Chasetown progressed to a home tie with Heath Hayes in the Staffordshire Senior Cup thanks to two second half goals in quick succession.
With no game again until November 24, manager Craig Harris picked a strong starting line-up, and within the first two minutes his side had a great chance to take the lead when Newcastle goalkeeper Dave Parton handled outside the penalty area and Mark Branch’s free kick was narrowly over the crossbar.
Newcastle responded with a Neville Thompson shot which came back off Mariusz Kisiel’s right hand post, before the Chasetown keeper held on well to a long range effort from Tom Francein in a first half short of clear goalscoring opportunities.
In front of a low crowd, Chasetown lost skipper Richard Teesdale through injury in the 71st minute – a landmark game for the defender, his 200th for the club.
But The Scholars finally broke the deadlock 15 minutes from time. Branch played a precise pass through to Theo Robinson, who took the ball round keeper Parton, only to be caught by the keeper. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot and promptly distributed a second yellow card to Parton, with Darren Twigg taking over between the posts.
Despite going the right way, Twigg was helpless to prevent Branch converting from the spot, for his fifth goal of the season.
Three minutes later, a great crossfield ball from substitute Paul Sullivan set Danny Smith free on the right, and his cross back into the box was headed goalwards by Sullivan, but Twigg saved well.
It only took Chasetown one minute longer to double their lead when Nick Wellecomme drove in a right-footed shot from outside the box which did take a slight deflection off team-mate Sullivan, though Wellecomme was credited with his tenth strike of the season.
Ten-man Newcastle had no response and Scholars fans and management were delighted that the victory came with only the club’s second clean sheet of the season, Kisiel’s first for the club.
Chasetown: Kisiel, Downes, Branch, Farmer, Bate, Teesdale (Bryan, 71 mins), Rickards (Sullivan, 63 mins), Saunders, Wellecomme (Westwood, 88 mins), Smith, Theo Robinson. Subs not used: Jackson, Gould.
Newcastle Town: Parton, Askey, Bayley (Probert, 85 mins), Moyo, Carter, Lowe, Gordon, Harrison, Thompson, Kenny (Twigg, 75 mins), France. Sub not used: Hughes.
Click below to see more of Dave Birt’s pictures from the game: