Newton started brightly and created an opening inside two minutes when Flynn Bickerstaffe advanced down the right and crossed towards Rio Gill, whose effort went wide.

Charlie Eden then tested the goalkeeper from a free-kick after Joe Charleston was brought down on the edge of the box, before Whaley Bridge threatened at the other end. A corner found an attacker in space inside the area, but Harry Ball reacted well to tip the resulting effort over the bar.

Newton continued to find openings. Owen Walker fired over after combining with Tom Little, while Gill showed good strength to turn his defender and drive into the box before sending an effort wide with the outside of his right foot.

Whaley Bridge took the lead on 29 minutes. A long ball forward did not carry as expected and, with Ball coming from his goal, the visiting attacker reached it first before finishing well from an angle into the empty net.

Newton then found themselves temporarily reduced to ten men when Jake Ball was shown a yellow card for dissent and sent to the sin bin.

Despite that setback, the hosts found an equaliser just before half-time. Eden floated a free-kick into the box and Ball, back on the pitch after serving his ten minutes, rose highest to head beyond the goalkeeper and send Newton into the break level.

The opening stages of the second half were fairly even, but Newton gradually began to take greater control of the game.

As the half wore on, they started to move the ball with more confidence, passing it around well and building attacks patiently as Whaley Bridge were forced deeper.

One of Newton’s best moves came on 70 minutes when Walker and Anthony Plant combined well inside the area. Plant laid the ball back into Walker’s path, but the goalkeeper produced a good save to tip his effort over.

The pressure eventually told eight minutes later. Dan Hankinson tried his luck from outside the box and, although the goalkeeper appeared to have the shot covered, he misjudged the flight and could only parry the ball into the net.

Newton had strong appeals for a penalty shortly afterwards when Hankinson released Alex Barron into the box, but the referee waved play on after the Whaley Bridge defender challenged.

The hosts continued to push rather than simply protect the lead. Gill drove into the area before dragging a shot wide, while Hankinson went close after finding space down the right and firing across the face of goal.

There was still time for one final Newton chance in stoppage time as James Bateman played Gill through, but his left-footed effort went wide.

Whaley Bridge had made Newton work hard for the points, but a composed and increasingly assured second-half performance saw the hosts complete the turnaround and claim a deserved 2–1 victory.

Captain Charlie Eden was named Player of the Match after another influential performance in midfield.