A lot happened on Saturday, starting with the Gold Cup Final followed by the Presentation night, so I have rolled it all into one post to avoid anyone missing anything.
GOLD CUP FINAL
Port were at full strength for the Gold Cup final with the return of captain Martin McDonagh and Scott Sampson being available to play.
Port’s opening goal came after just 30 seconds, when Mark Taylor passed to Connor Kelly, who put in a good cross from the left to the edge of the six-yard box, for Jordan BROWNE to turn his marker and direct the ball into the corner of the net.
Port then doubled their lead in the third minute of the game with a Mark TAYLOR strike from the edge of the penalty area.
W&B then started to come back into the game, and reduced the deficit to one in the 17th minutes, when the ball hit the post to be bundled in by John BILTON.
The Island league side then came close to equalising, after Josh Appell found himself free in the penalty area, only to shoot weakly at Gary Streeter.
However, it was then all one way traffic for Port. First, Joe Craig forced a double save from Gareth True in the W&B goal. Then Connor Kelly had a shot parried by True. However, in the 34th minute, Ryan Hughes floated a free kick into the penalty area for Mark TAYLOR to direct the ball into the corner of the net.
A minute before half-time, Connor KELLY tapped in a Joe Craig cross from a few yards out, to
make the score 4-1 to Port.
Then, in first half stoppage time, Lewis WRIGHT got Port’s fifth with a glancing header from a
corner.
Half time: Newport IW 5-1 Whitecoroft & Barton
The second half began in much the same way as the first when, just two minutes after the restart, Connor KELLY sent a magnificent left-footed curling strike into the W& B goal.
At six-one up, Port then seemed to take their foot of the gas. Substitute, Jared Cousins had a good chance to get Port’s seventh towards the end, but had his shot stopped by True in a one-on-one situation. Finally, defender Neo Lamb found himself unlucky not to get on the scoresheet with two minutes to go, when he curled a shot a few inches wide of the left-hand post.
Final Score: Newport IW 6-1 Whitecoroft & Barton
Goals: Newport: Browne 1; Taylor 3, 34; Kelly 43, 47, Wright 45 W & B Bilton 17
Newport: Streeter, Hughes, Lamb, Barron, McDonagh, Sampson, Kelly (Cousins), Wright
(Powell), Craig, Browne (Wetherick), Taylor
Referee: Liam White
Man-of-the-match: Connor Kelly
PRESENTATION NIGHT
The winners of awards for the 2018/19 season are as follows:-
MANAGERS PLAYER – NEO LAMB
PLAYERS PLAYER – MARTIN MCDONAGH
YOUNG PLAYER – NEO LAMB
SUPPORTERS PLAYER – RYAN HUGHES
TOP GOALSCORER – JORDAN BROWNE
THE HILTON BUNDAY AWARD – THE 1ST TEAM MANAGEMENT
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR – ARTHUR DOWNER
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT – DEAN HODGES