Vital Point For Newport But It's Defeat For Cowes Sports

Newport picked up a vital point in their Wessex League game on Saturday (29), while Cowes Sports managed some positives, despite another defeat.

Peter White writes.....

Deserved Draw For Newport

Newport’s resolve and fighting spirit came to the fore when the grabbed a priceless point from their trip to Division One promotion rival Romsey Town. The 2-2 draw kept the Island side in second place in the table, just two points behind leaders Bemerton Heath Harlequins, with a game in hand. 

Despite being without several of their top players, Newport stunned the home side by taking the lead in only the third minute through Jordan Browne. It was the first goal Romsey had conceded in more than 450 minutes of Wessex League football. 

But they gradually began to show their best form, and got back on terms a minute before half time. Despite losing Browne to injury early in the second period, The Port continued to battle, but all their efforts looked to be in vail when Romsey edged in front with less than 15 minutes remaining. However, they again showed great battling qualities, and snatched a deserved equaliser through Joe Craig.

Port Manager, Steve Brougham, said:

“It was a very good game, and in the end we did well to pick up a very useful point. I knew we might e up against in without Connor Kelly, Josh Younie and Aaron Burford, but I was really pleased with all the lads. It was a good game not to lose, but it was just a shame we conceded just before half time, because if we could have kept our lead then, I think we might have gone on and won it.

“But even when we went behind late on, we responded well, and it was a point gained, rather than two lost, as far as I’m concerned. When you have tough away games like this one, the key is not to get beaten. Other results also went for us, so we are still in second place, and right in the thick of it. If we can get a full squad for every game, I think we can go very close to promotion.”

Cowes Need ‘Change Of Luck’

Cowes Sports manager, Max Draper, was able to draw some positives from his side’s Premier League game at Shaftesbury, despite suffering a 3-0 defeat.

He saw his generally young team, which was again decimated by injuries, unavailability and Covid, give the mainland outfit plenty to think about before succumbing.

Now Max says all he wants is for the club’s luck to change for the better ‘sooner rather than later’.

He said:

“In the first half we played some good stuff and were well in the game. But some better decisions were needed by the lads in the two minutes leading up to half time, when we tried to play through Shaftesbury and got caught out. That was a massive learning curve for a young team, but going in at half time only one goal down I felt we were still well in the game.”

The Yachtsmen had a great chance to equalise shortly after the restart, but Ji Nash failed to convert.

Max added:

“I think that would have ignited the fire and led to a positive result for us. But they added a second on the break with a lucky deflection after a fantastic tackle from Henry West. Then they were given a very dubious penalty. Even their fans and players were laughing, but unfortunately it shows what you can get with a big scream these days!

“People will keep writing us off but we will keep plugging away. Sadly, we have lost another couple of players to injury and COVID for the week ahead. But we will be working hard as ever to get a result this weekend against the odds.”