Tuesday night was never going to be an easy task for the Port, with Follands sitting just a point and 2 places behind. And so it proved, with Newport facing an immediate and unrelenting battle.
Follands first forced a fingertip save from Port keeper Gary Streeter in the opening minute following a Newport deflection. Port responded immediately with a corner knocked into the side netting by Spike Pearce. The game began as a full tempo, end-to-end battle with Follands striking straight at Streeter and Port striker Joe Butcher already making a nuisance of himself down the left within 5 minutes.
Follands continued to push, and whilst Newport were breaking when given the chance, consistent poor refereeing decisions for every niggle, knock, and 50:50 challenge were beginning to infuriate the travelling Island support.
Newport had a good chance on 19 minutes when Connor couldn’t quite connect with a high cross in front of goal, but things were looking more promising with some good link up play between Jordan Brown, Jacob Reynolds, and Joe Hancock. Liam Triggs and Spike Pearce were standing firm at the other end and breaking down Follands as they continued to attack.
With less than 10 minutes of the half remaining, Newport hearts were in their mouths following a goal mouth scramble which was eventually cleared and pushed out to Connor Kelly on the right. But it was Newport that finally got the break, Jordan Browne getting the better of his defender and knocking the ball home, in on off the post (0-1).
Half time: Folland Sports 0-1 Newport (IoW)
There was little to report in the 2nd half, other than a continued display of poor decision making from the referee, play acting and intimidation from the home side and a 64th minute equaliser for Follands from Ethan Anders (1-1).
Port defender Liam Triggs found himself sin-binned with less than 15 minutes to go. Newport dug deep however and stood resolute despite the adversity they were facing: a real testament to the strength of the Island side.
Final score: Folland Sports 1-1 Newport (IoW)
Newport (IoW): Streeter, Hughes, Hancock, Burford, Pearce, Kelly, Rayner, Browne (c), Reynolds, Butcher Subs: Wright, McCormack, Lamb, Harper
The draw leaves Newport in 2nd place in Wessex League 1 with 61 points from 27 games, 4 points behind leaders Bemerton but with a game in hand.
The Yachtsmen faced a strong Brockenhurst side lying in 3rd place in the Wessex Premier.
The Cowes side were also up against 1 of the leading scorers in the league – the formidable Silvano Obeng – who had already netted 32 goals in the season to date.
Disaster struck for the Yachtsmen as early as the 5th minute when Brockenhurst winger Kieran O’Donnell dispatched a low ball past an outstretched Ed Hatt into the far corner of the Cowes goal (0-1). A minute later, the Islanders had conceded again through Silvano Obeng, who expertly placed the ball between Hatt’s legs (0-2). Cowes could have been 3 down by the 10th minute but for a shot being cleared off the line.
At this point in the game, it appeared as if the Yachtsmen might lose by a cricket score. However, in the latter stages of the 1st half the home side rallied with Henry West striking the crossbar from a corner in the 29th minute before testing Brockenhurst keeper James Mayo with a further header soon after. The Islanders chances of making an unlikely comeback were dealt a bitter blow shortly before half time when potent attacking threat John McKie was forced to leave the pitch suffering from severe concussion after clashing with a Brockenhurst player to be replaced by Ji Nash.
Half Time: Cowes Sports 0-2 Brockenhurst
The Badgers continued from where they had left off in the 1st half with Kieran O’Donnell sending a low shot into the Cowes goal in the 50th minute that Henry West was just unable to keep out (0-3).
Manager Max Draper then threw on his substitutes with Darren Williams coming on for Jack Barsdell and Aedan Coode replacing Ewan Cranwell, but he was unable to change the course of the game. The Yachtsmen were lucky not to fall further behind when James Flux brought down a Badgers forward in the penalty area, but Ed Hatt easily kept out O’Donnell’s weak spot kick with his feet.
The game ended in predictable fashion with powerful Brockenhurst centre forward Obeng muscling his way through the Cowes penalty area before beating Ed Hatt in a 1-on-1 goal scoring opportunity (0-4).
Final score: Cowes Sports 0-4 Brockenhurst
Cowes Sports: Hatt, White, Mumford, West, Watson, Klux, Phillips (c), Cranwell (Coode), Bricknell, McKie (Nash), Barsdell (Williams) Subs unused: Adams, Nash
Defeat leaves Cowes in 16th place in the Wessex Premier with 30 points from 29 games.
