New look Shirebrook Town pick up point on return to step five
Shirebrook Town started the new season with a 1-1 draw against Newark&Sherwood
After a summer of change for Shirebrook that saw the club get promoted the chairman step down the management team leave the club and every player walk out the door it had been a very busy summer for Shirebrook as they prepared for a return to step 5 football.
New manager Rudy Funk was left with a big task of recruiting a squad that can compete at a higher level and the first test for that squad was the visit of Newark&Sherwood to the WH Davis Stadium.
As the game got underway it was the visitors who started the stronger of the sides as Kieran Cummings and Luke White both had chances for the visitors in the opening 10 minutes but good defending saw Shirebrook manage to get both shots out for a corner.
But in the 18th minute Newark&Sherwood had their best chance of the game so far as Kieran Cummings headed over the bar from Keiran Walker corner but in the 25th minute Shirebrook would have their best attacking spell of the half so far as Pharrell White fired a shot wide of the post and Tom McNally fired a shot just over the bar.
As the game was heading towards half time Newark&Sherwood again went close as Kieran Cummings crossed to Keiran Walker who saw his header saved by Shirebrook keeper Rio Alberry and the sides went in level at the break.
As the second half got underway it was the visitors who again started the stronger of the two sides as Toby White tried his luck from distance but his shot went over the bar.
In the 49th minute Newark&Sherwood took the lead when Luke White crossed to Sam King who headed into the net.
As a way to try and get back into the game Rudy Funk turned to his bench and one of the player he introduced was Carlinho Costa and that chance had an instant impact as two minutes later Shirebrook levelled the score when a corner from the left was swung in, Connor Eyes initial shot was blocked and Costa was in the right place at the right time to smash home the rebound.
Shirebrook now had the momentum and they pushed forward and almost took the lead as Carlinho Costa went close to getting his second goal and Brandon Ashmore went even closer as he saw a header go just wide.
In the 68th minute Newark&Sherwood were awarded a penalty after Kieran Cummings was brought down by Shirebrook keeper Rio Alberry but Alberry made up for his error by producing a fantastic save as he got down to his right to keep Luke White penalty out and keep the scores level.
As the game went into the final 20 minutes Newark&Sherwood hit the post with a free kick and Kole Lambert smashed the rebound over the bar, but in the final 5 minutes Shirebrook almost won the game as Brandon Ashmore saw a shot saved.
In injury time Ashmore headed over the bar to almost give Shirebrook a perfect start to the season but it wasn’t to be and they had to settle for a point.
After the game Shirebrook manager Rudy Funk said:“We see it as a point gained today to go behind and show the character to get back into the game.
"I’m very proud of my players today this is only the 4th time some of them have played together and for others it’s even less some of them still don’t know each other’s names yet so it shows how difficult our pre season preparations have been but we had a game plan and the players stuck to that plan.
"I’m pleased we managed to take something from the game also a brilliant performance from Rio Alberry that was some introduction to the fans and to produce a fantastic penalty save to help us earn that point I couldn’t be happier for him.”