UP NEXT, the first team makes a familiar trip to the Fruehauf Stadium in Grantham just fourteen days after being there previously to face Newark & Sherwood United in the league.

Kimberley will go into the match with one victory from their last six matches. This is part of a long stretch of poor form that has seen the miners drop from top of the table to tenth and nine points outside of the playoff places.

Newark & Sherwood have slipped to bottom spot after their landlords recorded back to back wins over Kimberley to move three points clear of the drop zone to sixteenth place. The Highwaymen are on a poor run of their own, having won none of their last six matches. With all of the bottom three having games in hand on Harrowby and Heanor, it’s all to play for.

Last weekend, Kimberley welcomed Harrowby United to Greenwich Avenue having fallen to defeat against the same opposition last week. Last weekend’s nemesis, Tom Hill opened the scoring acrobatically after a throw-in was flicked on as the miners defence failed to communicate which also left Hill totally unmarked to fire a scissor kick over Tom Smith and into the goal. Ex-Miner Kareem Abouraia made it 2-0, scoring from the follow up after Tom Smith saved his penalty with no home defenders getting back quick enough. The penalty came about from a long ball over the top and Logan Green being dragged down by a Harrowby forward causing the ball to hit his trailing arm. A particularly harsh decision from the referee. Sacah Markelic grabbed a goal back for Kimberley after a long ball from Tom Smith fell at his feet. An outstanding first touch saw him cut inside, turned the oncoming goalkeeper and spin to finish from the edge of the area. Kimberley pushed for an equaliser and were caught out when a poor defensive header fell to the feet of Gabriel Ebede to round the goalkeeper and wrap things up for Harrowby, who rise from bottom to sixteenth with the two wins over Kimberley.
Final Score - Kimberley Miners Welfare 1-3 Harrowby United

Newark & Sherwood United’s last match was two weeks ago as they played out a goalless draw away at Gresley Rovers

LAST TIME AROUND

In November, Kimberley welcomedNewark & Sherwood United to Basford’s Greenwich Avenue. A penalty for each side in the second half sealed a 1-1 draw as the visitors opened the scoring through Luke White before Fin Ryder equalised from the spot in the last fifteen minutes of the match.

Last season, the last meeting between the two sides came in December last year as we faced Newark & Sherwood United at the Stag Ground. Despite dominating the first half, they found themselves 2-0 down at half time. Midway through the second half, Neo Sanchez Saunders grabbed a goal back for the miners. With minutes to go, the visitors regained their two goal cushion, only for Lewis Partridge to set up a late charge with a second for Kimberley. The home side undeservedly went 3-2 down after a very strong performance, leaving them feeling that they should be the ones taking the points form the game.

The two sides met in early October 2024 in horrendous conditions. Keiran Walker scored for the hosts in the first half and Benni Wilson made sure of the points in the second to send Kimberley home with a 2-0 loss.

In the 2023-24 season, the two sides were separated by seven points and two spots in the league, with both ending the season in the bottom half of the table.

The away match was at the end of March 2023. The sides finished level, with both goals being scored in the first four minutes of the match. Kole Lambert opened the scoring for Kimberley, with Luke White equalising for the home side. Full time 1-1.

The match at The Stag Ground was played in August of the same year Luke White and Tom Jones gave the visitors a half time lead, with Toby White making it 3-0 just after half time. Sam Brown and Aaron Coyle scored for Kimberley as they made a fight of it in the second half as the match finished 3-2 to Newark & Sherwood.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE OPPOSITION

Founded in 1901 as A.J. Simpson and Co., the football club began life in the Newark Ironmongers’ League. No records survive from those early days, but it is known that in 1935 the club, now renamed Worthington Simpson, entered the Nottingham Spartan League. After winning back-to-back titles, Simmo’s or the Works (as the club became known locally) joined the Notts Alliance League in 1949, going on to win that title in the momentous football years of 1953 and 1966. The Notts Alliance Cup brought the club’s greatest success up to that point, first in 1970 beating Notts Combined Police two-nil in a replay at Notts County’s Meadow Lane ground and then the trophy returning to Newark in 1972 after an epic five-three extra time victory. The trophy returned to Newark again 1981, 1989 and finally 1999. Name changes followed in the late ‘90s, first to IDP and then to Newark Flowserve, and in 2004 the club’s name was entered into the first level of the FA’s national pyramid by joining the Central Midlands League Premier Division. Following a short break, the first team re-formed in 2013 and finished a creditable third in Notts Senior League (NSL) Division Two, securing promotion to the First Division. Another successful campaign followed a year later when the team finished runners-up and clinched their place in the NSL Premier Division, taking the club back to step seven football. In 2001 they changed name again, to Newark Flowserve, and in 2004 they opted to join the Central Midlands League. After a five-year stint in the CML, Flowserve joined the Nottinghamshire Senior League.

In 2018, the club won 31 of its 34 league matches to secure the league championship, and with it promotion to Step 6. In May 2018 their promotion to the East Midlands Counties League was ratified by the Football Association League Committee. The club won promotion to the Midland league at the end of the 2018/19 season. In May 2020 the club was again renamed, to Newark. At the end of the 2020–21 season they were transferred to the Premier Division North of the United Counties League. The end of the 2020/21 witnessed the final ever game at Lowfields following their ground being sold to a property developer. The club played their home games for the season 2021/22 at Basford Utd's Greenwich Ave ground. In May 2022 the club again changed name, this time to Newark and Sherwood United F.C. and the club moved to share with Collingham F.C. at Station Road, Collingham. In May 2023 the club won the Notts Senior Cup for the first time in their history by beating Carlton Town 3-2 in the final played at Eastwood. From 2024/25 the club are ground sharing with Harrowby United FC in Grantham.

Honours
Notts Alliance League - Champions 1948/49, 1952/53, 1965/66.
Notts Alliance Cup 1969/70, 1971/72, 1980/81, 1988/89, 1998/99
Nottinghamshire Senior League - Champions 2017/18
EMCL Cup Winners 2018/19
Nottinghamshire Senior Cup Champions 2022/23

FINALLY

Both sides are in dire need of wins. Kimberley need to turn things around as they are slipping down the table. Newark & Sherwood need to make the most of their games in hand to move out of the bottom two.

There’s limited parking and the clubhouse and bar will be open.

Kick off is at 15:00

There will be a pitch inspection at 10:30 on Saturday morning as the weather has again been awful this week

See you there