Hardly Athletic finally got themselves a victory after defeating top of the table Pathetic Athletic in a tense game at Fenton Manor.
Hardly were without Dan Buxton, on Stoke duties at Kidsgrove, and injured Matt Carter but welcomed back influential keeper Joe Gordon and also blooded debutant Dan Hallam.
The game started with pressure from Hardly, showing no signs of a team that has been defeated in all six of the games so far this season, with one walkover victory on the board, and Cope and Newman both tested Pathetic's keeper early on.
With good passing and moving allowing Hardly to control the game they took the lead when Newman turned and smashed an effort from distance past the keeper to break the deadlock.
The league leaders showed there class though and immediately upped their game, levelling things up before the break.
The game was getting very physical and Pathetic's players were visibly frustrated at Hardly's performance and Newman added to their problems at the start of the second half when Cope tapped the kick off to the hitman, who blasted the ball into the net to restore the lead.
With the advantage restored Hardly sensed a first victory and added a third when Newman bagged his hat trick, again finding the net from distance to give Hardly some breathing space.
With a two goal advantage for the first time Hardly remained strong and composed and this led to the oppsoition imploding as they were reduced to four men when they had a man sent off for threatening behaviour. A strong tackle on Newman then led to a sin bin for another frustrated Pathetic player as the leaders were reduced to three men for the last few moments of the game.
The nerves were jangling at the end though after Pathetic grabbed a second, taking advantage of every Hardly player racing forward in search of a fourth, but, despite a late crude tackle on Cope causing problems for the skillful hitman, they saw the game out for the win and move to just three points off a promotion spot.