Newark Town : Struggling Blues surrender lead

The lead was surrendered twice by Newark Town as they eventually fell to a heavy loss at home to Thorne Colliery.

Newark remain bottom of the Central Midlands League North after they were overwhelmed in the second-half by their opponent’s attacking play.

The match started at a fast pace, with tough challenges coming in from both sides in the opening exchanges.

Thorne should have broken the deadlock in the 17th minute when a free-kick on the left was excellently saved by Town keeper Oliver Sinclair.

Newark could not get the ball clear and in the same attack their opponents struck a shot against the bar.

Sinclair, on his first appearance of the season, made another good low save to keep the teams level.

The Blues kept battling and took the lead after some good midfield play put them into a three-on-one situation.

Luke McClymont kept his composure and squared the ball to Tom Johnson, who rolled the ball into the corner of the net.

The lead lasted barely a minute as Sinclair could only parry a shot on the edge of the area into the path of Lewis Andrews, who buried the rebound.

Sinclair was called into two more saves in the space of a few minutes, the first in particular a fine stop to divert the ball on to the outside of the post.

John Pennington saw a shot blocked by a defender, before Newark retook the lead as Ian Wade headed in a Kyle Nicholson volley from close-range in the 44th minute.

However, they once again lost the lead within a minute, as the defence was split open, allowing Thorne’s Andrews to slot home comfortably from close-range.

Thorne dominated from the off in the second-half, and took the lead for the first time in the 52nd minute with a piledriver from the edge of the area, giving Andrews his hat-trick.

A fourth came just after the hour mark when a striker found space and shot into the bottom right corner.

Sinclair, who produced a man-of-the-match performance, made another good double save as Thorne piled on the pressure.

Newark’s defence continued to be cut open by pacy forwards, and there was another tap-in from close-range with eight minutes remaining.

The final goal came with virtually the last kick of the game, when a deep free-kick missed everyone and nestled into the corner.

Town are back in action tonight away at Staveley Miners Welfare Reserves before they travel to league leaders Harworth Colliery on Saturday.

Newark were dealt a further blow after receiving a one-point penalty and a £50 fine for failing to fulfil a fixture away at Tideswell United on January 6.

They were unable to raise a team to take part in the match, which will now take place on February 10.