Newark Town manager Luke Parsons on United Counties League clash with Lincoln United as third plays fourth in Premier Division North on Saturday
Newark Town face a Lincoln United side set on revenge in a top-of-the-table clash this weekend.
It’s third v fourth at the YMCA as the Blues meet United in a hotly-anticipated United Counties League Premier Division North game.
Newark, who are a point clear of their visitors, won the early-season meeting 2-1 despite the absence of their entire management team and eight players.
Boss Luke Parsons was on holiday, assistant Neil Miller was working and player-coach Mitch Griffiths was with his daughter in hospital. Amazingly, the Blues found a way to win.
“We had to draft in my old assistants from last year and Tony Joynes, the stand-in chairman, who’s obviously managed before,” said Parsons.
“They knew what game plan we had and credit to them.
“We went there with eight players missing, which is often the case earlier in the season, and that was when we first started to believe what we could do this season.
“Sometimes you get that in football, when your back’s against the wall, and you think no management, no players, everything’s going against you, but you show what togetherness is about and get a result regardless.”
The result was a shock for a Lincoln side who were among the pre-season promotion favourites, with Newark playing only their second game in Step 5.
The Blues, 4-1 winners at Harrowby last Saturday, have shown they belong at this level and it’s all set up for a cracking contest.
“If you’d said to anyone at the club you’re going to be ahead of Lincoln United when you play them on December 21, no one would have believed a word you said,” said Parsons.
“But we find ourselves in that position.
“It’s no fluke, we’ve done things our way and we’re going into that game above them in the table.
“When we went there in the second game and did a number on them, I think the lads at the time celebrated quite well.
“Lincoln have come out already and said it’s the one that hurts them the most, first home game and they’ve lost it, against Newark, who’ve just been promoted to Step 5.
“They’re gunning for revenge, they’re putting a lot of pressure on themselves and we’re just relaxed and we know what we’ve got to do.
“These games are why you play football, the local derbies, the games that have got a bit of added spice to them.”
Newark, back in action after losing on penalties to Daventry in the FA Vase, missed an early spot-kick at Harrowby when Louis Czerwak’s effort was saved.
The Blues fell behind but bounced back with Joe Smith’s equaliser, two goals from Ryan Smith and an Andrew Tsolakis clincher.
Jake West saved a late penalty for Newark.
Parsons said: “In spells, it was like a basketball game.
“That’s the beauty of us and Harrowby, we both like to attack, so it became a decent game to watch as a neutral.
“Maybe not so much on the sidelines when you miss a chance and they go up the other end and miss a chance. But it was a good entertaining game, played in the right spirit.
“When we missed the penalty, our heads dropped for five minutes and they went up the other end and scored.
“Last season, when we lost in the play-offs, we missed a penalty at 0-0 and our heads dropped for the whole game and we never got back into any gear at all.
“But on Saturday I think it shows how far we’ve come as a team in such a short space of time because our heads dropped, they scored, and six months ago we’d have lost that game.
“But the character we’ve got this season, we dusted ourselves off, got a deserved equaliser through Joe Smith, a great strike, and then a quickfire double from Ryan Smith took us in 3-1 at the break.
“We couldn’t ask for a better reaction after going out of the Vase. When we’ve lost a game this season, we’ve always bounced back.
“Where we take each game as it comes, we don’t put pressure on ourselves.
“It was a big local derby, with history between the sides, and we just had the lads up for it.
“They knew their roles and responsibilities, as they have done all season.”
