Derby delight as Ainsley Finney's early strike seals the points for Newark Town with 1-0 win over Collingham
A goal inside 60 seconds proved to be enough for Newark Town as they scraped past local rivals Collingham to hold their position at the top of the league.
Ainsley Finney netted on 54 seconds to give Nathan Arnold’s title chasers an early lead, which proved to be the difference after 90 minutes.
Town boss Arnold, who named an unchanged side from the one that beat Sheffield Reserves 7-0, credited Collingham for their performance and said the win could prove to be vital come the end of the season.
“At this stage of the season getting the three points is the most important thing,” said Arnold.
“I have been very precious about how we get there and the levels we need to get to each week, but we are at the business end of the season and it is all about winning now.
“It was the first time all season that we have been 1-0 up going into the final ten minutes, so it was a really unique situation for us.
“It was really good for our development as a group to get that experience.
“We saw the lads were running it into the corner at the end — they were not too proud or too arrogant to try and get a second goal.
“We tried to see the game out with good game management.
“Everybody played their part in the win.”
Arnold said that when a goal is scored so early in a match, it can sometimes lead to an edgy affair.
“The game can become flat with an early goal, we have seen it before,” he said.
“I wasn’t concerned about the performance though.
“We always strive to hit the levels we did the week before [scoring seven in 60 minutes] but I can’t be too greedy.
“The lads have been brilliant all season and we are five points clear heading into April.”
Arnold said he had a points tally in mind that he believed would be enough to win the league, but he didn’t share the figure.
“That is going to stay in-house,” he said.
“But March has been a good month for us.
“We have not conceded a goal, apart from the Sherwood Colliery game, and we have scored plenty so we can’t take anything away from Collingham.
“They have given us two really tough games this year.
“They have ran a few top teams close this season and it was competitive throughout.”
Collingham boss Gary Clark said the experience of Town’s older players again proved to be the difference on derby day.
He said: “I sent a message to Rhys Lewis [Town’s holding midfielder] after the game to tell him how well he played.
“All season we have needed someone with the experience of Rhys to help us get through games and Saturday proved that.
“We were anxious and nervous at times in possession, we couldn’t find a clinical pass and we didn’t have a shot on target in the first half.
“But to give us credit, nor did they, apart from the goal.
“We defended superbly and Elliott only made one or two saves in the second half.
“They didn’t fear us, but they knew of our quality and they were tentative because of the way we played against Thorne [coming back from 2-0 down last Tuesday].
“They knew we could hurt them and that reflected in the game.
“Ultimately, it became a scratchy affair and neither side managed to show their quality.
“Both teams are at different stages, one is chasing a title and trying not to slip up and the other is on a journey with the ambitions of getting to that level.”
Clark said he had stressed consistency was needed to enjoy success next season following close matches against Thorne and Town.
“We are actively talking about where we want to be next season,” he said.
“That speaks volumes of our progression, but I am not getting carried away because I don’t want to celebrate mediocrity.
"Twelfth is good from where we have come from, but we want to rectify that and have a great season, not just a good second half to the season.”
