County back to square one (From South Wales Argus)

County back to square one

12:30pm Sunday 30th November 2008

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County 0 Bishop's Stortford 1

RENEWED hope turned to familiar despair for the Newport County faithful on Saturday as Bishop’s Stortford ensured the Exiles’ woeful home form continued.

Dean Holdsworth’s men have won only twice this season at the Newport Stadium, drawing two and losing on five occasions as the pressure has mounted on the rookie manager.

After a deserved draw at Havant, a shock win at Maidenhead and a comfortable rout of Andover, one assumed the Exiles would come into Saturday’s clash full of confidence.

Not only had Holdsworth’s men performed well with a thin squad for three matches running, but they had also seen a trio of new recruits arrive on Friday, all of whom on paper should improve the quality within the ranks.

But County seem incapable of performing at Spytty Park, no longer the fortress former boss Peter Beadle described at the start of 2008.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that the Exiles lost five of their final seven home fixtures last term, form that has gone from being a blip to a sustained handicap that sees County closer to the relegation zone than promotion this season.

The frustration in Saturday’s defeat was that it came against a side that almost turned up expecting to be beaten.

Without three points since the beginning of September and without a manager, Bishop’s Stortford were woeful in the first period, had County played with any sense of cohesion they’d have gone in at the interval with the game won.

But the Exiles never got out of first gear; almost all over the field they were poor. Steve Jenkins didn’t put a foot wrong at left-back and also provided the only apparent vocal presence on the field, while Craig Hughes was the pick of the attacking players.

Unfortunately the bad performances were easier to pinpoint, the likes of Danny Rose, Kevin Cooper, Rob Duffy, Craig Reid (for the first time) and even debutant Wayne Turk seeming to be lacking in belief more so than form.

In attacking situations, County routinely made bad decisions. Too often turning inside or playing the ball square rather than look to break quickly. They looked toothless.

The weather was difficult, biting cold and with a strong wind and once again the Exiles failed to play the conditions.

Newport Stadium is wide open to the elements and the weather always makes things difficult at this time of year. But how often do the visiting side cope better with the weather than County?

So many passes were over-hit, carried harmlessly out of play by the wind, reducing Duffy to a virtual spectator as ball after ball was hit nowhere near him.

Craig Hughes has performed admirably as a left-sided midfielder in the past four games, but on current form he should be starting up front. County’s lack of natural width makes them predictable at home; further reinforcement is clearly needed.

It didn’t take long for the suffering Exiles supporters to start expressing their frustration and it was easy to see why they were so miserable, freezing cold and with dire football being displayed. But this group of players really seem to have a fear factor about them at the moment, so it’s perhaps become a counterproductive vicious circle between fed-up fan and jittery player at present with so much frustration emanating from the terraces.

But at least there are still some voices to be heard. A season low attendance of 654 was disappointing even on a rugby afternoon, given County’s recent form and with three new faces in the squad.

Two, Aaron Cook and striker Josh-Klein Davies started on the bench, while Wayne Turk started in central midfield, an area where Nathan Davies was clearly missed.

County only created two decent opportunities in the first period, Hughes heading wide on 11 minutes, before executing a sharp turn and powerful effort which flew just over on the half hour.

Bishop’s Stortford were content to sit back and only produced long range efforts that were easily dealt with, other than when Peter Dean forced Glyn Thompson to save following a wrongly awarded corner.

Thompson was called upon again on the stroke of half time, Rose giving the ball away and allowing Danny Harris to burst clear, but the goalkeeper’s brave dash from goal denied him.

Frustrating times for County, Martyn Giles managing to pick up a one match suspension for receiving his fifth yellow card of the season despite never getting on the field, referee Stephen Daley taking exception to the way Giles addressed the linesman.

The second half started in similar fashion so Klein-Davies and Scott Armitage were introduced just past the hour with County ineffective, Paul Cochlin’s header their only noteworthy chance, former Tottenham goalkeeper Nicky Eyre tipping over spectacularly.

The visitors introduced their own substitute, forward Jason Mason, and with virtually his first touch he scored, latching onto Harris’ cross and slotting home after Cochlin failed to clear on 68 minutes.

County rallied briefly, Eyre saving Jenkins’ free kick and then fortuitously making a wonder stop from Hughes’ fine flick as the ball bounced off the goalkeeper’s backside and to safety from close range.

Ashley Vickers missed the only other opportunity as County pressed for a leveller, heading wide from a Rose corner with nine minutes left, confirming Stortford’s first win in almost three months.

County: Thompson, Bignot, Jenkins, Turk, Vickers (Cook 83), Cochlin, Rose, Hughes, Duffy (Klein-Davies 63), Reid, Cooper (Armitage 64) Subs not used: Giles, James Booked: Giles (dissent, 26), Vickers (foul, 34), Hughes (foul, 42) Bishop’s Stortford: Eyre, Hopkins, Patterson, Champion, Goodacre, Jones, Green, H Dean, Forshaw (Hyem 71), Harris (Essandoh 69), P Dean (Mason 65) Subs not used: Wixon, Hasler Booked: Hopkins (foul, 43), P Dean (foul, 56), H Dean (foul, 86) Referee: Stephen Daly (Staines) Attendance: 654 Argus star man: Steve Jenkins

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