Newtown 4-1 Cardiff Metropolitan: Robins continue revival as Archers crumble
Newtown kept their good form going with a 4-1 win over Cardiff Met at Latham Park thanks to goals from Tyrone Ofori and Jordan Evans.
Jordan Evans and Tyrone Ofori starred with braces to help Newtown make it two wins out of three since the return of the Cymru Premier and move further away from the relegation zone following their 4-1 home success over Cardiff Met.
Met skipper Bradley Woolridge equalised for Met after Ofori’s first goal but it was another defeat for the Archers who remain the lowest scorers in the division.
Newtown are now eight points off the drop zone meanwhile Met are four points off the drop zone.
The early stages of the match seemed even, with both teams having a lot of the ball, but it quickly became obvious that Newtown were the more switched on team in front of goal.
It didn’t take long for Newtown to go ahead as a Jame Davies pass from inside the box found Ofori who tapped home to give the hosts an early lead.
Despite the Robins’ lead, the match still fairly equal as Met looked for an equaliser. Met had their moment as captain Bradley Woolridge who got his head to a free-kick into the box.
Met had the chance to double their lead but a shot on target was saved superbly by Robins’ keeper Dave Jones who got his fingertips to it to keep it out, a lifeline for the hosts.
It didn’t affect Newtown too much though as towards the half-hour mark, Ofori got his, and Newtown’s second of the match. It was after this that Met started to struggle.
Met were given yet another opportunity to pull the score more in their favour with a free kick on the edge of the box but the kick deflected off of a Newtown player and was easily dealt with by Jones in goal.
On the stroke of half time, Met full-back Dylan Rees sent a powerful shot which was well dealt with by Dave Jones. A rebound was taken but a cluster of players by the goal line prevented Met from grabbing a well-needed goal.
13/03/2021 – Newtown 4-1 Cardiff Metropolitan © Will Cheshire 13/03/2021 – Newtown 4-1 Cardiff Metropolitan © Will Cheshire 13/03/2021 – Newtown 4-1 Cardiff Metropolitan © Will Cheshire 13/03/2021 – Newtown 4-1 Cardiff Metropolitan © Will Cheshire
At the start of the second half, Harry Owen was taken down in the box which resulted in the Met players furiously calling for a penalty but the referee was quick to wave away the shouts.
The early second-half excitement continued as Newtown were given a free kick on the edge of the box. Up stepped Jordan Evans who buried the ball into the top corner to give Chris Hughes’ side an important two-goal lead.
Other than a good few bookings for both sides, yellow cards for Met’s Emlyn Lewis, Eliot Evans, Tom Price and Kyle McCarthy, and one for Newtown’s James O’Neill, there wasn’t that much action. Not until Evans grabbed his second goal of the game from a lovely strike from outside to box to add further misery to the students.
With the away side unable to make any more of an impact, the referee blew his whistle to end what will be seen as a good day for Newtown, but a bad one for Cardiff Met.
Cardiff Met host relegation-battlers Cefn Druids next week, while Newtown travel to rivals Aberystwyth Town.
Newtown: Dave Jones, Jack Kelly, Kieran Mills-Evans, Jordan Evans, James Davies, Craig Williams (Jake Phillips 85′), Tyrone Ofori (Jonathan Letford, 85′), George Hughes (Sean McAllister, 85′), Shane Sutton (James O’Neill, 31′), Alex Fletcher, Lifumpa Mwandwe (Jamie Breese 75′)
Goals: Tyrone Ofori 6, 29, Jordan Evans 57, 69’
Yellow Cards: Lifumpa Mwandwe 36, George Hughes 63, James O’Neill 79’
Cardiff Met: Will Fuller (Alex Lang, 67′), Dylan Rees, Bradley Woolridge, Emlyn Lewis, Kyle McCarthy (Joseph Evans, 76′) Charlie Corsby, Harry Owen (Leon Warman, 76′), Rhydian Morgan, Tom Price (Matthew Chubb, 72′), Lewis Rees (Joshua Thomas, 76′)
Goals: Bradley Woolridge 22′
Yellow Cards: Dylan Rees 41, Emlyn Lewis 52, Eliot Evans 56, Tom Price 63, Kyle McCarthy 64’
Recap the action by sifting through our live blog below: