Newark Town 1 – 5 Radcliffe Olympic

After a seven game unbeaten run Town came down to earth with a bump as they were soundly beaten by a powerful Radcliffe side. Newark made one change from Saturday’s victory against Blidworth, with Phil Turtle coming into the starting line up to replace Stuart Franks.

The Blues got off to the worst possible start, when after just two minutes, a mix up between Gareth Dobb and Chris Riley allowed Haughton to steal in and poke the ball high into the net from close range. After this initial setback, Town looked to respond quickly, and had an opportunity on 7 minutes when a Chris Self free kick found Mark Blant in the area, his header being tipped over the bar by the keeper. The resulting short corner saw Chris Self have a long range shot palmed over by Mountain. Radcliffe were always dangerous going forward however, with Westcarr and Haughton in particular creating havoc for the Newark defence. Westcarr had a good chance to extend their lead when he stole into the area, but Riley got down well to deny him, the strikers ball back into the area was cleared for a corner by Ian Wade.

Town themselves created some good chances, the best of which came through Chris Self. The first was an effort just wide of the post after a promising run, the second was a turn and shot just over the bar on 16 minutes. Two minutes later, Westcarr had a curling effort from 25 yards clawed away by Riley, with the ball looking as though it was going to dip under the bar. Sam Wilford was unlucky not to equalise for the Blues, when a threatening cross by Chris Self found him free at the back post, but his shot was deflected behind by the head of a defender who knew little about it. Radcliffe extended their lead on 32 minutes, when Westcarr got the wrong side of Mark Blant, turning to hit a powerful shot over Riley. The visitors looked dangerous every time they went forward, and went further in front when Westcarr was left on his own on the left, and his shot was poked into the corner of the net to make the score 3-0 on 37 minutes. Radcliffe got another five minutes later, when a header was cleared off the line by Wade, but with the defence in disarray Haughton stole in to prod the ball into the net from a couple of yards out. This 10 minute period effectively killed the game off for Town, and they went in at the break trailing 4-0.

Newark started the second half in similar vein to the first, and conceded their fifth goal on 47 minutes when Hatton had an unchallenged run from the halfway line, and calmly slotted his shot into the corner of the net from the edge of the area. Radcliffe seemed to take their foot off the gas after this, but did enough to put pressure on Town whenever they had possession. To their credit, Newark kept going forward in search of a goal and it came after 70 minutes, when Chris Self’s shot was blocked by a defender, the ball bouncing nicely for Parsons who volleyed the ball into the back of the net to grab a consolation.

Radcliffe’s best chance to increase their lead came a minute later, when Westcarr’s fierce strike was tipped over the top by Riley to deny the striker his hattrick. Town rallied before the end, with Cyle Myers seeing his well struck shot comfortably held by the keeper on 77 minutes. Moments later, Craig Roche curled a free kick towards the bottom right corner, but the keeper again saved relatively easily. Town didn’t disgrace themselves in the second half, but the damage had already been done.

A clearly disappointed Rupert Thomas said, “We were taken to the cleaners by a better team, and it doesn’t help when we gift them three goals in the first half. Our defenders were turned too easily in the first half by an experienced player. The quality of our play has got to be better, and it showed against a class side”.

Man of the Match Steve Carty

Rick Lane