Those who were there last night at the YMCA Activity Village witnessed two strong sides battle it out for 120 minutes. Newark struck first with a goal that game from a corner, the ball landed at the feet of unmarked James Evans for him to easily slot in a goal for the hosts. Retford then woke up and piled the pressure on Newark, but the Newark defence did a good job to stop the Badgers equalising. Later in the half Newark did the same and if it weren’t for great defending from Tom Brook and Danny Abdulla Newark would have increased their lead.
In the 43rd Minute new signing Adam Daugherty supplied a great ball into the feet of Mark West, who controlled it well, had little space to do anything with the two Newark Centre backs closing in on him, but Mark West doesn’t need space. He looked up and put it in the bottom right corner, very tidy finish. 1-1 at the break.
The Second Half continued at the same tempo as the First Half; great defending from both sides and two big saves from Badgers Keeper Tom Crosby to keep the score level. In the 64th minute the Badgers were given a penalty for a foul in the box. Zach Casburn easily finished the penalty and now the Badgers were in front. Retford hit Newark on the break minutes after and they came very close to a third. Igor Mlynarski darted down the left side taking on two players, cut inside and shot from range. The keeper was beaten but the ball hit the post and rebounded out for Newark to clear. Liam made two substitutions bringing on new signing Alex Wonham and Jack Walters for Zach Casburn and Brandon Kane.
A Great performance from both Casburn and Kane. On 81st minute Newark received a free kick on the right side of the pitch. A great ball was swung into the back post where Newark Player Ricky North won the header and powered it into the back of the net.2-2, all square again. The last 5 minutes of play were manic, with both sides having chances to win the game but at full time it remained level meaning only one thing, Extra Time.
The game continued to be end to end but still no one could find a winner. Retford came closest when substitute Ryan Smyth headed the ball past the keeper only to be ruled offside. Like back in September when we faced the same side at Cannon Park in the Abacus Lighting Floodlit Cup, we were going to penalties. Both teams put away all their penalties until Newark’s fifth where club captain stepped up to the mark and put it way over the bar. Jack Walters stepped up to win the game for the Badgers and with a lot of composure he put the penalty away.
Retford were victorious for the second time on Penalties against Newark Town and have now progressed through to the Third Round of The Notts Senior Cup. All players put a shift in and grafted for the win. New signings Adam Daughtrey, Aaron Fell and Alex Wonham showed their talent and had a very good game. Man of Match was awarded to Retford’s Danny Abdulla for his phenomenal defensive performance.