TYNEDALE earned a hard-fought 2-2 draw against a strong Newcastle Ladies III in their penultimate game of the Northumberland A Hockey League season on Saturday.

Despite windy conditions, Tynedale started brightly with Alison Westworth linking up effectively with Immie Pearson down the right side.

Slightly against the run of play, Lizzie Scott opened the scoring after Annie Anderson and Esme Gallagher threaded the ball into the circle. Scott’s hard shot deflected spectacularly off a defender’s stick and looped high into the air and over the goalkeeper’s head.

Tynedale had to work hard to defend their lead, as long direct hits were sent forward to the Newcastle strikers. The visitors were awarded a penalty corner which led to their equaliser.

At 1-1, home keeper Nicky Baguley kept the score down with a host of excellent saves, during her player of the match performance.

There was a lengthy delay when a Tynedale player suffered an eye injury, and had to attend hospital. With no substitutes available, the hosts played the remainder of the game with 11 players.

The second half saw no shortage of end-to-end play, with both teams looking to build attacks. An unfortunate foot on the goal-line saw Newcastle awarded a penalty flick, and they took advantage to make it 2-1.

However, Tynedale created a superb equaliser after Lizzie Scott collected the ball in the circle. Her short range shot rebounded back to her off the keeper, and she had the composure to somehow lift the ball over the sprawling keeper to give Tynedale a well deserved 2-2 draw.

In their previous match, Tynedale lost 3-1 against Newcastle University III in another league encounter.

The University started the game playing fast moving hockey with their full press putting the Tynedale defence of Katy Brown, Emma -Michelle Sanderson, and Sarah Martindale, under pressure from the beginning.

Tynedale held strong for long spells and were able to attack with Alison Westworth and Immie Pearson interlinking well on the right.

Uni opened the scoring after finally breaching the Tynedale defence, and they quickly scored a second from a good strike from the top of the D.

Tynedale had spells of attack themselves, but play frequently broke down in the last quarter of the pitch. By half time Tynedale were 3-0 down after the Uni scored from a penalty corner.

The second half saw Tynedale play more composed hockey, and they fearlessly dealt with several strong and physical tackles.

Improved distribution to the wide areas, and numerous quick attacks saw Tynedale create a host of chances to score.

They eventually found the net after a hard drive into the circle from Sue Crawford struck a defender’s stick, and fell to striker Esme Gallagher, who thumped the ball home.

Tynedale had the ascendency for much of the second half. They had two goals disallowed, whilst the Uni also had a goal chalked off. The tenacious Gallagher was awarded player of the match by the Uni team.

After winning promotion last season, Tynedale have made a good account for themselves in the current campaign, and are currently in 11th place with one game to go.