More home points dropped

Manager Tony Joynes was disappointed with the lack of attacking prowess as the Blues were held to a 1-1 draw against a spirited Askern.
Arron Martin gave them the advantage early in the second-half but they couldn't hold on as they dropped two more valuable points. Joynes said their ambitions of securing a top-three finish had been severely hampered by their past two results. "Whereas against Ollerton we created the chances but didn't take them, this week we didn't create enough chances to win the match," he said. "We have a number of matches against the teams above us, and having already dropped too many points this makes our task even harder now."
Arron Martin had the best of the early chances, as he saw a shot comfortably saved from close range after a through ball from Sam Wilford. Askern were causing Newark a number of problems on the counter-attack, but Craig Rhodes was on hand to pull off some good saves on a number of occasions to deny their forwards. With leading goalscorer Jordan Thomas sidelined due to a hamstring injury, Newark were having difficulty creating chances in the first-half. They were also dealt a further injury blow when George Pearce limped off with a groin strain to be replaced by Sean Fulcher in the 30th minute. Askern thought they had broken the deadlock soon after half-time, but a late offside flag from the assistant referee denied them following a flowing move. After that scare, Newark showed signs of improvement and James Munson went close as he shot wide following some neat interplay in attack.
Newark took the lead in the 52nd minute, when a cross from the right by Fulcher was headed goalwards by Martin. The goalkeeper made a good initial save but Martin followed the effort and bundled the ball over the line from close range. Martin saw another effort well held by the goalkeeper but Newark were unable to press home their advantage. Askern equalised with 20 minutes remaining when a through ball caught out the defence allowing Gaz Mundy to slide the ball calmly past Rhodes. This spurred Newark into retaliation, Fulcher coming inches away from restoring the lead when he rose high to power a header against the post following a good cross. With the momentum in their favour, Luke Parsons also went close from a corner in stoppage time as they pushed for a winner. This was only Town’s second draw of the season, but it will be seen as two points dropped rather than one gained. A special mention for referee Ed Cook, who gave an object lesson on how to control a game of football.