Rushen returns to haunt Sleaford
Sleaford Town put in a battling display in defeat on Saturday afternoon as they lost 3-0 to local rivals Newark Town at the MKM Ground in new boss Matt Evans’ first home game in charge.
A three-goal scoreline was certainly not representative of the overall flow of the game and the Greens held to their gameplan staunchly as two goals from ex-Green Ryan Rushen in stoppage time added unfair gloss to the final result.
The Greens could have led inside two minutes when a string of early corners resulted in one being diverted onto the base of the post, seemingly by the head of the Blues’ Mitch Griffiths.
Sleaford continued to enjoy the best of the possession and Josh Parker was unlucky not to connect with Tom Waumsley’s cross after 25-minutes – the latter turning his man neatly to lay on the cross.
Gradually, the visitors grew into the contest, Rushen twice going close, and they presented a significantly different challenge after the break.
The Greens, however, could have led themselves, most notably when Ben Robson set-up Mitchell Clogg to crash the crossbar before Josh Parker dragged just wide of the post after forcing his way through the Blues backline.
Liam Flitton was required to pull off a fine block at close range to deny Newark’s Louis Czerwak before Josh Randell found the breakthrough with 15 minutes remaining, finishing smartly underneath Flitton.
The Greens noticeably tired from this point on and the points were made safe in the first minute of stoppage time when the ball fell to the impressive Rushen in the area, and he made no mistake to smash beyond Flitton and send a jubilant away support wild.
There was still time for Rushen to pull off a spectacular third goal in the 94th minute, catching Flitton off his line from the halfway line to loop an effort right over his head and add brutal gloss to the scoreline.
Sleaford go to Belper United (at Eastwood CFC) on Saturday before hosting Lincoln United in the Lincolnshire Senior Trophy next Wednesday night.