Newark punish mistakes by Shirebrook

Shirebrook Town were back on the road on Saturday afternoon as they made the trip to Newark Town Shirebrook were hoping a new month would bring a change of fortune as the poor run of form they have been on had seen them drop into the bottom 2 and as the game got underway Shirebrook had a big let off in just the second minute when Joe Smith headed wide but Shirebrook reprieve wouldn’t last long as Newark were awarded a penalty in the 5th minute when George Robins was brought down in the box Louis Czerwak stepped up to take the penalty and sent Mitchell Leivers the wrong way to give the home side the lead Newark were well on top and keeping Mitchell Leivers very busy with Sean Wooley and Ryan Smith both having chance for Newark and Newark extended their lead in the 19th minute when a cross field ball found Sean Wooley who knocked the ball past his man and raced towards goal and smashed past Leivers from a tight angle despite being behind in the game Shirebrook were still causing Newark a few problems as Kieron Sykes Tobin saw a shot saved by the Newark keeper and Ben Southwell also went close from the edge of the box but Newark were still looking to extend their lead and Ritchie Ingram tried his luck from distance but saw his effort fly just wide of the post but in the 28th minute Newark did get a 3rd goal as Mitchell Leivers couldn’t keep hold of Sean Wooley cross leaving Ryan Smith the simple task of heading the ball into the net and the home side would hold that advantage until the break.

Whatever Shirebrook manager Rudy Funk had said to his players at the break they came out much more attacking in the second half with Ben Southwell and Fabian Johnson testing the Newark goalkeeper in the opening 10 minutes of the half but the 2 best chances for Shirebrook fell to Ewan Sutherill and Lewis Russell first Ewan tried his luck from distance and his dipping shot fell just over the bar and then Lewis Russell saw a free kick go just over the bar but having been second best for most of the half it was Newark who got the next goal in the 73rd minute through sub Razvan Vladut but Shirebrook still pushed to try and get a goal in the last 15 minutes with Fabin Johnson having the best chance but Shirebrook couldn’t get a goal and it was the home side who took the points.

After the game Shirebrook manager Rudy Funk had the following to say “ I’m a bit lost for word today the two halves couldn’t have been any different we were awful in the first half and were deservedly behind at half time but in the second half I don’t know how we haven’t scored we wasted a lot of chances and that is something we can’t be doing in the next few game as we now have a run of game against the teams around us in the league and we need to be picking up points otherwise we will make things very difficult for ourselves”

Shirebrook starting XI Leivers Denham Jules Russell Eyes Millen McMillan Sykes Tobin (Howe) Southwell (Johnson) Sutherill Johnson Subs not used Monteiro Grainger Kennedy