Newark Town back on top with 3-1 over Dearne & District as CMFL Premier Division North title rivals fail

Newark Town have returned to the top of the table after picking up three points while two of their title rivals stumbled.

Nathan Arnold’s Town were 3-1 winners at Dearne & District and moved top with Saturday's victory.

Meanwhile, former leaders Thorne Colliery lost 1-0 to Clay Cross Town and other title rivals Retford United surprisingly drew 2-2 at strugglers Sutton Rovers.

The results put the title — and promotion — in Town’s hands.

However, on Wednesday night, Town host Retford.

And on Saturday they then travel to Clay Cross, who are two points behind the Blues (at the time of writing).

Ahead of the important run-in, Town boss Arnold issued a rally cry and thanked the club members for their efforts this season.

He said: “The excellent support I have had from the volunteers ahas enabled me and my staff to focus on the development of this ambitious group of players.

“We are four wins away from becoming league champions and a cup final away from lifting the Notts Senior Trophy.

“It is times like this that we need supporters to be the 12th man and help us over the line.

“Whether you are a Newark FC supporter, a Lincoln or Forest fan or a Manchester United supporter, I urge you to get behind local football and give this team the support it deserves as we strive for promotion.”

In the win over Dearne, Rhys Lewis returned to the starting line-up in place of Jonny Wiles with Raheem Sunmonu swapping places on the bench with Kosi Nwobe.

Nwobe, however, was soon in action as Max Jemson suffered a hamstring injury after just seven minutes.

The pressure on Town’s defence was maintained and it was against the run of play that the Blues took the lead on 24 minutes, Mason Rhiney finding Chanju Mphande whose deflected shot from a tight angle beat goalkeeper Sam Ogden.

The home side levelled the score on the half-hour as Fraser Hartley’s shot was beaten away by Harry Haywood, the loose ball running to Lill who tucked the ball home.

Town regained the lead on 78 minutes as Arnold, who had replaced Ainsley Finney, sent a precise ball to find Lewis Chambers, who showed his customary poise to take the ball wide of Ogden before finding the empty net.

The match ended in chaos as a free-kick in added time from Ben Sharpe saw Nwobe’s shot appear to hit the wheel on the goalpost frame and rebound onto the pitch where a Dearne player picked up the ball for a goal kick.

The linesman however assumed that the ball had come back off the post and flagged for a penalty, which was given after some consultation between the officials.

The resulting arguments ended with a Dearne player being sent off before Chambers stepped up to hit the ball past Ogden to seal the win.