CITY of York Ladies I have dropped to fifth in the North Hockey League division one after back-to-back defeats to Morpeth and Bowdon II.

The sequence of losses ends City of York's unbeaten run of 11 matches in the league.

City of York travelled away to Morpeth in their first match of the new year and the visitors started strongly, going a goal up after a fantastic strike from Charlotte Braidwood-Smith.

York continued to fight hard, passing the ball around Morpeth and they gained their rewards for such patient build-up play.

A successfully won penalty corner saw Faye Garland step up and hammer the ball home to double the lead.

A frantic, end-to-end passage of play ensued, with York eventually winning a second short corner, leading to a deflection towards the goal saw a Morpeth defender block the ball on the line with her leg.

York were award a penalty stroke and Lily Rowntree stepped up to make it 3-0.

A slight lapse in concentration shortly before half time allowed Morpeth to sneak a goal past the York keeper and leaving the score at 3-1by the interval.

Unfortunately, City of York got off to a slow start in the second half.

Morpeth’s well executed wall passes allowed them to manoeuvre around York’s defence, enabling three attacks down the middle of the pitch, resulting in three quick-fire goals for Morpeth to turn the tide of the contest.

Despite York kicking their performance up a gear towards the end of the second half, they could not pull a goal back, suffering their first defeat of the season in the process.

The following day, City of York hosted a strong Bowdon side, following a postponed match due to a frozen pitch in the first half of the season.

Bowdon came out hard from the off and were quick on the counter.

Despite their best efforts, York twice failed to clear the ball after an initial save and Bowdon were first to the ball both times, slotting two goals home.

York, however, were not out of the game yet. Following a superb passage of pay, Celia Wright came sliding in to slot home a fantastic goal.

York continued to battle hard in the second half but failed to put away a few shots on goal, narrowly missing a couple of deflections.

Bowdon managed to slot home a third goal half way through the second half to secure the win.

Elsewhere, York Ladies II won 5-2 against Driffield II, York Ladies III were beaten 2-1 at Wakefield and Halifax III edged 1-0 past City of York IV.

City of York Mens I lost 3-1 in their visit to Lindum I but they recovered to overcome a determined Brooklands MU II 2-1.