Neath 2 County 5

STRIKER Elliott Buchanan stole the show with a brilliant hat trick as Newport County came from a goal down to beat Neath 5-2 last night.

Chris Jones gave the Welsh Premier League side the lead on ten minutes but from then on County were the better side at The Gnoll.

After an equaliser from Sam Foley, Buchanan was the main man with three cracking goals to seal the win.

Both these sides were coming off the back of real batterings by Real Betis.

The Spanish La Liga stars cruised to a 3-0 win at Spytty Park on Wednesday before hammering Neath 8-0 the following night.

Neither the Exiles or the Eagles could match the Spaniards for flair, although Felino Jardim and Lee Trundle gave it a go last night.

As well as one-time County target Trundle, the home side contained familiar faces in Ian Hillier, Adie Harris and Kerry Morgan.

Of the three former County heroes, Morgan was the most impressive.

He gave Exiles right-back Paul Robson a tough time but his replacement Jardim was equally impressive at the other end.

With Scott Rogers, Tommy Doherty and Craig McAllister all sidelined by minor injuries and Gary Warren away with the British student team, this was pretty much County’s strongest starting XI.

Exiles boss Anthony Hudson started with Danny Potter in goal and a back four of Robson, Tom Miller, Ismail Yakubu and Lee Baker.

In midfield Jardim and Rose were out wide, with Guillaume Velez and ex-Northampton Town man Ryan Gilligan in the centre.

Up front Buchanan and Foley worked extremely well together, proving they could be a partnership to strike fear into the Kettering defence next Saturday if McAllister’s heel injury doesn’t heal in time..

After Jones’ neat strike found the bottom left hand corner of Potter’s goal on ten minutes it was the front pair at the other end who took centre stage.

Neath goalkeeper Lee Kendall, son of the late County custodian Mark, was immediately forced into a three successive saves from Velez, Buchanan and Jardim before Yakubu headed the resulting corner over the top.

Foley also fired over Kendall’s bar on 21 minutes but found his range two minutes later when he latched onto a Robson ball over the top and found the net with a beautifully executed chip.

Kendall then beat away a brilliant curling free-kick from Jardim and at the other end Potter saved well at close range from Morgan.

Five minutes before the break Buchanan got a deserved goal, beating Kendall with a controlled drive from 25 yards.

Both teams showed signs of fatigue in the second half but the match was enlivened by a stunning strike by Buchanan for his second goal – an almost Van Basten-like flying volley at the far post.

He completed his hat trick with a routine header from six yards out to give Hudson hope that he’s found the 20 goals a season striker to replace the much missed Craig Reid.

Sub Darren Preen got a late consolation for Neath with a great finish into the top corner of Potter’s net on 85 minutes.

And Miller put extra gloss on the scoreline for County in the last minute, the skipper tapping in after a mistake from Kendall.

Neath: Kendall (Nicholas, 90), Hillier (Rees, 64), Lewis, O’Leary, Collins (Fowler, 60), C.Jones, Trundle (T.Jones, 72), Morgan (Preen, 60), Edwards, Bowen, Harris.

Subs not used: Nicholas, Thomas, Cummings, Marsh, Whatley County: Potter, Robson, Baker, Miller, Velez, Yakubu, Rose (Johnson, 51), Gilligan, Buchanan, Foley (Gomez, 63), Jardim (Rodgers, 73).

Subs not used: Thompson, Hatswell, Greening, Matthews, Hughes, Newman Attendance: 380 Argus star man: Buchanan