A match which rarely hit the heights saw Town go down to a third home defeat, where once again absenteeism played a part. Another four players made their first appearances of the season, Jordan Cummings, Max King, Chris Self and new signing Ian Maplethorpe all included in the starting eleven.
The first quarter of an hour was totally incident free but the match sparked into life for all the wrong reasons on 18 minutes, when a free kick given against Sainthouse for a foul on Ian Hillier, sparked a mass fall-out involving a majority of the players. After a four minute hold up in which the officials conferred among much finger pointing, Sainthouse and Adie Hillier were sent off, while Ian Hillier and Cregan picked up yellow cards. After the dust had settled, Ian Hillier sent the resulting free kick narrowly wide, before another free kick, this time from Sam Wilford saw Dom Swingler’s glancing header go wide of the target. Both sides went close to opening the scoring as half time approached, Plant slicing the ball perilously close to his own post, before McKenna, played in by Hadfield, ballooned his shot high over when it looked easier to score. Cummings and Self were both cautioned as the heat came back into the game, but worse was to come on 44 minutes as a mix-up between Wilford and Darren Townsley allowed McDonnell to poke the ball home from close range. In the next attack Phoenix almost doubled the advantage, Bowden inches away from converting McDonnell’s wicked cross.
Hopes of a quick reply were dashed within five minutes of the restart. On 48 minutes, Cregan’s probing ball from midfield reached Hadfield who rolled the ball out of the reach of the exposed Liam Needham. On 50 minutes, Town’s misery was complete as McDonnell embarked on a solo run which carved through the defence and ended with a firmly struck shot for goal number three. Phoenix then sat back, allowing the Blues more time to structure their forward moves, in which Cummings was instrumental. Ian Hillier was then unfortunate to see yet another free kick deflected wide, before a long through ball from Self was reached by keeper Else a fraction before Swingler could make contact. Wilford did well to divert a shot from Gorman over the bar and on 72 minutes Newark pulled a goal back, a beautifully judged lofted shot from 35 yards out giving Else no chance whatsoever. Needham showed good handling skills to keep out shots from Hussain and Gorman, but there was no addition to the score. This leaves Town with three points from their opening four home games, their travels beginning next Saturday with a trip to Dronfield Reserves.