Sutton Rovers 0 – 4 Newark Town

Sutton Rovers 0 – 4 Newark Town
There were many similarities between this match and the one at Crowle the previous Saturday. Not only was the score identical but the opposition ended the game with ten men and the main talking point was a referee who made himself the centre of attention.
The Blues moved Zak Kersey to right back, allowing the return of Ben Sharpe to the left side of the defence with captain for the day Sid Costa in the middle of the back four. There was also a first start for Mason Wilson-Rhiney in midfield.
Town began on the offensive, Lewis Chambers having a first minute shot beaten away by home keeper Josh Burden. Jonny Wiles had the ball in the net on 7 minutes following a fumbled save by the keeper, but was judged to have been fouled. Sutton ‘s first threat was a shot from range by Mitch Wain which failed to trouble Harry Heywood. Town took the lead on 17 minutes. Mark Faflik’s corner from the right being met by a firm header from Wiles which flew into the net. Wiles went close again shortly afterwards following an intricate five man move, the final shot going narrowly wide. Sutton were providing tougher opposition than they had in the match at Newark, but the lack of a cutting edge in attack let them down. Wilson-Rhiney wriggled through the Sutton area but saw his shot blocked, the ball rebounding to Ben Wallace who drove the ball over the bar.
Jackson Buckthorpe and Jake Hardy replaced Wallace and Wilson-Rhiney at the start of the second half. Sutton had the better of the early chances, Leyton Beck driving the ball straight at Heywood when well placed. The Blues increased their lead in the 52nd minute as a well judged ball from Hardy sliced through the Sutton defence for Chambers to lash the ball past Burden, his 50th goal for the club in just 45 starts. Minutes later Sutton were reduced to ten men when the referee sin-binned Blake Blythe and then produced a red card as the player left the pitch. This seemed to end the game as a contest as Sutton’s heads dropped and Town began to dictate matters. On 62 minutes Chambers turned provider, setting up Faflik who netted from close range, and after Burden had brought off a superb one handed save to deny Chambers, the Blues scored a fourth from another Faflik corner which was flicked on by Buckthorpe for Rhys Lewis to hammer the ball into the roof of the net to make it seven straight wins for Town who face two tough home matches this week against Dinnington on Wednesday night and Clay Cross on Saturday.