An excellent team performance from a revitalised Town side had some of the shine taken off by a fracas in stoppage time which saw the Blues reduced to ten men. After last week’s debacle at Ruddington, Tony Joynes was able to call on something akin to a first choice starting eleven, the benefits being immediately apparent. With a strong, but surprisingly mild breeze blowing across the pitch, Town took the game to their hosts from the start, Arron Martin’s third minute cross evading Ian Hillier by a matter of inches,. The first goal wasn’t long in coming, however, Alex Hales supplying Luke Hutchinson whose ball into the box was prodded home by Sam Wilford. Hillier was then fortunate to escape with a booking after a poor challenge which laid out Adam Jamieson, as Town continued to pull Easington’s fragile looking defence apart with ease. A driven cross from the impressive Ricki O’Connell saw Hillier inches away from connecting, before Ngoni Dongo brought the best out of keeper Charlie Holden. Dongo then launched an audacious volley which clipped the post and went behind, but despite creating so many chances, the Blues somehow came off at the break still just one goal to the good.
The lead was almost doubled within 25 seconds of the second half, Wilford’s shot coming back off the inside of the post and somehow spinning away from the goal. Martin then had a low shot fingertipped round the post before the long awaited second goal arrived on 56 minutes, Dongo feeding Wilford who rounded Holden before slotting the ball into the empty net. Newark were now in complete control of the midfield, some intricate close passing creating space which they were quick to exploit. Three minutes later Wilford completed his hat trick, advancing down the left to the by-line and netting from what looked to be an impossibly tight angle. Damian Lloyd and Reece Self replaced George Pearce and Max King on the hour, before Newark and Wilford made it four on 67 minutes, Hillier this time the supplier, Wilford keeping his composure to outwit Holden again. With Easington now in complete disarray, Martin got in on the act in the 73rd minute, pouncing on a loose ball and hammering his shot home from 20 yards out. Town’s sixth goal came courtesy of home captain Anthony Barnett, who headed Hillier’s right wing cross wide of Holden. Easington pulled one back six minutes from time. The previously untroubled Craig Rhodes did well to parry a Kris Fitzpatrick shot but the ball fell to sub Chris Frost who netted from close range. As the game entered stoppage time, things erupted after Martin was fouled on the edge of the Easington area. Despite the whistle, the Town player carried on, crashing into Holden and sparking a furious reaction from the home players. When order was finally restored, Martin was shown a red card, with O’Connell and two Easington players seeing yellow. Town return to East Yorkshire in two weeks time to face the same opposition in the 2nd round of the League Cup.