It was double celebrations at St George’s Park today as firstly there was a presentation to Darren Powell for achieving 500 appearances for the club then Newport secured their first home win of the season against second place Sholing.
Prior to the match both teams formed a guard of honour as Darren Powell was presented with an award to commemorate becoming only the fourth Newport player to play 500 matches for the club.
Newport kicked off attacking the allotment end.
The first chance fell to Sholing within three minutes when they were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Kevin Brewster’s kick cleared the defence but dipped and struck the crossbar.
Newport applied early pressure to the Sholing goal and twice within a minute, Joe Butcher fired over the crossbar.
The first half was end to end but neither team was able to create any positive chances. Newport were having trouble defending as Sholing were crowding out Gary Streeter at corners, but a goalless half was a fair reflection of play.
Half Time: Newport 0 Sholing 0
Newport started the second half keenly with Liam Newbold having a shot blocked then Darren Powell latched on to the loose ball but his shot was also blocked by Marvin McLean. Newport made a substitution within a couple of minutes of the restart when Connor Kelly replaced Keelan Sainsbury.
Sholing made their first substitution on 70 minutes when Zac Mouland replaced Barry Mason. Newport then replaced Tom McInnes with Jared Wetherick playing his first match since re signing from Cowes. Within a couple of minutes, the substitution had played dividends as he started a move in the middle before playing it out to the left and then when the cross came in to the goal area he headed into the net from close range for the only goal of the match.
Another player who has recently re signed for the club, Ryan Thomas then came on for Joe Butcher.
Sholing pushed forward in search of the equaliser and Gary Streeter produced as fine low save from Lee Wort then blocked the rebound. A free kick from Kevin Brewster from about 25 yards was headed on to the crossbar by Byron Mason. This was the last action for Kevin Brewster who was substituted by Nick Yeomans.
Ryan Thomas showed his potential with a 25 yard shot that was tipped over by Ryan Gosney. Newport were able to see the match out and earn their first home win moving up to tenth in the league.
NEWPORT : Gary Streeter ,Liam Newbold , Keelan Sainsbury (Connor Kelly) , Spike Pearce ,Martin McDonough ,Scott Sampson ,Darren Powell,Liam Triggs , Tom McInnes (Jared Wetherick) , Aidan Sainsbury, Joe Butcher (Ryan Thomas).
SHOLING: Ryan Gosney, Corey Cherrett, Marvin McLean, Owen Randall, Dan Miller, Kevin Brewster (Nick Yeomans),Barry Mason (Zac Mouland), Byron Mason, Dan Mason, Lee Wort, Jamie Bulpitt.
Referee: Anthony Smith Attendance 103