Newark Flowserve 3-2 Selston — Big Ben Hutchinson strikes twice as Midland Football League Premier Division leaders leave it late
Ben Hutchinson was the hero for Newark Flowserve as the leaders were made to fight all the way for their three points against bottom club Selston in the Midland Football League Premier Division, writes Tony Smith.
There have been warmer nights at Lowfields as the temperatures plummeted on Tuesday evening, but another impressive crowd of 189 came along to cheer on their heroes in orange.
Battling performances at Heather St John’s and AFC Wulfrunians had brought contrasting fortunes, but Flowserve were strangely subdued against a Selston side that appeared keen to make amends for their county cup mauling at The Parish Ground two weeks previously.
On that occasion The Highwaymen had sauntered into a 3-0 lead after just nine minutes in a county cup tie that saw Flowserve 5-0 up at the break before the game ultimately got abandoned because of fog, and the Newarkers received a walkover.
In terms of goals, the home supporters were expecting a walkover of another kind in this league game and, when Zak Goodson hit the opener on 15 minutes, everyone settled back and awaited the onslaught.
Danny Meadows’ long throw from the right was flicked on by the head of Mitch Robinson at the near post and Goodson had time to control the ball before stroking it into the corner of the net for his fourth goal in two games.
But just three minutes later the scorers were level when Rory Davis slung over a cross from the left and the ball flew over the head of former Selston keeper Alfie Smith-Eccles before striking the far post, hitting the hapless custodian on the back and dropping into the net.
The score remained that way until ten minutes after the break when the visitors won a direct free-kick on the edge of the Flowserve box. Dean Bromley shaped to take it with his left, but skipper Ben Moore ran up and cracked it with his right and the ball took a wicked deflection off the top of the wall before hitting the net off the underside of the crossbar.
This wasn’t in the script, and the large crowd became subdued as the bottom club maintained their advantage and the clock ticked on inexorably.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. At Long Eaton in November, when all seemed lost, Gregg Smith took the game by the scruff of the neck. This time it was leading scorer Hutchinson who flew the flag for Flowserve.
First, on 77 minutes, he fired a shot through a ruck of players to level matters, and raced away, exhorting the crowd to greater efforts.
A minute later Big Ben struck again. Jamie Walker tore down the left and whipped in a superb cross with his left foot and Hutchinson produced a towering header that gave birth to a roar that nearly took the roof off at Lowfields.
That’s 20 for the season in all competitions for Hutchinson on the night that he wrote his name into Hawton Lane folklore.
Newark Flowserve: 1 Alfie Smith-Eccles; 2 Lavell White; 3 Jurelle Phillip; 4 Tom Potts (captain); 5 Mitch Robinson (Romello Nangle 66mins); 6 Jermaine Hollis; 7 Danny Meadows; 8 Kyle Dixon (Lawrence Gorman 79mins); 9 Zak Goodson; 10 Ben Hutchinson; 11 Jamie Walker.
Attendance: 189.
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