FANS FLOWING BACK TO NEWARK FOOTBALL

NEWARK FLOWSERVE 4 WEST BRIDGFORD 1
EMCL @ LOWFIELDS
27 AUGUST 2018 --- 3PM
Football fans of Newark have cried out for a revival of the sport in the town and at last a club in the guise of Flowserve are giving them something to shout about and with an attendance of over 200 for this 4-1 victory it must be heart warming for all connected with the club from Chairman through the players to the volunteers and the added proof that develop a successful club and the people of Newark cant wait to become part of it.

SOLOMON MILLER GETS AWAY FRO NEWARK FLOWSERVE

The East Midlands Counties League beckoned for the second consecutive blog and after failing a few times last season to get to Flowserve mainly due to the wet stuff todays bank holiday fixture would be the next attempt.
To badly quote 'somebody' it is often said 'getting to your destination is not the point its the joy of getting there that makes it worthwhile' well clearly they have never travelled on public transport or the rail network of this country.  After Saturdays roaring rail success it was back to normality today with a late bus, delayed train that seriously put my connection in doubt at Nottingham, after hovering waiting the departure of the Nottingham bound train from Sheffield before purchasing tickets it was upon entering a queue of a handful of people with 15 minutes to spare that panic set in as the one window open finally served me as the train was about to be called.  Seat gained some seven minutes late and with a bit of speed there was time in Nottingham to get aboard the Newark Castle bound train, passing through Fiskerton and then two minutes later Rolleston it did bring to my thoughts that this could be the shortest distance between two main line stations but after research its probably only in the top 50!

FIRST VIEW OF LOWFIELDS

Departing on time after a relaxing second part of the journey to the sight of Newark Castle and this attractive town is always a joy and having covered it before for a Newark Town game, played at Collingham, I decided to avoid pictures but needless to say the town has more history and places of interest than you could probably shake two sticks at never mind one.
Travel to Newark Flowserve Fc would be on foot today and I was aware of no buses running this being a bank holiday although on a Saturday the number '3' passes close by.  Its a poor state of affairs the relatively new bus station was completely empty and its amazing in todays climate that all services stop in a town like this, especially as even for a public holiday the streets seemed awash with cars.

TODAYS THIRD TEAM LED OUT BY LEWIS MORGAN

So the 45 minutes brisk walk had been planned and took me along the former Newark to Bottesford railway line, closed 1955, from London Road and brought a sight of the driveway to Flowserve a short while later.  On route to the ground down the old line I'm told Newark Town should move onto a new site with a 4g pitch so bringing them back closer to the town centre.  Indeed although its great to see Newark sides back into the town technically Flowserve play in Balderton and this is a nice stretch out to the south east of the town.
The ground is to the left at the bottom of the driveway before the factory and are very much company grounds with the club formally under the names of Worthington and Simpsons previous monikers for the factory.  Through the ornate gates with bowling green to the right the pay cabin with full size turnstile await.  A warm welcome from the operator with admission and programme gained, the latter once again was a nice little effort of credit to the club.

CRAIG ROCHE JOINT MANAGER NEWARK FLOWSERVE DEVELOPING ON FIELD SUCCESS

Straight ahead of us is the large school room type Porta-cabin Jubilee Room and then a snack bar which led you to the clubhouse pavilion a very smart bar area unfolded and it was good to meet once again Mr Naylor from the Syston parish.
No circuit possible because for the second fixture running this is a two sided ground that was I guess hastily got through its ground grading with floodlights cable and ducting on show these should be installed in the next few weeks.  There is hard standing around the two sides of a good depth with dug outs on the far side a ornate wooden panelled stand I guess awaits the required seats and leaving some covered standing, hopefully any seats will be put at the end away from the dug outs or it will be a severely restricted view that is on offer.  So overall a work in progress which while things on the pitch, excellent condition by the way, continue apace the ground moves along to keep up with.
Alongside the programme there was a good public address system and a warm welcome from a few of the home club officials after refreshments in the clubhouse it was time for the big game with West Bridgford struggling and Newark on a roll it was to be hoped for a competitive game.
The teams came out to the 80's classic stand and deliver by Adam and The Ants which seemed a good mood song.

LIAM MORAN ON THE BALL FOR FLOWSERVE

Although the visitors were looking quite competent in the opening stages it was Newark who took the lead after 7 minutes when former Grantham Town player Jack Beckett fired home he proceeded to secure a second on 19 minutes firing home form a similar position and you feared the game was over.  When Sam Agar was upended in the box by visiting keeper Sam Clark he got up to fire home from the spot to make it 3-0 after 25 minutes.

AGAR HITS THE BAR BEFORE JOHN CONVERTS TO MAKE IT 4-0

After a period of stabilisation from the Nottingham side it all went wrong in the second minute of stoppage time when the lively Agar flew down the right and lobbed the approaching keeper from outside the box it looked inch perfect but the bar intervened however Mustapha John made no mistake to make it four.
The second half was a bit of an anti climax in fairness to West Bridgford they could have folded but didn't and came back with a consolation goal after 58 minutes when Edwin Towers finished sharply.  The visitors job was made harder when they were reduced to ten men with 22 minutes remaining when Ryan Plummer was shown a red card for a sharp challenge that took out a Newark player.
There was a feeling that Newark had done their job by half time and the foot was off the pedal a little which is a shame because there was clearly some great options in this side but I suppose energy was saved for another day it will certainly be interesting to see them in games against some of the high flyers non more so than in front of the large crowds being secured for games at Lowfields.

AGAR BROUGHT DOWN ON HIS TRAVELS

There was a bright closing moment when Flowserve very nearly finished with a fifth only to be denied by the crossbar when David Kolapo set up James Cullingworth who was fractions away from rustling the back of the net.

TWO GOAL JACK BECKETT INTERVIEWED BY RADIO NEWARK

Another three points in the bag for the home side on their transition into this new league and with a positive Chairman, volunteers and what's proving a great crowd who knows where this journey can take Newark Flowserve.
My afternoon finished on a relaxed note with a lift back to base thanks to Mr Wilson of the referees parish and another club whose results I shall look forward to following this season.