Newark Flowserve 4 v Eastwood Community 1 - EMCL

Tuesday 30th October 2018
East Midlands Counties League
at Lowfields, Hawton Lane, Balderton, Newark
Newark Flowserve (4) 4
Tyrell Shannon-Lewis 31, 41
Elliot King 33, 45+1
Eastwood Community (0) 1
Jack Allen 75
Admission £4. Programme £1
Attendance 156

Before anybody gets in touch to tell me that the half time score was actually 3-0, because that is what it says on the EMCL FA Full Time site, please let me explain: Elliot King's second goal (Newark's fourth), was scored a minute into first half stoppage time, and such as, the website software has listed the forty sixth minute strike, as being inside the first minute of the second half; when

in fact, Eastwood were the only side to find the back of the net after the break, despite them only having mustered a solitary effort on goal themselves during the opening forty five minutes, that was, in the main, played in and around their penalty area; as Steve Kirkham and Craig Roche's team put the visitors under the cosh from the off.

The black border around the bottom of Flowserve's
unique shirts, is the same as the Newark skyline
silhouette that appears on their programme cover

'One-sided' doesn't even come close to describing how dominant the home side were a first half, where they should already have been five or six goals to the good, before they finally opened the scoring in the thirty first minute.
The hosts won 13 (thirteen) - 0 at Lowfields on Saturday, but tonight's visitors, fifth placed Eastwood, are a higher calibre of opposition... and they arrived in chilly Balderton, looking to chalk up their ninth successive win in all competitions.

But third placed Newark, who were promoted to the EMCL as Nottinghamshire Senior League Champions at the end of last season are on a good run of form themselves, having lost just once in their last eleven games,  whilst winning all seven of their home fixtures this season, prior to tonight.
In actual fact, this win over against highly rated Eastwood, marked the occasion of Flowserve's twenty fourth home win on  the bounce.

I was due to make my inaugural visit to watch Newark Flowserve, back in September, when they beat CMFL side: Retford FC, in the Notts Senior Cup, but I was too knackered to travel that night, due to a very tiring stint of some ongoing treatment I have been having, at Doncaster Hospital, earlier in the day. But by way of a coincidence, I had to shelve my plans to travel to watch AFC Mansfield play against Hednesford Town tonight, for their FA Trophy Replay, because I didn't get back from yet another appointment, until it was too late to travel down to northern edge of Cannock.

So, while the Bulls were beating Hednesford 0-1 elsewhere, courtesy of singular goal from Kieran Wells, meaning that they'll now face their old sparring partners: Pickering Town, at home, in the next round; I figured that Balderton is only a half a hour run down the A1 from my homestead, so a plan B was quickly unhatched... and a bloody good one it turned out to be too.
I've been hearing a lot of good things, about the 'Highwaymen' on the local football grapevine of late, so they had quite a lot to live up to tonight... but I'm happy to report, that to that end, they certainly 'stood and delivered'. On tonight's showing, especially going on the strength of the first half, all of the goodly vibes are wholly justified and not a single word of it was merely hype.

Prior to Tyrell Shannon-Lewis putting the home side ahead, after Elliot King had made a lung-busting surge forward on the left flank, before knocking an angled ball forward perfectly, into the path of the Newark number ten, who only had to apply a touch to claim the opening goal from all of a couple a couple of feet out, the lively hosts had already created nine goal scoring opportunities, as they descended on their visitors goalmouth like a swarm of rampant and ravenous locusts.

I have fastidiously jotted down the details of every single attacking move that Newark made before the break, but if you want to read all of the notes, send me an A5 stamped and self addressed envelope and I'll let you have them, because if I typed all of that lot up neatly, I would still be sat here until tomorrow dinner time.

King scored a goal himself, to double the home sides lead, less than two minutes later, stooping to head Sam Agar's left wing delivery just inside the right hand post.
Newark were looking odds to carry on where they had left off at the weekend, by indulging in yet another goals avalanche, but Shannon-Lewis spanked a crisp shot just wide of the right hand post, while the industrious Agar, paused with the ball on the edge of the Eastwood area, before lofting it over two defenders and forcing Jack Walker into making another save.
In the fortieth minute, the visitors registered their first real goal attempt of the game, but John Whitehurst's long range free kick, scudded along the pitch and wide of the left hand upright... and as Joe Searson, the young

Newark keeper who was making his debut tonight, having just arrived at the club from Notts County; resumed a comfortable position in a deck chair and carried on reading the next chapter in his book, while Shannon-Lewis and King took the ball out of harms way and scored another goal apiece at the far end... when Agar shot and Walker blocked the shot but couldn't keep hold of the ball, Shannon-Lewis nudged it over the line to make it 3-0, with a classic 'poachers goal', and in stoppage time, Jack Beckett rolled a pass to Sol Miller on the right hand side of the area, who took four strides forward before delivering a head height pass towards King, who deftly nodded the ball downwards into exactly the same corner of the goal he'd already just scored in a mere eight minutes ago.
HT: Highwaymen 4 v Community 0
Incidentally, tonight, recent arrival Shannon -Lewis played in what was only hissecond game for Flowserve... and he's already scored four times for them.

 

As so often happens when a dominant team takes a commanding into the interval, and everyone present is expecting an impending rout in the second half, Flowserve didn't sustain their high tempo pressing game after the break and seemed to be keeping some in their reserve tank for when Kimberley Miners Welfare visit Lowfields at the weekend, but you couldn't blame them for that, when this game was all but won already anyway.

However Shannon-Lewis, Agar and Danny Meadow weren't too far away from increasing the lead, but Eastwood, to their credit, had dug in and decided that they weren't going to succumb to an embarrassing margin of defeat. 

In fact they trebled their goalmouth action in comparison to the first half, waking Searson up in the seventieth minute, when he dived at the feet of Joe Butler and emerged with the ball, but amid a goalmouth scramble shortly afterwards, Jack Allen got a decisive touch to pull a goal back, meaning that although Eastwood well were and truly battered in first half, by a relentless home side who had their pants down and spanked them severely, Dave Marlow's side effectively won the second half... not that they'll get any prizes for it. And a comeback to claim a draw never looked likely.

The visitors threatened again, but when Whitehurst's shot bounced awkwardly in front of Searson, the keeper adopted a safety first approach and pushed the ball around his post... and dealing efficently with corner kicks is one of his strengths, as Eastwood were soon to find out.

As the game went into stoppage time, Agar curled a shot round Walker from eighteen yards but the ball crashed back off of the upright. But it's not like the Highwaymen are desperate for goals, as they moved up to second in the table with a goal difference of plus forty five.

FT: Newark Flowserve 4 v Eastwood Community 1

As I got back into my car, the temperature gauge on the dashboard claimed that it was balmy seven degrees tonight... I am assuming that the minus symbol has stopped working then.

So then, my first impressions of Newark Flowserve FC? 

Great to watch, a good set up with a great pitch. All told: a very welcoming club with a good balance of friendly souls on board and a decent programme that has content you can actually read. 

The ground itself has hard-standing at one end and along one side, where there is a decent sized stand too. 

"I'm the dandy highwayman!"

There aren't any seats at the Hawton Lane ground yet, but given the obvious developments around the place, I would imagine that there soon will be. 

And they're getting a club shop together in the near future too. 

But best of all, the Highwaymen, employ Stockport's finest ever stand up comedian: 'Comedy Dave', as their matchday secretary... 'twas great to see you again Mr Hurstfield.

A decent night, spent in the goodly company of the very affable Richard Lane and 'the other Wycombe Wanderer'. 

A daylight picture of the Lowfields stand.
I didn't take this photo, I stole it off t'internet.

Newark Flowserve FC, are definitely worth checking out again in the near future, so I will be keeping an eye on their fixtures... and if you haven't visited them yet, then I can heartily recommend that you do so, any time soon.