A PENALTY from Mickey Demetriou, a poacher's goal from Padraig Amond and two Jamille Matt headers saw Newport County AFC fight back from 2-0 down to beat Cambridge United 4-2 yesterday. Here are the talking points...
Matt changed the game
Michael Flynn admitted as much afterwards but was the striker’s introduction on 39 minutes a tactical masterstroke from the boss or should Matt have started the match in the first place?
After a brace in midweek the 6ft target man was unfortunate to be back on the bench but he may still have been feeling the effects of an ankle injury that has hampered him for weeks.
He certainly made an impact when he replaced Josh Sheehan. Padraig Amond and Antoine Semenyo were struggling against the Cambridge defence until Matt provided more of a physical presence and they couldn’t handle him.
The former Blackpool man is now top scorer with six goals in all competitions and has to be in contention to start against Macclesfield on Tuesday.
Amond gets goal he deserves
It was nine games and six weeks without a goal for the Irishman before he poked home a deflected Dan Butler cross five minutes after the break to level the match.
Amond hadn’t found the net since he hit two goals in the Carabao Cup win at Cambridge on August 14 and he’ll be delighted to end what for him is a serious drought.
The amount of selfless work that he does for the team, exemplified by his goal-saving tackle in the County penalty area at Tranmere Rovers last week, means Amond’s place was never seriously under threat but the goal will hopefully give him the lift he needed.
Superb service from Butler
With Matty Dolan injured, Robbie Willmott suspended and Josh Sheehan withdrawn before half-time, the set-pieces mantle passed to Dan Butler and he didn’t disappoint.
His inviting free-kick was gratefully headed in by Matt for the fourth goal and that made it a hat-trick of assists for the left-back after his deflected cross was poked in by Amond and another centre was nodded home by Matt.
He may have been beaten too easily by Reggie Lambe for Cambridge’s second goal but it was a superb showing from Butler going forward.
Versatile Bennett a big asset
Scot Bennett is proving indispensable wherever he plays at the moment.
The 27-year-old started in midfield but then dropped into the back three when Mark O’Brien was forced off before being pushed further forward as Flynn changed things again.
He did a good no-nonsense job in both roles and the manager also revealed after the match that, with no goalkeeper on the bench, Bennett would have donned the gloves if anything had happened to Nick Townsend.
TABLE: @LincolnCity_FC made it eight wins from 10 games to stay three points clear of @NewportCounty, who moved back into second spot.
— Sky Bet League Two (@SkyBetLeagueTwo) September 29, 2018
Four points then separate third and 11th. pic.twitter.com/K6tGylySHA
Best start to a season in 67 years
Newport County have never gained more points than their current tally of 22 from their first 10 games in a Football League season.
The class of 2018 have matched the team of 1951, who eventually finished sixth in Division Three South, with seven wins, a draw and two defeats to start the campaign.
In that black-and-white pre-Elizabeth II era, County were managed by Wales international Fred Stansfield. Reg Parker and Beriah Moore were the main goal-getters and the club attracted crowds of up to 16,000 to Somerton Park.
County also earned the equivalent of 20 points from their opening 10 games in 1975, 1952, 1938 and 1926 but never more than the current total of 22.
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