The Newport County vs Cheltenham Town match served up an entertaining four goal thriller in the sunshine of South Wales.
Newport County vs Cheltenham: Pre-Match
Rodney Parade showed that when Mother Nature is on its side, South Wales is the place to go for entertainment, and this is exactly what the Newport County vs Cheltenham match provided. The state of the pitch was the talk of the town all week long following the abandonment of the Barnet game last Saturday, but any fears were quickly put to rest in the sunshine after the ground-staff worked tirelessly overnight to make sure the pitch was playable.
First Half
Once again Newport fell behind early on. Asa Hall found space outside the penalty box and fired a shot into the bottom corner. However, Cheltenham’s lead lasted only seven minutes.
Cheltenham failed to clear a Newport corner, the ball ballooning high into the air. Inside a crowded box, Newport’s John Parkin managed to move himself into position and forced the ball over the line. The linesman gave the goal.
The match continued to go from end to end, with both sides playing attacking football and catching the other on the break. Cheltenham broke through Danny Wright following an offisde. Picking the ball up in midfield, Wright ran past the Newport defence and was brought down inside the box by defender Paul Bignot. Wright then stepped up to convert the penalty to put his side back in front.
But Cheltenham again fell to a quick reply and John Parkin scored his second goal of the game. The big target man managed to get on the end of a Dan Butler cross to tap home for 2-2.
Second Half
County started the second half well and Parkin almost got his hat-trick moments after the restart. Parkin was causing the opposition real problems with his physical presence in and around the penalty area. Time and time again he managed to hold off challenges and bring his teammates into play.
Soon after County went even closer when Jack Compton watched his free-kick hit the crossbar before Cheltenham forced Joe Day in the Newport goal into a string of saves.
Man of the Match Parkin was subbed ten minutes from time, receiving a standing ovation for his performance.
Boths sides went into the final stages looking for that killer goal. But despite both having chances in injury time neither side was able to break the deadlock. In the end a draw seemed the right result on the day.
Teams
Newport County
Day, Bignot, Butler, Turley, Bennett, Compton (Jackson 64), Labadie, Randall (Tozer 85), Grego-Cox, Parkin (Healey 80), Rigg. Subs: Bittner, Myrie-Williams, Green, Cameron.
Cheltenham Town
Griffiths, Barthram (Downes 73), Dickie, Parslow, O’Shaughnessy, Cranston, Rowe (Dayton 66), Pell, Hall, Waters (Smith 48), Wright. Subs: Munns, Kitscha, Arthur, Suliman
Referee: Carl Boyeson
Attendance: 2,656
