Newport FA Cup Dream Is Over

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It was a glorious afternoon for Newport’s first venture in the F.A.Cup 2nd Qualifying Round since 2003. There were two changes from the side that beat Alresford the previous week as Ryan Oatley came in for the injured Jon Holmes and Joe Rayner was on the bench as Alex Przepolewski was included in the starting line up.
In front of their biggest crowd since January 2005, the teams were led out by Newport St George’s Under 8 nitro team with Newport kicking off attacking the Shide end.
Newport survived early Salisbury pressure and when Iain Seabrook swung a free kick into the goalmouth after 11 minutes, Darren Powell saw his goalbound header deflected for a corner by a defender.
Salisbury took the lead on 16 minutes when a corner was played to Chris McPhee on the edge of the penalty area and before he could be closed down he drove it into the corner of the net. On 25 minutes Gary Streeter did well to tip a header from Chris McPhee over the bar.
Despite trailing Newport matched Salisbury and forced several corners.
Salisbury’s second goal on 32 minutes came from a quickly taken free kick. The ball was played right to Stuart Sinclair and his cross found Chris McPhee who headed into the corner of the net from about 10 yards. Four minutes later as Salisbury continued to attack, Dan Fitchett’s shot across the face of the goal narrowly went wide of the post.
Chris McPhee broke down the right only to see his goalbound shot cleared by Ollie Fleming for a corner. but from the corner the ball was played deep to the far post where amidst a melee of players, Jamie Whitescored the third from close range.
Half Time: Newport 0 Salisbury City 3

 
Jon McKie who had troubled the Salisbury defence was forced off through injury after 49 minutes to be replaced by Mark Augustus.
Gary Streeter was again called upon, pushing away a long range shot from Stuart Sinclair. At the other end a free kick from Iain Seabrook went across the face of the goal and Giancarlo Giancovich was inches away from tapping the ball home.
An error in the Newport defence allowed Dan Fitchett to fire in a shot from 25 yards that struck the crossbar and bounced down before being scrambled clear. Salisbury had the ball in the net through James Clarke on 63 minutes but he was ruled offside.
Both teams made substitutions on 65 minutes, Newport brought on Joe Rayner for Iain Seabrook and Salisbury replaced Jamie White with Robert Matthews. Five minutes later both teams again made simultaneous substitutions. For Newport James Butt replaced Tom McInnes whilst Salisbury brought on Chris Giles for Matthew Clark.
Salisbury’s Robert Matthews struck the post from close range on 74 minutes when a goal looked inevitable. A break by Newport ended when Willem Puddy managed to snatch the ball from the feet of Mark Augustus.
Salisbury’s last substitution saw Garyn Preen take over from Theo Lewis as they wound down the clock.
The match finished without a booking for either side. To Newport’s credit they didn’t capitulate in the second half, without doubt due to the excellent performance from Gary Streeter. With the F.A.Cup dream over, Newport can now focus on the league. However the match against Blackfield & Langley scheduled for October 6th will need to be rearranged as Blackfield will be involved in the F.A.Cup on that date.
Final Score: Newport 0 Salisbury City 3

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