Guildford and Newport must meet again on Wednesday night to decide this tie. The second half was an ill tempered affair as passions rose. The pitch was soften by a squally shower at lunchtime but the match was played in sunshine and attracted a large crowd.
Guildford kicked off attacking the Shide end, into a 10 knots breeze and were the livelier team at the start. Gradually Newport came more into the game and their first shot came after 22 minutes from Jake Ballentyne, He drove in a low shot from the edge of the penalty area that keeper Luke Badiali needed two touches to control. Newport took the lead on 38 minutes when Charlie Urry collected the ball on the right, took it into the penalty area, rounded Luke Badiali and steered the ball into an empty net.
The first half had been evenly contested with Gary Streeter producing a good save as the ball bobbled around the penalty area.
Half Time: Newport 1 Guildford City 0
Within a minute of the restart an innocuous shot from Louie Downey slipped under Gary Streeter and only quick intervention from Will Quigley prevented the ball from rolling across the line.
The equaliser on 50 minutes came from a corner. The ball was played to the far post where it was returned to Kieran Campbell to volley into the net from about fifteen yards.
The game was held up for five minutes for a fracas, involving most of the players during which the referee Paddy O’Reilly seemed to lose control, resulting in five players receiving yellow cards including Jake Ballentyne and Martin McDonough .
Guildford made a substitution bringing on Darryl Shaw for Martin Pinder. Gary Streeter produced two good saves when he stopped another volley from Kieron Campbell then smothering the rebound.
Darryl Shaw came on as Guildford’s first substitution and their second substitution saw Dan Stewart replaced by Kyen Nicholas.
Newport were awarded a penalty on 77 minutes when Charlie Urry was upended and Aiden Sainsbury placed the penalty beyond Luke Badiali’s reach.
However their lead was shortlived as Kyen Nicholas was allowed to run through the defence before blasting past Gary Streeter.
As Guildford continued to attack, Miguel Anderson shot over the bar from edge of penalty area. Gary Streeter was quickly off his line to thwart Kyen Nicholas as he again broke through the defence. With Guildford attacking, they left spaces at the back but Newport’s raids failed to produce any clear cut chances.
Charlie Urry limped off to be replaced by debutant Kyle Drew whilst Marlon Pinder was replaced by Josh Coke
In the final minutes Kyen Nelson was booked for preventing a free kick from being taken. A keenly contested match and the teams must meet again on Wednesday at Godalming to decide who meets Camberley Town or Blackfield in the next round.
Final Score Newport 2 Guildford City 2
NEWPORT: Gary Streeter, Mark Taylor, Will Quigley, Aiden Sainsbury, Martin McDonough,Spike Pearce,Josh Younie,Jake Ballentyne, Charlie Urry (Kyle Drew),Jared Wetherick, Matt Gane.
GUILDFORD CITY:Luke Badiali, Chris Tancock,Ben Franklin,Luke Beale,Nemo Adams,Louie Downey,Marlon Pinder (Josh Coke),Miguel Anderson,Kieron Campbell,Dan Stewart (Kyen Nicholas),Nethaniel Williams,
Referee: Paddy O’Reilly
Attendance 174
Newport Man of the Match: Charlie Urry