Newport were beaten at home by Alresford today after the Magpies turned on the style with a dominant first half display that left the home side reeling.
Newport fielded the same eleven that started against Bashley on Tuesday night and welcomed back Liam Triggs on the substitutes bench.
Newport started brightly and Ryan Thomas hit the Alresford crossbar inside the first minute. The Port continued to enjoy the opening stages and only a brave diving save by Kempson denied Connor Kelly as he was played through the Alresford defence.
That was to be the end of the Port’s dominance as Alresford worked themselves into the game and began to give Newport’s defence a torrid time. On 10minutes, Stephen Hall found himself unmarked in the Newport box and his shot hit the base of a Newport Post before Maloney was able to scramble the ball away. Alresford continued to press the Newport goal , a header from Cole was cleared off the line and a Sam Burt effort brought a point blank save from Gary Streeter. Inevitably the pressure told and on 17 minutes Tom Richards curled a 20 yard free kick over the wall to put Alresford ahead.
On 24 minutes Alresford doubled their lead when a cross was unfortunately diverted into his own goal by Keelan Sainsbury. At this point Alresford had the Port on the ropes and only two minutes later they had effectively put the game to bed when a mix up in the Newport defence allowed Sam Burt to slam home a third.
Newport then started to at least match Alresford but on 39 minutes Stephen Hall picked the ball up in midfield and ran at the Port , he beat several players before he got to the edge of the box where he curled the ball past Gary Streeter to make it 4-0. Newport had been far from their best but Alresford had been impressive in their build up and finishing.
Half Time: Newport 0 Alresford Town 4
Newport had obviously had a strong talking to at half time as they were fired up at the start of the second half. Jared Wetherick getting an early yellow card but on 57 minutes they got on the scoresheet when Connor Kelly burst clear of the Alresford defence, rounded the keeper and scored from a tight angle. Alresford almost scored straight away after Burt broke clear of the Newport defence but he put his shot wide.
On 61 minutes Newport scored from a corner when Jared Wetherick sidefooted in at the back post. Was there a way back into the game for Newport ? Andy Sampson brought on substitutes Darren Powell and Liam Triggs for Ryan Thomas and Josh Maloney followed by Tom McInnes for Aiden Sainsbury.
Newport continued to have the momentum with Wetherick and Butcher both going close but the Alresford defence were holding firm with blocks and tackles. On 84 minutes a skirmish erupted inside the Alresford penalty area following a corner, when the Alresford keeper took out his own centre back. The referee stopped the game and awarded a free kick to Alresford. Kempson, the Alresford goalkeeper received a yellow card for manhandling Tom McInnes in the aftermath.
On 87 minutes in a rare second half Alresford attack, after a goalmouth scramble the ball broke for Scott Munro to place it past Gary Streeter and effectively end the match.
Full Time: Newport 2 Alresford Town 5
Newport: Streeter, Newbold, K Sainsbury, Pearce (c), West, Thomas (Powell), Maloney (Triggs), A Sainsbury (McInnes), Wetherick, Kelly, Butcher Unused Subs: Wright, Harmer.
Alresford Town: Kempson, Richards (Ashton), Davies, Everett (Munro), McCartney, Fletcher, Cole, Mason, Sands, Hall, Burt (Blaxall). Unused Subs: Aldeano, Barnett
Referee: S McKee
Attendance 105