First and foremost this was one of those occasions when the scoreline swiftly became irrelevant.

Five minutes into the second half of an enthralling match, Worksop were shoved backwards in the scrum and one of their front rowers was left lying on the ground with a neck injury. With Newark's physio George Allen taking the lead, the player remained in place awaiting an ambulance and the match was abandoned. Everyone at Newark sends him their best wishes for a swift recovery.

Although the injury puts the actual rugby itself into perspective, it only seems fair to pay tribute to the way his team played. This was a very different Worksop side which was comprehensively beaten at Kelham Road earlier in the season.

The home side took the lead after two minutes through a well struck long range penalty in front of the posts. Newark then dominated possession for the next ten minutes but poor handling butchered two potential tries before an interception from Worksop's speedy centre led to their first try which was converted.

Newark were penalised time and again for a range of offences before Worksop converted one to go 13-0 up.

Flanker Matt Christian was forced to leave the field injured to be replaced by veteran Ian Tomlinson before George Leeson broke through to feed his half back partner Alex O'Dell for Newark's first try. A line out and swift passing along the backs then led to a second Newark try for top scorer Rhys Overland and another O'Dell conversion made the score 13-14 at half time.
Worksop scored their second try soon after the restart before the injury brought an end to the game.

The match will now be replayed on the last Saturday in March when Newark could, in theory, still be chasing the title. And if we didn't realise how big a threat Worksop posed before today , we do now.

Tries Alex O'Dell, Rhys Overland.
Conversions O'Dell (2)