Tony Smith at the match
NEWARK FLOWSERVE moved up to second spot in the East Midlands Counties League as a commanding performance earned them an impressive 4-1 win against fifth-placed Eastwood Community at Lowfields on Tuesday evening.
A magnificent seventh league win out of seven this season saw them continue to make their Hawton Lane ground a fortress, and an impressive crowd of 154 turned up on a cold night to cheer them on in their first season in football’s step six.
Eastwood arrived with a fine record themselves, but they were put to the sword as Flowserve leapt out of the traps from the off. The first ten minutes looked like a scene from the Alamo as the visitors defended for their lives against waves of constant pressure from a Newark side who looked intent on continuing where they left off in the weekend’s 13-0 demolition of Borrowash Victoria.
Eastwood were made of sterner stuff, and it took until the half hour mark for Flowserve to break through, with Elliot King neatly releasing new signing Tyrell Shannon-Lewis, and the speedster finishing neatly to make it three goals in his opening two games for the club.
Provider then turned scorer two minutes later when good work by Sam Agar on the left resulted in a deep cross to the far post where King finished with a trademark header to notch his sixth goal in five games.
The Newark side had another new signing in goal, with Joe Searson donning the gloves in place of Yinka Adebowale. The latter had recorded clean sheets in each of the previous three games, but the 19-year-old Searson arrived from Radford with an impressive pedigree, having been a regular on the bench for Notts County during the Kevin Nolan reign at Meadow Lane.
The youngster was a mere spectator as Shannon-Lewis continued his superb start to life at Lowfields with his fourth goal in two games four minutes before the break, and last season’s top scorer King notched his ninth of the campaign in first half stoppage time.
4-0 to the good at the interval, Flowserve then appeared to rest on their laurels in the second period, unlike their Saturday goalfest, but they still looked untroubled and in control of proceedings, allowing Eastwood just two clear-cut chances.
The first saw Searson dive bravely at the feet of visiting centre-forward Joe Butler to claim the ball confidently in the 71st minute, but four minutes later Eastwood claimed a consolation effort from a similar position when Jack Allen netted.
Still, job done with an impressive scoreline. The men in orange will be hoping for more of the same on Saturday when Kimberley Miners’ Welfare visit the fortress (3pm) while leaders Selston take a trip to bottom of the table Arnold Town.
Newark Flowserve: 1 Joe Searson; 2 Sol Miller (Liam Moran 78mins); 3 Will Rawdon; 4 Tom Potts (captain); 5 Steve Kirkham; 6 Jammy Lloyd; 7 Jack Beckett; 8 Danny Meadows; 9 Sam Agar; 10 Tyrell Shannon-Lewis; 11 Elliot King (Daryl Price 72mins).
Attendance: 154.