by a very balanced and determined Newminster team. Valley Gardens pulled a goal back but with goals from Daniel Walker and Ethan Young, Newminster go into the next round with a 4-1 away victory. Well done lads!

20.10.16 – U11s 9-a-side League vs Ponteland Middle

Some resolute defending and heroic goalkeeping from Ethan Johnston kept the scoreline to a 6-1 defeat against a very strong Ponteland side. Adonis Godopoulos provided the only goal after some brilliant build-up play by Mark Wales and Ben Hewitt.