Alresford Town 1 Newport (IOW) 6: ALRESFORD’S troubled season – and almost certainly their nine-year tenure in the Sydenhams Premier League – came to an end on Saturday at Arlebury Park and ended, like so many recent matches, in a heavy defeat.

The Magpies started brightly, but once Newport had got a grip their pace and vision moving forward was too much for a pedestrian Alresford back four.

The first goal came on the 15-minute mark when keeper John Howard made a poor clearance, leaving Newport with a two-on-one situation. Tom McInnes duly squared to Jimmi Burton, who tucked the ball away comfortably.

With Simon Everett and Tom Donaldson bright in midfield, the Magpies fought back. Eleven minutes later they equalised. Ben Dexter, chasing a long ball forward, was the beneficiary of a mix-up between Newport keeper Jamie Linnington and defender Will Quigley; Linnington’s attempted clearance was charged down by Dexter and bounced into the net.

Donaldson saw a shot tipped over, and Rian Jima-Otero dallied too long on the ball when a snap finish might have served him better as Alresford searched for a second. But their revival was ended by two quick goals. On 37 minutes McInnes, with his back to goal, laid the ball off for Joe Butcher to score with a neat finish, and four minutes before the break Burton claimed his second with a first-time shot after a raking diagonal ball from the right left him in the clear.

The home defence were in trouble, and although Howard made some good saves, he will have been disappointed when McInnes’ drive on 48 minutes bounced over his dive for Newport’s 48th-minute fourth goal.

On 56 minutes Liam Newbold’s rocket from outside the box made it 5-1. The visitors made it 6-1 on 79 minutes through Ryan Oatley, again from outside the penalty area, following Alresford’s failure to clear a corner.

The final analysis shows Alresford just one place off the bottom with just five wins and five draws from their 40-game league season – ten points adrift of Fawley in 18th place. Their goals-for total of 44 and goals-against total of 127 are the worst in the division. They picked up just one point from their last 15 league games.