Blidworth Welfare 1 – 2 Newark Town

A last gasp winner for the third time in four weeks saw Town get a crucial win after an indifferent performance at Mansfield Road. The Blues made two changes to the starting line up from the 1-1 draw at Forest Town in midweek, with Dave Issott and Luke Parsons coming in for Ben Barnard and the injured Chris Self, who was on the bench.

Town started the match brightly, and had a half chance on 7 minutes, when a shot from long range by Craig Roche was deflected over the bar. Although Town dominated, there were few clear cut opportunities. It took until the 17th minute for Newark to get their next opening, with Steve Carty having his shot blocked by Roper. Town had another chance five minutes later, when Sam Wilford’s long cross found Parsons at the far post, but the header lacked power and was easily saved by Davies. Craig Roche almost finished off a six man move on 27 minutes, but he fired his effort a foot wide of the post.

Blidworth began to get back into the match after this, and hit the bar with what was their first shot on target, Easom getting a flick on Cantrell’s cross after 31 minutes. This should have sounded the alarm bells for Town, as following a Newark corner they swept upfield, the ball eventually finding Easom, whose shot went under Riley’s dive to give the home side a surprise lead. Newark responded quickly, and they got an equalizer a minute before half time, when a cross by Sam Wilford found Craig Roche, who hammered his shot in off the post to send the sides in level.

The home side showed first after the interval and should have retaken the lead just 20 seconds in when a cross found Gee in the area; his shot was saved at point blank range by Riley, who then had to scoop the ball away as it rolled towards the goal line. Blidworth continued to create chances, with Cantrell and Gee both hitting shots narrowly wide, as they looked to take advantage of an uncharacteristically disjointed defensive display by Town. Newark really struggled to retain possession, and were fortunate to stay on level terms. Blidworth kept carving out opportunities and could have scored on 75 minutes when Best played in Roberts, who shot narrowly wide of the post from an acute angle. Riley then had to make a diving save three minutes later to deny Marsh.

Town were mainly restricted to long range efforts in the second half, with Chris Self’s dipping effort perhaps the best of them. However towards the end, they put more pressure on, and Self again had a chance on 87 minutes, when Gareth Dobb’s flicked header found him free in the area, his powerful shot hitting the post with the keeper beaten. Then with 91 minutes on the clock Town struck. Dobb swept a crossfield ball to Chris Self who knocked the ball into the heart of the penalty area to find Luke Parsons, who rose highest to nod the ball into the empty net with the keeper stranded to steal all three points.

A relieved Rupert Thomas said, “It was a beautiful pitch, but some of us looked really tired today. The positive was the 91st minute winner. Even the best teams have to have a bit of luck, and we’ve certainly been riding our luck in the past few weeks”.

Man Of The Match: Luke Parsons

By Rick Lane