Harris Strikes Again In Another Late Show

   Stockport County 2 Newport County 2

                  Conference Premier

             Saturday, 11 February 2012

               Edgeley Park, Stockport
Despite the very real possibility of a trip to Wembley in the FA Trophy after the spectacular 4-0 demolition of Carshalton Athletic in midweek, Newport County were well aware that the most important match of the week, and quite possibly of the season, was the weekend relegation encounter against Stockport County at Edgeley Park.

Whilst the two teams came into the game in totally contrasting moods, this owed more to transfer activity than it did to recent form on the field, as both clubs having been showing evidence in recent weeks that they have sufficient quality to survive the drop.  On the pitch Newport, in addition to making the quarter finals of the FA Trophy, have also drawn at home to Forest Green Rovers and beaten Gateshead at the International Stadium after two late goals from Sam Foley and Jake Harris gave The Exiles an unlikely 3-2 victory.  Stockport have also shown similar signs of improvement with a 2-1 victory over high flying Kidderminster in their last league outing following on from draws against Telford and Braintree Town. 

The difference is that Newport County, after signing the likes of Lee Minshull, Ryan Charles and Andy Sandell, in addition to discovering what may be a special goalscoring talent in Jake Harris, have made themselves into a stronger, quicker outfit that is far more suited to Conference football than the side that entered into the January transfer window.  In contrast, Stockport have lost 4 of the 16 man squad that featured in the New Year’s Day victory against Barrow after manager Jim Gannon acknowledged that trimming the wage bill and securing the long term future of the club was more important than ensuring Conference survival.  Consequently, locally born goalkeeper Matt Glennon was released by the club on 31 January to the disappointment of many County fans, whilst former Irish under 19 international Sam Sheridan was sent out on a month’s loan to Southport, despite having made 20 appearances for Stockport.  Mark Lynch, Ryan McCann, John Miles, Chris Blackburn and Jon Routledge also left the club in January, leaving Jim Gannon with a smaller squad and perhaps a bit less quality than he had at the start of January.

As if the departure of seven players within a month was not enough, Lord Snape, the Stockport chairman, was forced to announce that Stockport would continue playing football in their home town.  This was because of the suggestion that Sale Sharks, a rugby club who effectively own Edgeley Park, are intending to move back to Salford, a decision that would force the departure of Stockport also. 

Despite these problems, the evidence of the first 30 minutes of the game would have suggested to neutral observers that it was Newport that had lost important players rather than Stockport.  One of the problems for the visitors was the change of personnel, with Ryan Charles returning after his suspension to replace Buchanan, who had scored twice in his previous two outings,  Jake Harris being left on the bench again despite having scored four times in his previous 100 minutes or so of football and Yakubu still suspended after his sending off against Forest Green.

The home side, after taking advantage of some poor away defending to net in the 8th minute through the first of two Danny Rowe goals, were able to dominate proceedings as Newport gave the ball away too easily, and Stockport might well have had more goals as the visitors struggled to deal with balls being played over the top of the defence.  However, despite creating a number of promising situations, Stockport were unable to get the crucial second goal and they were punished for this shortly after half time as Adam Sandell thundered home from 25 yards to add to his already blossoming reputation.

Much of the press coverage has claimed that Sandell turned from hero to villain in the 57th minute, as the left sided midfield was given a straight red card.  It was the 7th red card that Newport have received this season and therefore would appear to be an issue of discipline that desperately needs addressing.  However, more than one of the red card decisions have been extremely debatable and Sandell can consider himself extremely unlucky to receive a straight red for Referee Bond must have assumed was an elbow, though some elements of the press were suggesting that foul and abusive language was also involved.

As occurred after the sending off of Ryan Charles at Luton, Newport fell behind almost immediately after the sending off, as Danny Rowe claimed his second of the game with a free kick from the edge of the area.  This seemed to have cost Newport the match and is an issue that Justin Edinburgh will have to address.  If Newport are to successfully negotiate their way out of the relegation minefield, concentration is required for the full 90 minutes and focus must be maintained even in the midst of frustration and anger.

What will have pleased the manager though, is the way that the club have started to fight in recent games.  Seven days ago the Gateshead game appear to be lost as County went 2-0 down and yet they fought back to claim a critical win.  In similarly adverse conditions at Edgeley Park, they did it again.  On both occasions the hero was Jake Harris, a 21 year old striker who was signed from Weston-super-Mare in June last year. 

 

 

Jake Harris (photo courtesy of Sam Shingler) has been a revelation in his substitution appearances for County this season, scoring late winners at Worksop and Gateshead, and now getting a crucial late equaliser at Stockport County.

 

 

Despite having elected to change the forward line for this crucial encounter, Justin Edinburgh left Harris on the bench again.  However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the manager to keep the Englishman out of the team and Harris is highly likely to feature again in some capacity for another critical match against Bath at Spytty Park on Tuesday.

	Conference Premier (Bottom)	Pl	D	Pts
16	Lincoln City	31	-14	30
17	Stockport County	33	-18	29
18	Darlington	31	-7	28
19	AFC Telford	31	-16	28
20	Kettering Town	31	-36	28
21	Newport County	30	-9	27
22	Alfreton Town	31	-29	25
23	Hayes & Yeading	31	-24	24
24	Bath City	30	-33	18

The draw was of much more value to Newport than it was to Stockport, as could be gauged by the reaction of the fans at the full time whistle.  Newport, as the table above shows, are within a point of moving out of the bottom 4 and they have a game in hand on all the teams around them.  With a home game against Bath City coming up on Tuesday night, weather permitting, there is real expectation that the club will move out of the relegation zone and survive.

Stockport County, on the other hand, will feel that this was a game that they should have won.  Although the club have moved up a couple of places to 17th in the league, they are only two points away from the drop zone, clubs beneath them all have have a couple of games in hand, and some key players are no longer with the club.  However, this result does represent a fourth consecutive league game without defeat and Stockport will be fully aware that the financial plight of both Darlington and Kettering is considerably worse than their own.  It may just be that this will be the difference between survival and relegation.

 

Sublime Swans Subdue Arsenal

        Swansea City 3 Arsenal 2
                Premier League
          Sunday, 15 January 2012
        Liberty Stadium, Swansea

A magnificent performance, coupled with a questionable refereeing decision and a crucial error by Welsh captain Aaron Ramsay, enabled Swansea City to secure back-to-back wins for the first time in the Premiership.  Whilst Arsenal were always a threat in the final third of the field, the control which Swansea established in the first half and the menace that they themselves produced in goal, was enough to merit the full three points, a result which lifts the Swans into the top half of the table and, more significantly, nine points clear of the increasingly distant drop zone.

	Premier League	Pl	D	Pts
1	Manchester City	20	40	48
2	Manchester United	21	32	48
3	Tottenham Hotspur	21	18	46
4	Chelsea	21	15	40
5	Arsenal	21	7	36
6	Newcastle United	21	5	36
7	Liverpool	21	6	35
8	Stoke City	21	-9	30
9	Norwich City	21	-4	28
10	Swansea City	21	-2	26
11	Everton	21	-4	25
12	Sunderland	21	3	24
13	Aston Villa	21	-4	24
14	Fulham	21	-6	23
15	West Bromwich Albion	21	-10	22
16	Wolverhampton Wanderers	21	-14	18
17	Blackburn Rovers	21	-12	17
18	Queens Park Rangers	21	-17	17
19	Bolton Wanderers	21	-21	16
20	Wigan Athletic	20	-23	15

Whilst Swansea showed their determination to progress in the FA Cup last weekend by playing a strong side, they still rested four key players in Michel Michel Vorm, Steven Caulker, Joe Allen and Scott Sinclair.  However, all four were back in the starting eleven for the visit of an Arsenal side that have been in such magnificent form that the crises stories circulating in the early part of the season are but a distant memory.  Needing the points themselves to try and break into the Champions League places, Arsene Wenger resisted the temptation to give a starting place to Thierry Henry after the Frenchmen booked Arsenal’s place in the 4th Round of the FA Cup with the winner against Leeds on his return to the club.

However, it was a Russian and a Dutchman who were the first to stamp their mark on the game.  Arshavin put Van Persie behind the home defence with one of his trademark through balls and the striker, who was the top Premier League scorer in 2011, made no mistake, beating Vorm at his near post from a tight angle.

This was the worst possible start for Swansea and immediately raised questions about whether they would be able to cope with Arsenal’s style of play.  Whilst the Swans have been able to outpass the majority of teams in the Premier League, especially at home, their visitors on a cold January afternoon have been one of the best exponents of the intricate passing game for over a decade. 

It would have been easy to write Swansea off at this point.  However, signs of the attacking threat that City themselves possessed were manifest from the early stages.  In the 10th minute, a cushioned header from the imperious Joe Allen released Sinclair, who was able to run half of the length of the pitch largely unopposed.  With the situation crying out for a delicate through ball behind the defender, Sinclair played the ball straight through to Szczesny in the Arsenal goal.

Within five minutes though, Swansea were level after referee Michael Oliver awarded the home side a controversial penalty.  As Dyer twisted and turned in the penalty area, Ramsay initially appeared to trip the winger.  Closer scrutinisation, however, revealed that the Welshman had not actually made contact with Dyer.  Sinclair stepped up to take the spot kick and made no mistake, confidently striking the ball past Szczesny into the bottom right hand corner of the goal.

Whilst much has been made of the aesthetic beauty of their passing game, less is said about the incredible work rate within the team.  The commitment to win the ball back starts from the very front, with Danny Graham frequently pressing space and preventing defenders from having time on the ball.  The midfield also work tirelessly to ensure that the back four do not get exposed, one of main factors behind Swansea’s impressively tight defense this season. 

Another noticeable trait among the team is their unwillingness to make tackles where they are unlikely to win the ball.  Most Premiership players, when challenging for balls that the opponent is more likely to win, tend to commit themselves to the challenge and get themselves yellow carded or, worse still, lose out in the tackle and find themselves on the floor and out of position.  Swansea’s midfielders, in contrast, noticeably do not make challenges in such situations, but rather ensure that they are in position to close down defensively when their opponents get the ball.

The home side, having got level, began to control the game as they passed the ball around so quickly and neatly that Arsenal could not get the ball.  It was from a crisp Dyer pass that Swansea’s next chance arrived.  Little had been made of a corner and Joe Allen was struggling to retain possession under immense pressure.  The midfielder managed to get the ball back to Dyer, who fizzed a pass straight through the Arsenal defence to an unmarked Sinclair on the left side of the penalty area.  With time and opportunity to pick out an onrushing forward, the winger somehow scooped the ball over everybody.

On the half hour mark, Swansea should have been behind.  A tendency to over elaborate in defence left Ashley Williams totally out of position as the home side dangerously conceded possession inside their own half.  Van Persie moved into the space Williams had departed and was found with acres of space.  With a second Arsenal looking a certainty, the forward struck his shot to close to his fellow countryman in goal, Vorm coming out of his goal and making yet another fine save to add to the long list of merits he has accumulated already this season.

Chances were few and far between in the latter stages of the first half, but the game came to life again early in the second period as both sides created decent chances.  Arsenal’s chance came when a cross from Miquel was allowed to go straight across the 6 yard line as van Persie vainly tried to reach it, whilst Swansea came close as Dyer cut inside his marker on the edge of the box and fired in a shot that went just wide of the right hand post.

Swansea were ahead soon afterwards though.  Ramsay, who had already given away a penalty on his return to South Wales, however unfortunately, was caught in possession by Joe Allen, who then ran centrally at the Arsenal defence before releasing Dyer on the right hand side of the box.  Despite a slightly clumsy first touch, the Barclay’s Man of the Match retained his composure to beat the keeper.

One of the reasons why sides such as Arsenal have been so successful is that when they behind, they start creating chances and frequently turn defeats into victories.  This looked decidedly possible again at the Liberty Stadium when, having shown little evidence of getting back into the game, Djourou suddenly put Walcott behind the home defense, as the England midfielder gained an inside line on the otherwise impressive Swansea left back Neil Taylor.  The line of the run gave Taylor no chance of recovering his ground and Walcott was able to lob the outcoming Vorm to put the Gunners level.

The away fans were still celebrating the goal when almost exactly the same happened at the other end of the field.  This time it was Sigurdsson who placed a perfectly weighted ball behind Koscielny for the ever alert Danny Graham.  From a tight angle, he hit the perfect shot across the keeper into the far corner. Despite a significant amount of late Arsenal pressure and one or two nervy moments, Graham’s goal was enough to give Swansea a victory which lifts them into 10th place in the Premiership with 26 points, just 14 short of the magic target of 40 that normally guarantees Premiership survival.  On this evidence, it would appear to be only a matter of time until Swansea make it.

Congratulations to the 7% of voters who were brave enough to back a Swansea victory last week. You have been fully vindicated.

Red Card Decision Costs County Dear

 

Luton Town 2-0 Newport County 

     Saturday, 7 January 2012

      Kenilworth Road, Luton

Referee Karl Evans unintentionally made himself the centre of attention at Kenilworth Road on Saturday afternoon when his controversial decision to send off County debutant Ryan Charles for a two footed challenge on Dan Gleeson, who was substituted shortly afterwards, proved to be the turning point of the game.

With new signings Ryan Charles and Andy Sandell both finding themselves drafted straight into the starting line up, the return of Sam Foley after suspension and the return of 30 year old goalkeeper Glyn Thompson in place of the transfer listed Danny Potter, Newport’s side had a considerably different composition to the side that had performed so poorly at Bath City a few days earlier.  The fresh faces were instrumental in helping to provide the kind of commitment that had been so desperately lacking four days earlier and the net result was a much more competitive County side that restricted Luton to only a couple of half chances in the first half hour of the game.

Despite the encouraging performance, one issue which Tim Thraves picked up on in his commentary, which Justin Edinburgh will need to address, was the tendency for Newport’s back four to retreat when the Luton forwards ran at them.  On occasion this allowed the home side far too much space and time in dangerous positions on the field.  One such example was when Alex Lawless was given far too much room on the left hand edge of the penalty box. As the County players finally tried to close down the space, Lawless deftly dropped his right shoulder and, flicking the ball with his left foot, suddenly discovered that he had taken both Newport players out of the game. 

This issue aside though, County remained fairly comfortable until the 32nd minute when Ryan Charles, in attempting to recover a ball that he had kicked too far in front of him, launched into a tackle with both feet off the ground.  Whilst the studs were faced down and neither leg got particularly far off the ground, referees have been instructed to issue red cards for such dangerous tackles this season.  Although Justin Edinburgh deemed the decision to be harsh, County player Nat Jarvis indicated that the red card was deserved given the nature of the tackle.  Such differing opinions, even within the Newport camp, demonstrate the difficulty referees have in making these borderline judgment calls.

Ryan Charles sees red on his debut after a two footed challenge on Dan Gleeson (photograph courtesy of Sam Shingler)

The impact of the sending off was immediately apparent as Luton were ahead within two minutes.  A relatively short and innocuous looking corner was met by Aaron O’Connor on the near post, though quite some distance away from goal, and his header looped into the far corner of the goal.  With only 10 men on the field and a player down, County had to dig deep in order to stay in the game. However, that crucial three minute spell in the first half effectively determined the outcome of the game, even though it took Luton until the 66th minute to make the game safe as Danny Crow buried a Greg Taylor cross into the bottom right hand corner of the goal.

Whilst Newport County, despite the improved performance, failed once again to pick up any points in what was their fourth consecutive league defeat, the club are somehow managing to stay out of the relegation zone.  An example of the dramatic changes that can take place in football comes from the changing fortunes experienced by Newport during the 90 minutes of football on Saturday.  During the middle of the first half, the projected league table showed County dropping to 23rd in the league, with only Bath City beneath them, as Kettering were leading at Telford and Hayes lead at Kiddeminster.  Stockport were moving further ahead of Newport as they were drawing at Gateshead and even Bath were closing the gap as they lead 1-0 at home to Braintree. 

However by full time Kettering’s weak defence had let them down again as Telford ran in 3 goals, Stockport conceded a couple to Gateshead and late goals for Kidderminster against Hayes and Braintree at Bath meant that the overall outcome from the day’s results was positive for Newport.  With Justin Edinburgh hoping to make an additional three signings before the end of the month and the announcement this morning that Robbie Matthews would be leaving Newport for Salisbury, changes continue unabated at Spytty Park and there is rising confidence that Newport will survive, despite the lack of evidence from the results.

Conference Premier League (Bottom)

16	Darlington	28	-5	27
17	AFC Telford	28	-13	27
18	Lincoln City	28	-15	26
19	Stockport County	28	-18	23
20	Newport County	27	-10	22
21	Alfreton Town	28	-29	22
22	Kettering Town	28	-35	22
23	Hayes & Yeading	27	-21	21
24	Bath City	27	-22	18

Before their next engagement with Bath City on 17 January though, Newport have what might be the unwelcome distraction of an FA Trophy match at Worksop.  Justin Edinburgh is likely to see this as a chance to try and build some confidence into the team and to try out different tactics with his new look team, though Ryan Charles will of course be missing after his sending off.

With all six Welsh teams playing at the weekend, why not use the poll on the left to predict which sides will win.  Is there anybody out there who thinks an impressive Swansea side can overcome Arsenal?

Newcastle The Lure As Dragons Earn Replay

FA Cup 4th Round
Brighton & Hove Albion/Wrexham	v	Newcastle United
Sunderland	v	Middlesbrough
Dagenham/Southampton	v	Millwall
Hull City	v	Crawley Town
MK Dons/Queens Park Rangers	v	Chelsea
West Bromwich Albion	v	Norwich City
Blackpool	v	Sheffield Wednesday
Arsenal/Leeds United	v	Aston Villa
Stevenage	v	Notts County
Watford	v	Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool	v	Manchester United
Derby County	v	Stoke City
Everton	v	Fulham
Macclesfield/Bolton	v	Swansea City
Sheffield United	v	Birmingham City/Wolves
Nottingham Forest/Leicester City	v	Swindon Town

Wrexham are now the sole non league survivors in this year’s FA Cup after they followed up their heroic efforts at Brentford in the 2nd Round with an even better performance to earn the Dragons a replay against Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion.  Whilst Wrexham were continuing their remarkable recent run of form with a 1-1 draw at the Falmer Stadium (currently known as the American Express Community Stadium), conference promotion rivals Fleetwood Town were being thrashed by local rivals Blackpool and Tamworth and Salisbury were being eliminated by Everton and Sheffield United respectively, despite hugely creditable performances.

A remarkable 2,029 fans making the journey from North Wales down to the south coast for the encounter, which even beat the official number of 1,801 Dragons fans (there were a few more reportedly in the home stands) that made the short journey to Telford for the Boxing Day encounter.  With a bumper attendance of nearly 6,000 at the Racecourse Ground sandwiched in between these away trips for the New Year’s Day encounter with Telford, the financial situation at Wrexham is undoubtedly looking considerably brighter.  It will be boosted yet further should Wrexham manage to beat Brighton in the replay after the winners of the tie were given a home draw against Newcastle United.

Home advantage in front of a vociferous and partisan crowd will give Wrexham a chance of producing what would arguably the biggest upset in the FA Cup this season.  However, much may also depend upon the team selection of Brighton manager Gus Poyet, who has threatened to play an entire second team in the replay.  Whilst Brighton fielded a strong team for the tie on Saturday, there were still six changes, including two debutants, from the side that had beaten Southampton a few days earlier.  Wrexham, in contrast, made only one change from the team that comprehensively beat Telford and that was an enforced one. With Danny Wright still not having recovered from injury, player-manager Andy Morrell came in to lead the forward line as a direct replacement for Mathias Pogba (pictured below), who was forced to miss the game with an ankle injury.

Illustration of Wrexham forward Mathias Pogba, courtesy of Tim Bye (please see Tim Bye Caricatures link for more of his work)

In cup ties such as this, where the club from the lower division is playing away from home, it is often important that the minnows start well and score first.  However, an error by Wrexham goalkeeper Joslain Mayebi nearly handed Brighton the advantage in the opening exchanges.  Lua Lua was unable to make the most of the opportunity though and Wrexham slowly eased their way into the game.

In an open game, Wrexham were able to create a few opportunities of their own, with Speight in particular causing problems for the Brighton defence.  However, having successfully reached half time with the scores level, Wrexham then conceded almost immediately after the break as Forster-Caskey netted from a Lua Lua cross.  Despite the setback though, Wrexham fought their way back into the game, securing a replay through Adrian Cieslewicz’s 62nd minute equaliser.

Whilst the Wrexham fans now bask in the glory of their relative success against Brighton, and the possibility of playing an even weaker Albion team next week, Fleetwood will turn their attention to overhauling Wrexham at the summit of the conference.  Town play at home to Barrow on Tuesday evening knowing that a win will take them to the summit of the Conference, whilst Wrexham have to wait until Saturday before they play away at Tamworth.  With Newcastle potentially waiting for them in Round 4 and an impervious defence that even Championship sides are struggling to break down, Wrexham will be confidence that any ascendency gained by Fleetwood will be short lived.

How do you think Wrexham will fair against Tamworth on Saturday.  Vote for the Welsh teams you think will win on the poll to the left of this post.