Newtown 0-3 Haverfordwest County: Bluebirds cruise to victory at Latham Park
Haverfordwest County kept their Championship Conference hopes alive with an impressive 3-0 victory against Newtown at Latham Park.
Goals from Kieran Lewis, Cameron Keetch and Marcus Griffiths gave Wayne Jones’ side all three points, meaning the battle for the final top-six spot will go down to the final day of Phase One.
With Caernarfon Town beating Cardiff Metropolitan 3-2 at the Oval this afternoon, the Bluebirds find themselves three points behind the Cofis in seventh place – however they have a superior goal difference.
Importantly, if the Bridge Meadow go on to secure a top-half finish next week, they will not be eligible to compete in the Europa Conference League playoffs after they decided not to apply for a UEFA Licence. Their manager, Wayne Jones, does not possess a UEFA Pro Licence, which is a prerequisite to manage in Europe.
Newtown dominated large parts of the first-half, with their first opportunity coming in the second minute. Jordan Evans swung a free-kick in from the right hand side, fooling everyone as it almost curled into the bottom left hand corner of the net.
Another opportunity came for the hosts shortly after. Alex Fletcher sent another dangerous free-kick into the Haverfordwest box, this time to Lifumpa Mwandwe, who was only inches away from heading the ball home.
The Robins struck the bar five minutes later, as Mwandwe’s cross was tipped onto the woodwork by Matt Turner. Nick Rushton should have pounced on the rebound as it was an empty net. He couldn’t stay on his feet and sent the ball wide of the post.
The visitors’ first opportunity came when Danny Williams met Trystan Jones’ cross, however he could only steer the ball wide of the post.
Jones’ side went ahead when, after impressive build-up play, Keetch cut the ball back for Lewis to tap into the net past Dave Jones.
Corey Shephard was involved in the construction of the opening goal, and he was involved once more when he attempted a speculative effort from the halfway line. The midfielder nearly caught Jones out, with the ball eventually landing on the roof of the net.
Ricky Watts almost gifted Newtown an equaliser. His attempt to pass out from the back failed spectacularly, giving the ball to Jordan Evans, who saw his shot blocked at the last moment on its way to goal.
Five minutes before the break, Turner was called into action to deny Lifumpa Mwandwe in a one-on-one situation to ensure his team took a one-goal lead into the changing rooms.
The Bluebirds came flying out of the blocks in the second half, as Williams almost doubled their lead from a Keetch cross.
The Pembrokeshire outfit were rewarded for their strong start to the second period when the onrushing Keetch fired home a thunderbolt from just inside the area.
Rushton should have pulled a goal back for Newtown when Jamie Breese laid the ball off perfectly to the Robins’ top-scorer, but his effort went across goal and wide of the post.
There was an injury blow for the Bluebirds with 15 minutes left to play, as new signing Jazz Richards was forced off after going down following a corner.
Chris Hughes’ side squandered another opportunity when Breese mis-kicked the ball after a great cross from a Fletcher free-kick.
Substitute Griffiths secured the victory for Jones’ side after latching on to a through ball and taking it around Jones before tapping into an empty net to round off a comprehensive victory.
Newtown: Dave Jones (GK), Jake Phillips, Jack Kelly, Kieran Mills-Evans (C), Nick Rushton (James Davies 73′), Jordan Evans, George Hughes, Jonathan Letford (Jamie Breese 60′), Shane Sutton, Alex Fletcher (Ryan Edwards 84′), Lifumpa Mwandwe
Yellow cards: Alex Fletcher 61′, Lifumpa Mwandwe 64′
Haverfordwest: Matthew Turner (GK), Trystan Jones (Ben Fawcett 53′), Alaric Jones, Scott Tancock, Ricky Watts (C), Corey Shephard, Cameron Keetch, Elliot Scotcher (Kurtis Rees 68′), Kieran Lewis (Marcus Griffiths 77′), Danny Williams, Jazz Richards (Sean Pemberton 77′)
Goals: Kieran Evans 24′, Cameron Keetch 57′, Marcus Griffiths 89′
Yellow cards: Elliot Scotcher 6′, Ricky Watts 8′, Alaric Jones 21′, Sean Pemberton 82′
Find out how the game unfolded with our live blog:
