The 1sts played some of their best rugby of the season to outlast old rivals Paviors in a match which saw both teams score five tries.
Ovi Gilder provided the fireworks – contributing a first-half hat-trick – only for his day to end late on in the second half when he suffered a serious lower leg injury.

His sequence – inside the first 18 minutes – had put Newark on the road to a third league win in four games. Helped by some quick ball from set pieces, home supporters enjoyed the attacking spree.

Besides Gilder’s contribution, fly half Sam Hawkins overcame a couple of first-half wobbles to land three conversions and three penalty goals.
Newark led 26-15 at half-time helped by a fourth try from centre Toby Waller who jinked his way through the Paviors defence five minutes from the interval.

A fifth try came shortly into the second half and was a popular score going to Haydn Godfrey, the tireless front-rower, who latched onto a loose ball for his first league try.

At that stage Newark led 31-15 and two penalty goals from Hawkins increased the margin to 37-15 before Paviors started to claw their way back into the contest.

However, the three tries Paviors scored did not quite cut the margin and a further penalty from Hawkins calmed the increasing nerves of home followers.

Overall, it was one of Newark’s best performances dampened by the late injury to wing Gilder. His sequence had started immediately after Paviors had grabbed a lead through the first of their five tries.

Newark quickly got on the front foot and Gilder finished off on the left before running onto a neat chip from Joshie Waqalevu for his second try.

But the best of the three was in the 15th minute when he sped clear from the Newark half to leave his Paviors rivals floundering. It was a memorable score.

Paviors showed their resilience by gaining a second try before Waller – one of the colts making his way in senior ruby – showed some smart skills by waltzing clear.

When Godfrey scored – his grin of delight was another memorable memorable moment - Newark looked well set for victory.

However, Paviors proved doughty opponents and fought back to be only 37-32 down going into the final 10 minutes.

Thankfully, Hawkins stepped up to kick his third penalty goal to keep Newark’s noses ahead.

Next up is a trip to Ilkeston on Saturday week (21 March), kick off 3pm. All supporters welcome as the team continues its battle to escape the threat of relegation. By the looks of things, that’s going to go to the wire.

Team v Paviors: Walton (capt); Allen, Waqalevu, Waller, Gilder; Hawkins, Paley; Godfrey, Vinters, Wilson, Jackson, Robson, Clayton, O’Leary, Brogden.
Subs: Ashton, Cnockaert, Brewer.
Tries: Gilder (3), Waller, Godfrey.
Conversions: Hawkins (3).
Penalty goals: Hawkins (3).

Fixture update
The 1sts have no scheduled league game next weekend (14 March). The 2nds were due to have hosted Boston in a re-arranged league fixture but that is now scheduled for Saturday 28 March.