Newport City 1-3 Risca United
August 6, 2022
Newport City opened the new league campaign in disappointing fashion as they suffered a dismal 3-1 home defeat against former JD Cymru South side, Risca United.
City struggled during the opening 45 minutes as the visitors started the game on fire. Risca threatened on several occasions and almost scored early on through Jake Morris and Leon Thomas who both fired efforts narrowly wide, while City keeper Tsvetan grasped Mathew Thomas’ 15 yard low strike.
The Steelmen did eventually threaten when Louis Angove’s free kick delivery found Mathew Flynn inside the area; however the latter powered a header inches wide past the left post. The miss proved costly as City fell behind moments later. The goal come after the Steelmen failed to clear their lines, leading to Jak Lewis finding Leon Thomas who blasted the ball in from 10 yards out the fire the visitors deservedly ahead in the 30th minute.
Buoyed by the goal, Risca almost doubled their lead soon after. A low strike on edge of the area by Matthew Thomas was tipped wide around the left post by Pateev. From the following corner, Flynn was forced into clearing the ball off the goal line following a header by Lewis. The visitors continued to threaten as Pateev was forced into two big saves from Matthew and Leon Thomas, while the latter also saw his close range goal bound effort blocked by Louis Angove.
There were a couple of rare chances for City to equalise shortly before the interval as Gareth Hole saw a goal bound opportunity blocked by the Risca defence, while Dean Powell skied an effort well over the bar.
HT 0-1
Risca restarted the game strongly; and had a golden opportunity to double their lead in the 54th minute when they were awarded a penalty following an alleged foul by Dean Powell on Ryan Wheeler inside the area. Luck however was on the Steelmen’s side on this occasion, as Pateev superbly saved the resulting spot kick by Wheeler.
City eventually weathered the storm and managed to sustain their own period of pressure. They threatened to equalise through Luke Boyle and Hole who both fired efforts narrowly wide, while Ben Taylor’s looping effort forced a save out of Risca keeper Ryley Allen. The Steelmen came even closer when a delivery across the face of goal by Jacob Fortt narrowly evaded Liam Head by mere inches.
City were however eventually punished for missing the opportunities, as the visitors doubled their lead in the 90th minute. The goal came after City failed to clear the danger on the edge of the area; leading to Morris playing a through ball to Tom Berry who smashed an unstoppable strike from 8 yards out. The visitors piled more misery on City as Owen Cuddihy dispossessed the ball from the City defence and sent Tom Berry clear inside the area, allowing the latter to score a low effort in the 95th minute.
There was still time for the Steelmen to score a consolation goal, as they were awarded a penalty in the 96th minute following a foul on Fortt inside the area by Ricky Hodge. The resulting spot kick was converted low into the bottom right hand corner by Spencer Wood, brining a rare moment of joy on what was otherwise a frustrating day for the Steelmen.
FT 1-3
Newport City Line-Up:
Pateev, Joyce (Sub: Fortt), Francombe, Angove, Boyle (Sub: Brunsden) Wood (C), Flynn, Powell (Sub: Whiting), Hole, Head, Taylor
Unused subs – Nzarora
Booked – Boyle, Powell