Newark Town 2 - 3 Hykeham Town

Another good crowd of 120 at the YMCA Activity Village saw the Blues given a lesson in finishing by visitors Hykeham Town. Despite bombarding the visitors goal in an exciting second half, a combination of wasted chances and outstanding goalkeeping gave Hykeham a narrow win.
Town fell behind as early as the 8th minute, Dye netting at the second attempt after Nathan Burrows had parried his initial shot. Jordan Thomas and Ben Castell threatened with close range efforts but a pacy Hykeham side had the upper hand in the early stages, using the width of the pitch to advantage. The lead was increased on 22 minutes as, from a left wing cross, Wilkinson rose unopposed to power in a header which Burrows got a hand to but couldn’t prevent from going in off the post. George Asplin looked set to pull one back but had the ball whipped off his toes at the last second. It could have been three shortly afterwards, Luke Parsons diverting a low cross from the right onto his own post. Lewis Chambers brought a good save from the keeper from an Asplin cross before a strong run by the outstanding Sam Wilford ended with his chip over the keeper coming off the underside of the bar.
Town started the second half in attacking mode, but were distracted when the simmering feud between Thomas and Hykeham’s Costa reached its inevitable conclusion, the referee cooling things by ordering both players to be replaced. Kieran Job sent in an incisive ball across the area finding Chambers who saw his firm shot fingertipped over the bar by Wilson, the keeper doing well a minute later to touch over another shot from Job. After forcing a string of corners Will Nelson was next to be denied, his header coming back off the bar. Newark got back into the game on 59 minutes as the referee spotted a handball and Chambers dispatched the penalty. Tyler Martin entered the fray and was inches away from completing another Asplin cross. Wilson then excelled himself with an inspired point blank interception from Chambers the ball again hitting the bar, the same player then firing narrowly wide from 20 yards. Town then fell for a sucker punch as Hykeham broke quickly on 73 minutes, the forward racing clear to give Burrows no chance. Chambers was again denied one on one by the keeper’s feet before a huge punt forward from Burrows put Job clear but again the finish wasn’t there. Tyler Martin got Town a deserved second with a header a minute from time, but the home side will regret the missed opportunities.