Match Reports

David slays Goliath in epic Cup upset! A sensational performance from the rank outsiders of Newton completely turned the form book inside out to produce one of the major shocks of this or any other season! Going into this game there was a massive 50point difference in the league between these two sides with the positions of top against bottom underlying that difference. By the end of this game there was no difference at all.Newton simply outplayed and outfought their illustrious opponents from the very first minute to last in a fabulous advert for the game at this level. The game started at a frantic pace in sweltering temperatures,but it was evident in the opening ten minutes that Newton were not there just to make up the numbers as they were making their presence felt around the park and crucially winning the majority of the 50/50 challenges.Walkers knew they were in a game and their renowned midfield began to hit a brick wall as Newton countered everything thrown at them! As the half wore on, so the confidence of the underdogs began to grow, but it took a brave exhibition of goalkeeping aided by a slice of cup luck to keep the score at a blank after 25 mins.A Walkers player did manage to find some room in this period and struck a great shot only to see it hit the bottom of the post and rebound straight to a Newton defender!If anyone needed convincing that we were in for a real shock then maybe this was a defining moment! Newton simply continued in their composed style of play and on a couple of occasions began to ask some questions themselves of a bemused looking Walkers outfit. Halftime and honours were very even at 0-0. Every member of Newton’s cup squad seemed to have the bit between their teeth for this encounter, so much so that one of their substitutes provided the much sought after breakthrough 3mins into the second half! The move started down the Newton right flank with real skill and purpose. When the cross took a half deflection from the Walkers keeper the sub was at hand to help the ball over the line much to the delight of the Newton support! The story was indeed unfolding now and despite a spirited response from the favourites they just could not shake the shackles that Newton had thrown around them. With fifteen minutes to go of this superb contest Walkers squandered a couple of real chances that should have been finished and probably would have been on any other day! Their glaring misses in front of goal kept the score 1-0 until 2mins from the end. These two minutes will long be remembered by those fortunate to witness this contest! First a frantic scramble in the Newton area caused a Walkers player to lose his footing and the ref showed no hesitation in awarding a penalty! This was duly struck home in style,but only just beating an outstanding Newton keeper. It was harsh justice to say the least and would have floored most teams. Not so Newton! Another chance for Walkers soon came, but went wide before a Newton striker worked wonders to force a corner in the very last seconds of normal time.A short corner threw the Walkers defence and before they realised the danger the same striker turned on a sixpence and crashed a superb shot straight into the roof of the net! No comeback now for Walkers and they slumped to their knees moments later when the whistle sounded.As for Newton they were understandably on another planet with their celebrations!