Jim Todd reports
Newark Town’s woes on the road continued again last Saturday as they went down four-one at Dinnington in a crucial bottom of the table clash which saw them drop to bottom place in the Central Midlands North Division table. The game turned in the 56th minute when the referee deemed a tackle from Reece Carlisle worthy of a straight red card which was then compounded when Dinnington scored direct from the resulting freekick. With injuries and work commitments decimating his squad Town Manager Dewey Chappell was forced into several changes which saw a first start for Damian Lloyd after resigning for the club and the return of Sean McGuiness after a long spell out injured.
After the early exchanges had been even with Rhys Stanley shooting just wide after a freekick had reached him on the edge of the area Town took the lead in the 18th minute when a passing movement saw a Kieran Job header pawed away by the home keeper for Rhuel Samuels to scramble home. Dinnington picked up the pace as they searched for an equaliser, but Newark keeper Josh Desforges was dealing with everything coming his way. In the 38th minute Morgan Chappell was sent clear but saw his shot saved by the home keeper. Dinnington finally drew level in the 40th minute when a long cross from the left was headed back across goal to leave an easy tap in. Rhys Stanley came close to giving Town the lead on the stroke of half time when a long goal kick saw him beat the home defence only to see his lobbed effort beat the keeper but sail wide.
Both teams came out after half-time upping the pace before the sending off altered the dynamics of the game as Town were forced to reshuffle as Damián Lloyd, who with Luke McClymonthad worked hard in midfield, moved back into the defence. Three goals in seventeen minutes including a well-executed direct freekick following the sending off saw Dinnington take a four-one lead and finish on top of the game in the last few minutes as keeper Desforges pulled off some excellent saves to keep them from increasing their goals tally.
Manager Dewey Chappell was again disappointed as after all the effort again put in the result was simply another defeat and could only comment “we shot ourselves in the foot”. The plus from the game was that Sean McGuiness completed a full 90 minutes and will now hopefully become a fixture in the defence. Town travel to Kiveton Park on Saturday to play Renishaw Rangers who have seen a run of good results move them away from the bottom end of the table.