Newtown moved out of the relegation zone after defeating Penybont 2-0 at Latham Park in the first JD Cymru Premier match in ten weeks.
Tyrone Ofori and James Davies made the difference with two headed goals, as Chris Hughes’ side earned only their third victory of the 2020/21 JD Cymru Premier season.
Penybont dominated possession in the early stages of the match, but gave away a penalty after only nine minutes. Tyrone Ofori was pulled down by Matthew Harris, and John Jones had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Ofori stepped up to take the penalty, but his tame effort was pushed away by Ashley Morris in the Penybont goal.
January signing, Alex Fletcher, had the chance to give Newtown the lead after an effort coming from a Penybont clearance, but couldn’t steer his shot on target. His effort went just wide of the right-hand side of the post.
The hosts took the lead on the 17th minute mark, as Ofori made up for his penalty miss by glancing home a header from a superb Jordan Evans cross from the right-hand side.
Chances kept coming for the Robins, as Jordan Evans had an effort struck across goal. He couldn’t steer the shot on target, missing the right side post by just inches.
The scoreline at half time was 1-0 to the home side, after a strong battle in midfield between both sides.
James Davies doubled the Robins’ lead as he headed home from new signing, Alex Fletcher’s cross. It’s the forward’s fourth goal of the campaign.
Penybont substitute, Sam Snaith, had an opportunity to become an instant impact after Mael Davies sent a dangerous cross into the middle, but Connah’s Quay Nomads loanee Callum Roberts steered the ball clear for a Penybont corner.
The visiting side’s best opportunity came in the 89th minute, as Sam Snaith received a golden opportunity with a free header, but his effort was sent wide. Luckily for Snaith, he was adjudged to have been offside.
This result sees Newtown climb out of the relegation zone, from 11th up to 9th. Penybont remain in 6th in the table.
Up next for Newtown is a trip to Deeside, as they face reigning champions Connah’s Quay Nomads on Saturday.
Penybont have a long trip up to face Neil Gibson’s Flint Town United at the Essity Stadium on Saturday.
Newtown: Dave Jones (GK), Mills-Evans, Nick Rushton (Sean McAllister 86′), Jordan Evans (Lifumpa Mwandwe 78′), James Davies (Jake Phillips 90+2′), Craig Williams (C), Tyrone Ofori (Jamie Breese 79′), George Hughes, Shane Sutton, Alex Fletcher, Callum Roberts
Goals: Tyrone Ofori 17′, James Davies 62′
Yellow Cards: Callum Roberts 45′
Penybont: Ashley Morris (GK), Kane Owen (C), Ashley Evans (Liam Walsh 78′), Daniel Jefferies, Mael Davies, Kostya Georgievsky (Lewis Clutton 87′), Lewis Harling, Ben Ahmun (Sam Snaith 66′), Nathan Wood, Oliver Dalton (Connor Davies 66′), Matthew Harris
Yellow Cards: Lewis Harling 35′, Matthew Harris 72′
- Penybont manager Rhys Griffiths:
“I was frustrated we didn’t produce enough quality.
“It was quite a hard-fought game. Both teams intensity was quite high. There wasn’t a lot of quality in the game, just Newtown produced more than we did.
“I’ve said to the players that it has to be a blip, a bit of a speed bump in performance.”
Minute by minute action from Latham Park in our live blog below:
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