Injury to goalkeeper brings an early end to cup tie

A nasty injury to Newark Town goalkeeper Anthony Richardson forced the abandonment of their Notts Sunday Senior Cup match against Oddfellows.

A high challenge early in the second-half caused the keeper to fall awkwardly on his back.

Richardson has previously undergone back surgery and the decision was made to call an ambulance and abandon the game.

Manager Colin Rusby said: “He is in good spirits. He is not the kind of lad who lets this stuff get him down.

“He is just waiting for news from a scan.”

Newark, of the Alliance Premier Division, had started strongly, with Liam Warner forcing the opposing keeper into a good save.

Before his injury, Richardson pulled off a spectacular stop to deny their opponents.

Tom Perkins gave Newark the lead before the break, beating a few defenders before confidently finishing.

However, the scores were level at 1-1 going into the break after Oddfellows equalised from the spot after a mistimed challenge by Simon Greenfield.

Newark missed a few chances at the start of the second-half before the injury to Rich-ardson.

A clinical second-half performance helped Alliance Premier Division side Grove 16 advance to the quarter-finals of the Notts Junior Cup as they beat First Division Newark Flowserve Reserves 6-1.

Grove defeated last year’s finalists The Crown to reach this stage, but were wayward with their finishing in the early stages.

Flowserve Reserves took a surprise lead midway through the first-half when a corner found Joe Spindley, who tapped in from two yards.

Grove equalised moments before half-time when a cross from Rhys Stanley was volleyed into his own net by a Flowserve defender.

Any hopes of a Flowserve upset in the second-half were quickly dashed with Riccardo Leighton providing a smart finish for Grove’s second.

Grove’s goals then came thick and fast with Wayne Ord calmly finishing before a quick double by Joe Hurst after being played through one-on-one.

Alex Hales headed in a dinked Chris Dobbie cross to round off the scoring.

The match was marred by a serious injury to Flowserve’s Aaron Berry with ten minutes to play as he sustained a broken ankle following a challenge with Sam Cragg.

An action-packed match saw Grove 16 Reserves advance to the last-eight of the Notts Minor Cup after an extra-time win.

James Morris opened the scoring for Grove in their tie with FC Olympico.

Their opponents levelled, but Grove looked to be heading through when Tommy Dowd added a second for Grove.

However, FC Olympico equalised in stoppage time to send the match to extra-time.

Both teams missed from the penalty spot in extra-time, with Andrew Roach failing to convert for Grove 16.

With time running out, Steven Venables sent them through to the quarter-finals with a headed finish.

In the same competition, Sutton-on-Trent were soundly beaten 9-0 at home in their third round tie against FC Sez.