Blues blown to victory

There were barely 20 seconds on the clock when Ollerton’s Lee Easom launched a swirling shot from the left which bounced on top of the Newark bar, and in a frantic opening Luke Parsons, Sam Wilford and the home side’s Jordan O’Callaghan all went close. Three goals in the first 16 minutes set the tone for the rest of the match. On 10 minutes, Alex Hales opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Lewis English handled, but Town held the lead for just four minutes, Liam Black finding Easom who got the better of JC MacDonald before firing across Chris Riley. This proved only a temporary setback, however, as James Munson marked his return to Walesby Lane, taking advantage of a slip in the home defence and doing well to find the net from a tight angle. A flurry of yellow cards followed as passions became a little heated, and on 28 minutes it was all square once more, Craig Stanton lashing a wind assisted shot home from fully 35 yards, giving Riley no chance. Munson then did well to chase a long ball to the line, cutting it back for Dom Swingler, but this time the wind took the ball narrowly wide of the far post. Tom Bryan then crossed from the left, Chris Dobbie flicked the ball on and Munson volleyed into Lewis Sprigg’s arms. Newark took the lead for the third time on the stroke of half time, Hales sending a free kick to the far post where Bryan headed across the area for MacDonald to finish from close range.
Ollerton opened the second half strongly, Riley making a point-blank save from Easom in the opening attack. On 47 minutes the scores were level once more, O’Callaghan playing the ball in for the unfortunate Parsons to plant it firmly into his own net. Dobbie directed a Hales free kick narrowly over the bar, before Riley made important saves from Easom and Jamie Senior, as Town rode the storm. What turned out to be the deciding goal came in the 62nd minute, Dobbie creating the chance for Swingler who stole in to expertly flick the ball wide of Sprigg. This spurred the Blues on to get a grip on proceedings, Arron Martin having a goalbound shot kicked off the line, and Munson firing just wide from 30 yards. A slip by the home keeper almost cost him dear as a huge kick from Riley was chased down by Munson but flashed inches wide. At the other end Senior skimmed the bar as time ran out, but on balance Town deserved the points which lift them to fourth in the table.