| Newport County | Middlesbrough | ||
| Willmott Amond |
47′ 67′ |
||
| Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
44% 16 4 6 4 |
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
56% 13 1 5 5 |
A Bridge too far
The repeat of the battle of the men from Pill took place tonight with the opportunity of a plum tie at home to Pep Guardiola’s Man City awaiting the Victor! For Boro at least it felt a bit like lose and you will get slaughtered, win and you will get murdered but one game at a time and all that. Leeds coming up on Saturday felt far more prescient than an away Cup Tie against Newport mid-week. The inconvenience factor aside the line-up for Boro would be interesting with most on Teesside expecting a second string and benchwarmer eleven against Michael Flynn’s eleven. Flynn himself had a few questions to answer having witnessed a very poor away performance against Grimsby at the weekend losing three nil. Despite their FA Cup heroics Newport have only won once in League Two over the last two months and haven’t managed to score since Matty Dolan’s late equaliser at the Riverside.
One thing for sure was that Antoine Semenyo would not be torturing Boro tonight as he was recalled by his parent Club Bristol City last week cutting short his season long loan and based on his Riverside performance it was easy to see why. That loss was a massive blow to the South Wales outfit and a bit of good news for the Boro defence whoever they may be tonight. There was also uncertainty if Joe Day would replace Nick Townsend in Goal for the Exiles as his wife was still keeping everyone waiting in the local Maternity Wing for the new arrivals.
Team selections saw just two changes for Newport from the Riverside encounter with Joe Day appearing in goal after all and Semenyo of course no longer at the club. TP surprised everyone by naming a no nonsense looking attack minded Boro side with both Britt and Hugill both starting. Wing was also a surprise inclusion in a midfield three comprising of Clayts and Howson. It was presumed it would be three at the back with Flint, Fry and Ayala with McNair and Friend operating as wing backs or would Fry be at RB and Friend LB with McNair operating in Midfield?
Lewis Wing got proceedings underway at Rodney Parade in the midst of a downpour on a pitch that was nothing more than a quagmire. The lack of a playing surface certainly suited the home side better as despite Boro having two strikers getting the ball played up to them was proving difficult. Boro did have two early efforts with a long range Howson strike and a Hugill effort from a rare break that hit the upright. That aside all the action was at the opposite end of the pitch and Dimi had to pull off a few saves to spare blushes. The Exiles continually launched balls into the Boro box a few of which had nerves jangling and for the want of better finishing Newport could have been two up in the opening twenty five minutes. There was a clear shout for a penalty for handball which would have made things even worse for Boro had it been given. Being honest it looked like a clear penalty to me for a Clayts hand ball and the home fans could consider themselves hard done to.
There was a total lack of any composure as County literally bossed and bullied Boro who looked like they were jetlagged from their delayed flight. Our Midfield was ineffective as the Amber coloured shirts piled forward outnumbering Boro creating a huge chasm between our retreated Midfield and Hugill and Assombalonga. It would have been more appropriate if the kit man had given Boro white hankies to wave to go with their all white kit (unlike the all red kit worn on Saturday this all white ensemble doesn’t have a happy track record).
Meanwhile Robbie WIllmott was ripping up our left side and in the thirty third minute he beat both Wing and Friend with embarrassing ease and fired in a powerful cross met by Amond forcing Dimi into a full stretch save to once again repel the Exiles. At some point those from Teesside were assuming that this was perhaps deliberate rope a dope tactics and Boro would come out roaring and firing on all cylinders ensnaring Newport into a false sense of security.
Watching Willmot you had to wonder why our scouts couldn’t spot and recruit from the lower leagues as the lad looked a class above his Championship foes on the night. On the fortieth minute Willmott put in another cross that was headed just over Dimi’s crossbar by Matt landing on the roof of the net. Newport were full of flicks and tricks while Boro looked leggy, weary and unable to hang onto the ball passing it around like a hand grenade as they were chased and harried. Had it been a boxing contest County were so far ahead on points the towel should have been thrown in to prevent any serious and lasting damage. As if to illustrate the calamitous nature of Boro on the night a harmless looking looped ball into the Boro box caused a series of panicked nervous headers which nearly ended up into the back of Dimi’s net but fortunately went out for a corner. Said corner ended the half when it was harmlessly over hit. It was about the only ball Newport did play badly in those opening forty five minutes.
Flynn would have been by far the happier of the two Managers, astounded by how his side hadn’t been able to take advantage of his side’s total domination and penalty robbery. Tony Pulis on the other hand had some thinking to do as it was clear his side were not coping with a pitch that was reminiscent of Derby’s Baseball ground from the early seventies. Actually the pitch was just one of a very long list of problems, I had a Cortina Mark II once with rust holes in the floor and a flat battery that needed push starting that was more reliable and dependable than that Boro set up.
When the sides came out for the second half Newport understandably didn’t make any changes. TP had brought VLP on for Paddy McNair (lucky Paddy) but apart from a bit of flustered rather than controlled activity in the opening seconds in the Newport box that was it from Boro for the nights efforts as Willmott then broke out from defence and crossed the half way line leaving Clayton in his wake and danced towards the Boro back line forcing a back stepping movement from Ayala to shoot from the edge of the box past a desperate outstretched Dimi to put the Exiles deservedly 1-0 up. It was coming all night and it was indeed fitting that it was Willmott who delivered the blow.
Four minutes after the restart Lewis Wing hit a dipping ball from the edge of the Newport box but it dropped down behind the net unfortunately summing up our endeavour for the evening. Dael Fry put a low cross in a few minutes after Wings dipper as Boro tried half-heartedly to find a response but it was cleared away. Boro were still struggling as they had all evening to find a white shirt on the swamp of a pitch due to a lack of pace and little to no movement or anticipation off the ball. It was like watching Statues play netball (actually statues would have had more perceived movement). Hugill limped off on 56 minutes for Gestede to make a rare appearance. Normally I would have said “worryingly Hugill limped off” but on that performance Jordan’s 80 year old Grandmother would have been more aggressive and mobile so to see him leave was exactly a worry or even a remote concern.
Rudy’s first involvement was to be flagged for offside as Boro continued their struggles to string any passes together. As it turned out I think that was Rudy’s only noticeable contribution for the remainder of the game. A couple of minutes later Fletcher came on for Assombalonga who had ran and chased but usually the ball got stuck between his feet in the mud and he ended up sat on his derriere. Fletcher’s first touch was a carbon copy of Gestede’s minutes previously earning the same response from the Lineman’s flag. Since his introduction at half time VLP had been spectacularly anonymous and hadn’t offered any outlet or threat whatsoever. I did wonder if he perhaps had been knitting Bootees out on the wing joining in with the anticipated arrivals. So poor was Boro’s showing had Joe Day’s wife actually gone into labour he could have nipped to the local maternity unit to welcome the arrival of his twins and popped back before the 90th minute and nobody would have noticed him missing. Actually he could have probably wet the babies heads as well and sank a few jars for all the difference it would have made, still at least had more than one reason now to have the cigars out.
Willmott who had drifted out of things just a little popped up with a luke warm shot which deflected out for a corner from a dejected Boro defender. Willmott himself took the same corner and in a clever well worked set piece, he saw Padraig Amond running from the far side of the Boro goal mouth to the near side of the Boro box to meet a perfectly weighted ball, he swivelled, he turned, he shot and despatched it into the top corner leaving Dimi rooted along with an entire box full of white shirted dummies. Our defending looked like those shop window displays during change over time when the mannequins have those white shrouds tied over them in various motionless poses. 2-0 and exactly what Boro deserved and exactly what Newport deserved. If there are any mannequins reading this I do apologise as I am sure you do a lot more than just stand there looking gormless. Our mobility was like the Post Office queue on pension day but with less communication going on.
A Wing corner was then headed clear, falling to Howson twenty yards out who inexplicably lobbed a soft ball straight into Day’s grateful arms. Come on now was this deliberate? I mean even we can’t be this bad surely? Another poor hopeful lob (rather than a cross) came in from Clayton but it was over hit and in truth Boro didn’t look like they were bothered any longer in any case with the remaining game time looking like a chore. A clever one two between Howson and Fletcher saw Howson running through to collect in the box but the return from Fletcher was so miscued that it missed Howson by several yards behind him when he was two foot away. At this stage I was really grateful that Demenyo hadn’t been available as it could have been really embarrassing by now. Plus the astonishment of all that low cost talent at this level could have resulted in out recruitment team causing a shortage of stents at Newport General. Not that there will have been any chance of any of them attending in case they spotted someone really useful that could be had for less than £200K and under £5K a week.
Anyway getting back to Boro’s rendition of that movie Cocoon (where those agile pensioners get up to all sorts of high jinks on beta blockers) Labadie had went off for Dolan as Michael Flynn gave the ex Boro lad yet another opportunity to embarrass his ex-employers. Fortunately Matty had some sympathy for the drenched travelling 500 or so from Teesside.
There was absolutely no zip or belief about Boro in fact they looked like they had spent the afternoons flight delay getting hammered in duty free because this was as disjointed and confused a showing that I have witnessed for a long time from any Boro side. Credit of course must go to Newport who despite the conditions were full of running and seemingly able to control the ball on the same heavy and sticky pitch. Since TP’s substitutions Boro looked even worse if that was possible. The three subs had been invisible whilst also displaying serious co-ordination problems as they seemingly lacked any control of their legs so bad was the hold-up play. A late Wing corner was wastefully hit low and easily cleared. The effort that went into that was a further indication of the lacklustre nature of tonight’s team performance. Then a short corner on the opposite side saw VLP dribble into the box but it rolled to Day’s near post and easily dealt with.
Willmott went off to a rapturous applause on the eighty fifth minute for Pipe to come on and take his place. As Day collected another lacklustre Boro cross the fourth Official held up three agonising minutes but the reality was that if this Boro side had another three years they wouldn’t have scored, collectively they would have set a Teesside record in the Bongo club. Boro didn’t turn up, didn’t look interested or remotely bothered to the extent that it made me think they genuinely didn’t want any more cup games and certainly not against Man City. Was it a case of more important fish to fry and they or TP at least would rather Newport get some glory and benefit than Boro get demoralised and battered next round? At least the FA can’t take three points off us on this occasion for not turning up.
MOM was 28 year old Robbie Willmott for Newport, there wasn’t a single Boro player worthy of any more than a 3/10 and that would be by far the most generous score. Let’s hope it was just a fitness training exercise with an eye on Saturday. The big worry is what Boro side will actually turn up against Leeds, the WBA side or the questionable showing tonight? The good news of the evening was that Joe Day’s wife was able to hang on until the final whistle as he sprinted off the pitch to be at her side which was more than Boro’s defence could manage.