Newark Flowserve
WEST BRIDGFORD made Newark Flowserve fight all the way before the men in orange sealed their place in the last 16 of the Notts Cup in a nine-goal thriller at a frozen Regatta Way on Tuesday night.
In the end it took the timely intervention of Solomon Miller 12 minutes from time when the super sub first levelled the scores at 4-4 within four minutes of his arrival of the field, and then won the penalty from which Gregg Smith fired home the winner – eventually – in the 89th minute of a pulsating tie as the mist rolled in from the Trent.
The 5-4 victory takes Flowserve through to the last 16 of the county competition, at which stage Notts County and the Nottingham Forest Under-23 side will join the competitors for the first time in many years.
Things looked promising when Kyle Dixon had an early snapshot pushed around the post by the home keeper, but West Bridgford swept to the other end of the field, and were kept at bay by a couple of fine saves from Joe Searson before they got the breakthrough that their pressure merited.
The game was nine minutes old when Ben Clark struck for the hosts, and they got a second on 17 minutes when a speculative high ball by Ellis Williamson was lost in the floodlights by Searson, with the ball dropping over his head and into the net.
Flowserve came more into the game after that, and they came closest when Kyle Dixon’s shot from inside the box was turned onto his left hand post by home keeper Sam Clark.
The two goals in two minutes just before the break levelled the tie. First Zak Goodson ran onto a through ball and, when he was shrugged to one side by a defender, Ben Hutchinson pounced to drill the ball into the corner of the net. Then Dixon latched onto another ball over the top and neatly rounded the keeper to restore parity. 2-2 at the break, with Newark roared on by a magnificent travelling support that outnumbered their hosts in a crowd of 150.
Nine minutes into the second half the referee spotted a handball in the home box and pointed to the spot, and Hutchinson obliged with the penalty to record his 12th of the season in all competitions.
But four minutes later it was that man Williamson again who shot from wide on the right to make it all square again.
Tim Hopkinson put the home side 4-3 in front on 78 minutes, but Jack Beckett’s surging run down the inside-left channel set up fellow sub Miller’s equaliser before Miller later took the ball past the keeper and was hauled to the ground.
Smith’s first effort from the spot was saved but he was first to react to the rebound and headed the ball home as Flowserve headed into the last 16.
Newark Flowserve: 1 Joe Searson; 2 Lavell White; 3 Jurelle Phillip; 4 Lawrence Gorman; 5 Mitch Robinson; 6 Tom Potts (captain); 7 Jammy Lloyd (Danny Meadows 65mins); 8 Kyle Dixon (Jack Beckett 74mins); 9 Ben Hutchinson (Sol Miller 78mins); 10 Gregg Smith; 11 Zak Goodson.
Attendance: 150.