Newark Flowserve lose ground Championship run in
FOR a Newark versus Mansfield sporting occasion this was a relatively tame affair, but a card-happy referee made this table-topper look like a script from Casualty.
Visitors Sherwood Colliery had the good grace to look as bemused as their Newark Flowserve hosts as both sides finished with ten men, two extra-time goals were shared, and leaders Selston’s win gave them a decisive step towards the East Midlands Counties League title.
The strong wind ruined the match as a spectacle, but 193 hardy souls again made Lowfields the in-place to be on a Saturday afternoon, and both sets of players did their level best to take the attention away from the man in the middle.
It ended with honours even in a 1-1 draw, but when Flowserve scored in the 92nd minute and Sherwood then equalised in the 96th, both goal celebrations were the equal of any cup final winners.
The visitors had the first real goal chance in the 11th minute after Gareth Curtis produced a sublime piece of skill to bring the ball under control and then fired in a shot which saw Flowserve keeper Nathan Burrows dive smartly to his left to turn the ball round the upright.
The swirling wind caused problems for both teams, and Flowserve’s best chance came six minutes before the break when Sean Woolley fired in a direct free-kick which Sherwood keeper Josh Turton tipped over the bar. More of him later.
Three minutes after the interval Rhys Lewis fired in a fierce drive that brought a save for the cameras out of Turton. Then Flowserve’s fortunes took a momentary up turn when the Colliery side’s centre-half Charlie Taylor went for an early bath after picking up a second yellow.
But just before the hour mark the sides were also level again numerically when Jammy Lloyd lunged in, trying to get a touch to Tyrell Shannon-Lewis’s driven cross. He didn’t appear to make contact with the keeper, but Turton initially writhed in agony.
Inevitably a second yellow appeared for Flowserve’s influential midfielder, at which point the goalkeeper made a recovery that Lazarus would have been proud of.
More huff and puff followed until two minutes into added time, when The Highwaymen’s skipper Tom Potts thundered a direct free-kick through the wall to spark joyous scenes on and off the field.
Those emotions were replicated by Sherwood four minutes later when a corner was only partially cleared and Tim Gregory lashed the ball home to restore parity.
There was only time to restart before the final whistle blew. Everyone could go home and reflect on the game, sparing a thought for the referee who was set for a long night in front of a laptop.
Newark Flowserve: 1 Nathan Burrows; 2 Sol Miller; 3 Will Rawdon; 4 Tom Potts (captain); 5 Steve Kirkham; 6 Rhys Lewis; 7 Sean Woolley (Ryley Thompson 68mins); 8 Jack Beckett (Jahred Russell 83mins); 9 Tyrell Shannon-Lewis; 10 Jammy Lloyd; 11 Blair Anderson.
Attendance: 193.