Match 24
16th November, 1968
F.A. Cup, 1st Round
Newport County
& 18th October 1968
FA Cup 1st Round Replay

Saturday, 16th November, 1968
F.A. Cup, 1st Round
Newport County (home), draw 0-0

This was a tough game with very little real football and as entertainment it was practically worthless. But this is the kind of game one often has to expect in Cup ties. Newport obviously came here meaning to fight hard for a draw and they succeeded, but one wonders if they would have got away with it had we not lost leading goalscorer Alan Banks 10 minutes before the interval. For a long time before that Alan had gamely struggled on with a knee injury and it was obvious that he was not going to be able to make much of a contribu tion. When he left the field most of our hopes of victory against a hard-tackling Newport side went with him.

Team-Shearing; Smyth. Blain; Kirk ham, Harvey, Newman; Corr, Banks (Crawford), Balson. Curtis, Pleat.

Monday, 18th November, 1968 F.A. Cup, 1st Round (replay)
Newport County (away), won 3-1


Newport began this replay as if they were going to hammer us into the ground, but they missed some of the easiest chances imaginable, and it was all against the run of play when City went ahead through an "own goal" headed in by Newport centre-half Alan Wood shortly before the interval.
Newport's leader. Tony Buck, made amends for some earlier misses by scor ing an equaliser six minutes after the restart. But luck was on City's side this even ing when a harmless looking effort by Alan Pinkney went into the Newport net off their right-back's boot.

Newport must have been thoroughly disillusioned by now and City improved enough to be able to score through Mike Balson in the last minute.

Team:- Shearing; Smyth, Blain; Kirk ham, Harvey, Newman; Corr, Pinkney, Balson, Curtis. Pleat.

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