Newport City 0 – 3 Undy AFC

Newport City’s poor run of form continued as Undy avenged their Welsh Cup defeat against the Steelmen. With the game played in Baltic conditions, City were outfought in their latest league encounter against the Tigers.

The visitors dominated the opening stages; and came close to scoring on a number of occasions. Oliver Smith almost fired Undy ahead, as he sent two individual close-range strikes over the bar. Sam Broadribb struck an effort into the side netting, while Gareth Cullimore glanced a header from a couple of yards inches wide over the bar.

City eventually weathered the storm; and started to manage the game better. Gareth Hole came close to putting the Steelmen in front, as he fired a couple of individual threatening strikes over the bar. City continued to pressurise and came close again when a cross into the area by Hole was connected by Kareem Leigh, whose overhead kick drifted narrowly wide past the left post. A breakaway move also presented a good opportunity for Spencer Wood, whose strike from edge of area flew over the bar.

The visitors however responded strongly; and regained the upper hand during the reminder of the first half. Undy almost punished the Steelmen when Bradley Hanbury forced City keeper Tsvetan Pateev into a big save following a header from point blank range. City’s luck however ran out in the 39th minute when they fell behind. The goal came following a corner delivery by Broadribb, leading to Christopher Parry powerfully heading into the top right hand corner. Undy came very close to immediately doubling their lead just a minute later. Hanbury managed to race past Pateev and struck a low effort towards the empty net, but the ball was cleared off the goal line by Dean Powell.

HT 0-1

The visitors re-applied the pressure following the break; and comfortably controlled the rest of the game. Pateev also produced a couple outstanding saves from Alex Jarman and Broadribb, while the latter also saw his free kick effort smack off the crossbar. It therefore came to no surprise when Undy eventually doubled their lead in the 67th minute. The goal came when a cross into the area by Broadribb was headed into the top left hand corner by Cullimore, leaving City with a mountain to climb.

Buoyed by the goal, Undy threatened to run riot and continued to relentlessly attack. A cross into area by Jarman found the unmarked Broadribb, but the latter skied his effort well over the bar. Hanbury also chipped a goal bound effort over Pateev, before the ball was once again cleared off the goal line by Powell. The visitors were however rewarded for their efforts; and sealed the win with a third goal in the 82nd minute. The goal came when a corner delivery by Broadribb failed by to be cleared by the City defence, allowing Hishi Lama to thump in from six yards out.

There was still time for the Steelmen to try and register a consolation goal. Ben Taylor, however, summed up a miserable evening for City by glancing a free header over the bar from inside the 6 yard box. The game eventually drew to a close, with City left to endure another frustrating loss and remain rooted to the bottom of the table. A much improved performance will need to be displayed in next week’s six pointer clash against league fellow strugglers RTB Ebbw Vale.

FT 0-3

Newport City Line-Up:

Pateev, Joyce, Tyner, Powell, Mickiewicz, Boyle (Wilkinson), Wood (C), Hole, Clifford (Sub: Jack Butler), Taylor, Leigh (Sub: Brown-Pinheiro)

Unused subs – Rhys Butler, Rodrigues Baptisa