Newport have advanced to 5th place in Wessex Division 1 after overcoming Verwood Town at Smallbrook on Tuesday evening, chalking up their 6th successive victory.
The game began with over half-an-hour delay due to Verwood Town missing their ferry.
The Port began the game slowly, restricting themselves to a couple of long-range efforts from Jacob Reynolds and Josh Younie that sailed high over the crossbar.
The County Town’s 1st good scoring opportunity came on the quarter hour mark, when Jordan Browne sent a good through ball to Connor Kelly, who had his effort saved by the Verwood keeper at the far post. 5 minutes later, Jordan Browne saw his shot bounce off the upright.
The 1st goal came in the 21st minute when a Joe Butcher strike was parried by the Verwood keeper only to fall into the path of Connor Kelly, who dispatched the ball into the back of the net from 5 yards (1-0).
2 minutes later, Kelly had a 2nd goal attempt stopped by the overworked Verwood keeper. However, the Dorset side then came close to equalizing when Newport’s Jacob Reynolds nearly scored an own goal which bounced off Leon Pitman’s crossbar.
The Port got their 2nd in the 27th minute when Ryan Oatley headed in a Josh Younie corner (2-0).
10 minutes later, centre forward Jordan Browne stretched to poke a Connor Kelly cross into the back of the Verwood net (3-0)
Half time: Newport IoW 3-0 Verwood Town
There was no respite for the Dorset side following the half time break. A minute after the restart, Connor Kelly latched onto a lose ball at the right post to bag his brace (4-0).
On the hour mark, Joe Craig smashed in a Joe Butcher pass from the middle of the penalty area (5-0).
2 minutes later, Craig came close to scoring his 2nd, but had 2 attempts blocked by the Verwood keeper.
To their credit, the Potters never let their heads drop and scored a consolation goal 15 minutes from full time through a 30-yard free kick from Cam Smith (5-1).
Full time: Newport IoW 5-1 Verwood Town
Newport IoW: Pitman, Younie, Oatley, Hancott (Sainsbury), Barron, Triggs, Kelly (Boyd-Kerr), Reynolds, Browne, Craig (Smith), Butcher (Lamb)
After the game, a satisfied Newport manager Steve Brougham said:
“I thought we played well, and our work rate was excellent. Verwood are not a bad side.”
Newport’s win leaves them 5th in the Division 1 table, 4 points behind leaders Downton with 3 games in hand. The Port have the highest points-per-game ratio in their league: 2.57.
