CMFL North
at Station Road, Collingham
Newark Town (1) 2
Jordan Cummings 9
Arron Martin 69
Bilsthorpe FC (1) 1
Nick Langford 29
Admission £3 Programme £1 Attendance 85
Thanks to Richard Lane and Dean Mitchell for the team line ups
This season the Central Midland League have been staging a few games on Friday nights in a bid to generate clubs a bit more income, by attracting spectators through the gate who might otherwise have been elsewhere at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.
It's an experiment that has already worked in the HKL North Midland Under 21 League in recent times and I wholeheartedly support this initiative, as do a host of familiar faces from the local football circuit who were present tonight.
Newark leapfrogged over Bilsthorpe (and Easington United) by virtue of tonight's narrow win, to move up to twelfth place in the CMFL North table, on the balance of things the Collingham based side just about edged it and deserved the three points.
Bilsthorpe withstood a bit of pressure from the home side in the opening few minutes, but had the first real opening of the game after 6 minutes when Jake Egginton was unlucky to see his dipping 18 yard shot drop just wide of the right hand post.
Newark pressed forward from the goal kick and won a free kick a couple of yards outside the visitors goal area. Jordan Cummings chipped the dead ball over the visitors wall and picked out his spot just underneath the crossbar to open the scoring. If a Brazilian had scored that, they would be showing replay after replay of it on Saint & Greavsie tomorrow lunch time.
Hmm, I bet Jordan Cummings isn't even old enough to remember Ian St. John and Jimmy Greaves... nevertheless, it was an excellent strike.
Tom Wilford play the ball in from the right wing to Danny Purves whose long range shot was well held by Joe Hankey, as Newark tried to build on their lead.
Dean Mitchell's side were back on level terms in the 29th minute, when Nick Langold ran through the right channel onto a well weighted pass that had been rolled into his path by.... err, pass, can I phone a friend? I didn't catch the guy's number because I was ball watching, my fault, a monumental schoolboy error on my part, so profoundest apologies to all concerned, but I'm not a very good blogger sometimes, most of the time even... and drilled an angled shot past Liam Needham.
Bilsthorpe began to pick up the pace of their game, but their gameplan was shot to pieces when Joe Hankey took a knock in the 38th minute and inspirational team captain Lee Bowler had to take over between the sticks.
Newark put the hastily reorganised visitors on the back foot as half time approached.
Bowler denied Sam Wilford when he twisted, turned and tipped a close range effort over the bar that seemingly had 'goal' written all over it.
Purves took the right wing corner and picked out James Lloyd who had timed his run into the area well, but the Newark right back nodded the ball wide of the back stick.
Right on the stroke of half time Purves knocked the ball into the Bilsthorpe area towards Ricky North, but Bowler dashed from his line and did enough to put the towering strike off his aim and he headed high and wide of the target.
There wasn't anything like as much goalmouth action in the second half as there had been before the break and any there was, more often than not involved the home side trying to force the issue.
The breakthrough came for Newark with twenty minutes to go, when a right wing corner was headed back across the face of the visitors goal to where Arron Martin squeezed it in by the right hand post.
I spent the night in the company of the AFC Mansfield club secretary Peter Craggs, whose son was running the line tonight.
If your ears were burning and you developed a persecution complex, that would've been 'Buster n' Norm' bitching about you at yet another of our (rapidly becoming) regular weekly gossiping sessions.
Nowt much gets past both of us, it's an advantage of having such big hips. So make sure you are squeaky clean and that you've hidden all of those skeletons in your closet really well; because when our book comes out at the end of the season, it's going to be one big explosive expose' and no f****er is getting spared.
You have been warned, so place nice cherubs!
I think the worst culprits, who are destined to be the biggest victims of our muck raking, know full well who they are.
Newark held on to win 2-1 and nudged their way up the CMFL North table as a consequence... I'm glad about that, because, I really like this football club (though to be fair I have a soft spot for most Nottinghamshire non league clubs, including Bilsthorpe), I have a few decent pals here and it's only a short drive away from my home, via the winding back roads.
Go Peaceful Warriors!
FT: Newark Town 2 v Bilsthorpe 1
The breakthrough came for Newark with twenty minutes to go, when a right wing corner was headed back across the face of the visitors goal to where Arron Martin squeezed it in by the right hand post.
I spent the night in the company of the AFC Mansfield club secretary Peter Craggs, whose son was running the line tonight.
Nowt much gets past both of us, it's an advantage of having such big hips. So make sure you are squeaky clean and that you've hidden all of those skeletons in your closet really well; because when our book comes out at the end of the season, it's going to be one big explosive expose' and no f****er is getting spared.
You have been warned, so place nice cherubs!
I think the worst culprits, who are destined to be the biggest victims of our muck raking, know full well who they are.
Newark held on to win 2-1 and nudged their way up the CMFL North table as a consequence... I'm glad about that, because, I really like this football club (though to be fair I have a soft spot for most Nottinghamshire non league clubs, including Bilsthorpe), I have a few decent pals here and it's only a short drive away from my home, via the winding back roads.
Go Peaceful Warriors!
FT: Newark Town 2 v Bilsthorpe 1
