Fresh from his transfer last week, Joe Anyon lined up against us. He was no doubt looking to prove that we shouldn’t have let him go, while I hoped to show why he didn’t make the grade under my stewardship.
Newport were off to a flying start. Just five minutes into the match, Chinedu Vine drew Marques out of position and slid a lovely ball through to Nathaniel Jarvis. The young striker struck first time into the bottom corner. A goal down so early in a game we expected to win comfortably, we were shellshocked.
Jarvis scored again in the 12th minute. McCord played a simple short through ball and the striker ran free of his man to fire a shot beneath the keeper for both his and Newport’s second. We were in real trouble.
Koroma should have pulled a goal back two minutes later, but he snatched at his shot and it sailed way over the bar. Barnes-Homer then went close—a Newport defender deflecting his shot just wide of the post.
Barnes-Homer put Koroma through on goal in the 27th minute, but the striker again put his shot over the bar. Koroma went down hurt a few minutes later, victim to a heavy challenge. He stayed on the pitch, but I worried about his freedom of movement.
Putnins saved a long-range shot in the 35th minute. Newport still looked dangerous. At the other end, Barnes-Homer put another shot wide. When did my players forget how to shoot straight?
Gowling’s praise in the media of late must have got to his head. I subbed him off at half time after a woeful performance. Woods also made way, having looked tired and out-of-sorts. I told the players their pride was at stake here, and everyone seemed to respond well.
On 47 minutes, Birchall played a lofted through ball for Koroma. The striker put his shot on target this time, bringing the deficit to one goal.
Kanouté put a header just over the bar two minutes later, then Power shot wide from distance. My boys were fighting for it, which is all I ever really ask.
Laurant won a penalty in the 88th minute. The Newport defender shouldn’t have dived in. Nutter converted the spot kick, jogging over to celebrate in front of the home fans. They’d done it. It wasn’t pretty, but my boys had turned the game around and drawn level.
Both teams pushed hard for a last-minute winner, but 2-2 is how it finished. I told my players they weren’t good enough—better second half or not, that should have been an easy win and we had to scrap just to earn a draw.
A few players got upset, but most of them reacted well. I’ll drop anybody who complains to the press for being hard on them here—if we’re going to be champions, we must be more clinical.
After the match, Bore and Barnes-Homer spoke out. Both are dropped. Barnes-Homer needs a rest anyway, so it works out well with him. It doesn’t help me that Koroma will be sidelined for a couple of weeks with a bruised rib, though. Laurent and May are the likely replacements for Koroma and Barnes-Homer, but they haven’t paired up before.
We’re top of the table on goal difference after the match. Mansfield were soundly beaten 4-1 by Alfreton. If we win our game in hand against Cambridge on the weekend (just three days from now), we’ll be clear leaders.
I found out that Assistant Manager Curtis Woodhouse is on a rolling month-to-month unpaid contract. Rather than give him a salary, I opted to terminate his position. I found Martin O’Connor as a potential replacement (hopefully to be actual replacement, if he accepts my contract offer). I tried to convince former Croatian international Igor Tudor to join us as our new Youth Coach. He seemed set to accept, but I’ll have to wait for his call.
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