Newport Stadium Saturday, April 2nd, 2005   Conference South Attendance: 631         Newport County 1-1 Havant & Waterlooville
2004 /05

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Newport County 1 Havant & Waterlooville 1 Newport County Bowen (36) Havant & Waterlooville Taylor (6) Att: 631 Havant and Waterlooville fought out a tough 1-1 draw with relegation threatened Newport County at Spytty Park this afternoon. James Taylor gave the visitors an early 6th minute lead when he angled home Brett Poate’s header off a Jamie Collins corner, but the Exiles doggedly pursued their guests after a sluggish start. Jason Bowen levelled the score after a clever string of passes in the 36th minute and from then on the Hawks were forced into second place in a contest Newport will curse not having won. David Town returned to the bench for the Hawks in a side unchanged from the team that beat Carshalton on Monday. Newport Captain Darren Jones fired wide from a threatening free kick with less than two minutes on the clock, but James Taylor’s deflected response won the Hawks a corner at the other end. Jamie Collins swung the ball across the box and after the Exiles failed to clear, Brett Poate headed it back via Peter Fear for Taylor to angle the ball in on the volley amid static orange shirts. Nick Harrhy missed a chance to equalise when fed well by Chris Taylor, leading to County’s first corner head high over the bar by Scott Morgan. Newport’s accurate long passes made them look threatening from the wings, but the Hawks defence were well in control of the front line. However a quickly taken throw put danger man Cortez Belle through, needing Gareth Howells to charge forward for a dramatic save. Bowen also corkscrewed a shot over the bar after Nathan Davies found him with a perfect pass. The Hosts followed with two corners, the second fired onto the bar by Taylor before Belle snuck through to force another save from Howells. The Hawks keeper then comfortably collected a free kick from Belle after a midfield tussle that saw Fear and Nathan Davies yellow carded. The Hawks started to lose their way late in the half with County’s battling giving the hosts the edge, but poor finishing continued to deny them until another string of swift passes ended with Bowen slamming home Antonio Corbisiero’s gentle knock down. The goal gave the side the impetus they needed to dominate the remainder of the half, with Howells doing well to push wide a good shot from Harrhy. Half-time: Newport County 1 Havant and Waterlooville 1 Robbie Pethick saw an early second half free kick saved before his clearance stopped a rifled shot from County’s Taylor with the Hawks still up against it. The rampant number 11 released another effort as the hosts mounted further attacks, and Howells daringly sprinted ten yards out of his area to clear when Corbisiero put Belle through. Super Jim though forced a save from Exiles keeper Nathan Vaughan and Dean Holdsworth followed with a chance shot from the edge of the box that drifted wide. The other Taylor played a fine overlap with Lee Phillips to unleash another excellent effort from a County corner, but the ball dipped too late and whistled over the bar. Super Jim made way for Town in the 65th minute, ending a three week period of injury for the striker. Howells did well to punch away Phillips’ curving cross before rising again to clear another deadly effort. Newport continued to look nothing like a relegation threatened side and Neil Champion did well to block Belle’s effort before Tom Jordan made an equally important last ditch clearance. The visitors finally got another shot on goal in the 78th minute when Holdsworth set up Town for an effort the striker placed too close to Vaughan. But County struck back immediately when Andrew Thomas head a corner from Taylor down and wide by inches. Michael Gordon’s arrival for Brett Poate in the 77th minute brought life to the Hawks’ right, leading to several good efforts from Town. But Taylor’s continued antagonism of the Hawks defence kept Newport in control until the end of the game. Newport Nathan Vaughan Lee Phillips Scott Morgan Nathan Davies Darren Jones Andrew Thomas Jason Bowen (Williams, 90) Antonio Corbisiero Cortez Belle Nick Harrhy Chris Taylor Substitutes Lloyd Grist Jamie Moralee Justin Tyrrell Ashley Williams Jeff Eckhardt Havant & Waterlooville Gareth Howells Neil Champion Jason Chewins Jamie Collins Tom Jordan Neil Sharp Peter Fear Robbie Pethick James Taylor (Town, 65) Dean Holdsworth Brett Poate (Gordon, 77) Substitutes David Town Michael Gordon Jamie Campbell Neil Davis Luke Byles