Half of the season's matches played and the Seconds are sitting reasonably pretty in the top half of the table.

In the end this was, as the score suggests, a comfortable win despite our best efforts to keep the visitors in the game.

It was really only in the last quarter that Newark began to run riot, scoring almost at will as the heavy Skegness forwards began to fade.

The Lincolnshire side are rooted firmly to the foot of the league but deserve credit for bringing a full side to Kelham Road on the Saturday before Christmas. Despite the fact they've only won one game this season, they gave a good account of themselves and went back to the coast with a try bonus point.

Scrum half Will Staniforth was acknowledged as man of the match although he faced strong competition from flanker Josh Codd and hooker Matteusz Dogiel. Codd was his usual imperious self in the line out and popped up all over the pitch , ending the day with three well-deserved tries. Dogiel - a Poland under 20 international - made several powerful breaks with a piston-like hand off that left a number of would-be tacklers trailing in his wake.

Although Skegness made the brighter start, Newark opened the scoring after Dogiel was held on the line after a tapped penalty. The ball was eventually spun right for full back Rhys Overland to cross in the corner.

Centre Calum Holmes then broke through the middle and a lovely pass to Alex Scott , enabling the fly half to race to the line. Unfortunately Scott tweaked a hamstring in the process of scoring and was forced to leave the pitch shortly after. Winger Harry Waterhouse's conversion gave Newark a 12 point lead.

Then followed one of the most frustrating periods of this season. Or in fact any season.

Newark should have added at least three more tries but dropped passes and brainless penalties gave Skegness renewed hope. A sustained period of possession from the visitors ended in a try as they successfully used their big forwards to punch holes.

Staniforth calmed frayed nerves when he broke from a scrum and ran at least 40 metres, stepping inside the full back to touch down under the posts. A Waterhouse conversion made it 19-5. Josh Codd then scored his first try by claiming a line out catch and somehow finding a gap to win the race to the line.

And at 24-5 you'd have thought the match was done and dusted. In which case you'd be wrong. A series of penalties ended with a yellow card for Newark before Skegness added their second to make it a two score game at half time.

The second half saw the growing influence of Dan Singer whose brief appearance caused chaos among the Skegness defenders who time and again struggled to bring down the big second row. Sadly Singer's cameo was cut short by an injury.

However, it was Skegness who scored first when their powerful full back ran fully 60 metres through several despairing tackles to cross under the posts. His barnstorming run came from a scrum that had been awarded after yet another Newark error. The conversion cut Newark's lead to seven points and frayed nerves were at snapping point.

It took a bit of a comedy moment to restore calm. A breakout by Newark after a handling error from Skegness allowed Waterhouse to put in a nicely judged kick. A truly woeful attempted clearance ended with the ball being kicked virtually at right angles and Dogiel was able to collect it and power through for his try.

However Newark contrived to keep Skegness in the game. A knock on was compounded with (another) penalty for offside and a Skegness try once again reduced the gap to seven points. A sign of just how serious the threat had become came when Newark opted for a penalty kick at goal and Waterhouse duly made it a two score gap.

From then on Newark undoubtedly had the upper hand. Second row Fin Bennett broke through tackles and an inside pass found Josh Codd for his second try. A Codd offload out wide gave number eight Ethan Mason a scoring pass and then Codd added his hat trick try as Skegness finally ran out of steam.

When everything comes together, this team can run the ball as well as anyone in this league. The scrum is powerful and the line out usually rock solid. But the penalty count can often be extremely frustrating.

However, this was a well deserved victory and the fourth quarter , at least, showed just how good we can be.

Tries: Josh Codd (3) Alex Scott, Mateusz Dogiel, Will Staniforth, Ethan Mason, Rhys Overland.
Conversions: Harry Waterhouse (5)
Penalties: Waterhouse,