Exeter made to pay for missing goal chances

CITY LET NEWPORT OFF HOOK

Exeter City 0 Newport County 1

Match Report by Trina Lake 

EXETER CITY will be without leading goalscorer Tony Kellow again for tonight's Third Division match at Southend. Eight-goal Kellow has still not recovered from the groin injury which forced him to miss Saturday's home defeat by Newport County. City will also be missing midfielder Dave Harle, who serves out the second of his two match ban for collecting 22 disciplinary points.

Manager Brian Godfrey intends to add either Frank Howarth, Aidan Gibson, or Martin Ling to Saturday's 12 depending on reports on their performances in the A team's 4-1 win over Honiton. But it will take more than the injection of a fresh face and a roasting from Godfrey to revive the spirit that brought City so much success over the Christmas holiday. They sorely missed Kellow's sharpness in and around the penalty area on Saturday as chance after chance went begging. And how they were made to pay for it as Newport turned out to be raiders of a lost cause of a match to steal victory in the dying seconds. The Welsh side had been restricted to less than a handful of chances throughout the whole match but as the crowds began to drift away from what looked destined to be a drab draw, winger Karl Elsey sneaked a goal and all three points. Impressive central defender Terry Boyle had stayed up following a corner and was played on side by his counterpart Nick Marker who was too slow in pushing out of defence. Boyle picked up the ball wide on the right and crossed for Elsey to head home. Newport couldn't believe their luck as they notched up their fourth win of the season over City - adding to two in the Milk Cup and one in the Football League Trophy

especially after the first half pounding City had given them. City forced 10 corners in the first 45 minutes but couldn't turn all that pressure into goals, spurning openings galore. There was drama in the Newport goalmouth as early as the fourth minute Vaughan Jones hit a back pass that completely wrong footed the goalkeeper Gary Plumley, playing instead of Mark Kendall, who was dropped after 101 consecutive appearances following disappointing defeats by Cardiff and Oxford. Plumley had to scramble hurriedly across his goal to prevent the ball going in at the expense of a corner. Two minutes later City should have gone ahead. Martyn Rogers, who had a good game in midfield, crossed from the right, Marker nodded down for Dave Pullar but he hit a feeble shot at Plumley from eight yards with the goal at his mercy. City continued to pile on the pressure and in the 13th minute Martyn Rogers sent a looping header from the edge of the penalty area towards the top corner of the net. The header beat Plumley but Nigel Vaughan somehow managed to head it off the line. Minutes later, Ray Pratt, playing his first full game since October 30, hit a shot wide from Steve Neville's cross as City continued to play some dangerous crosses into Newport's penalty area. But Newport's defence, with Boyle outstanding, held firm, dealing fairly comfortably with everything City could throw at them. Newport were restricted to just one clear cut chance in the first half. Elsey made a strong run to the by-line and sent a piercing low cross that sliced through City's defence like a hot knife through butter. The ball reached John Aldridge on the far post but he ballooned his shot over the bar from five yards. But it had been City's game, although Newport had kept their composure and concentration well under often intense pressure. City looked certain to break the deadlock six minutes into the second half. Martyn Rogers charged down a poor clearance inside the penalty area, powered his way to the dead ball line and chipped in a delightful cross for cousin Peter Rogers. But the man who snapped up two much more difficult chances at Bristol Rovers in midweek sent a free header sailing over the bar from inside the six yard box. City goalkeeper Len Bond had had little to do all afternoon but was alive to a header from substitute Kevin Moore in the 71st minute. Four minutes later Martyn Rogers flashed a shot out of the blue just wide from 30 yards but Newport, who put their act together better in the second half, retaliated instantly. Veteran Dave Gwyther showed a surprisingly fleet turn of foot to outstrip Stan McEvan to a Tommy Tynan through ball and force a brilliant save at his feet out of Bond, who needed treatment for a knock on the head. The unfortunate Bond must have thought he was seeing things as the final whistle approached and Elsey rose virtually unchallenged to deny City even a share of the spoils with that winning header. Godfrey was disappointed to see another game slip away because of a lax moment of defence. City have again taken over the mantle of the Third Division's most generous defence with 49 goals conceded. That was the dubious distinction they held for far too long last season and were desperately keen to avoid this time. "We did everything right bar stick the ball in the net. "It's an injustice that they've won - they're very fortunate," said Godfrey. "But a lot of pleasing things came out of the game. There was a lot of commitment, Steve Neville battled away, and Martyn Rogers played particularly well. "The only disappointing thing is the result," said the City chief. His Newport counterpart, Colin Addison, felt differently. "It was a very competitive game. They put us under a lot of pressure but we defended well and we were good enough to come through it. "We put up a very good team effort." Three players were booked - Newport's Tynan and Elsey and City's McEwan.

Exeter City:
Bond, Sparrow, Viney, Marker, McEwan, Delve, M. Rogers, P. Rogers, Pullar, Pratt. Neville. Sub Kirkup (on for Pratt).

Newport County:
Plumley, Jones, Relish, Bailey, Boyle, Stroud, Aldridge, Gwyther, Tynan, Vaughan, Elsey. Sub Moore (on for Aldridge).

Attendance: 3,505.