Newtown claimed their first victory of the season in a hotly-contested affair against Caernarfon Town.
Second-half strikes from Jordan Evans and Aaron Williams were the difference between the two sides.
A first-half red card for Steve Evans halted Caernarfon’s early domination, with the visitors using the extra man to the advantage.
The first chance of the game fell to Newtown’s Aaron Williams, who was found in space at the back post. His volley did, however, fly wide.
Caernarfon responded as a free-kick from the left-hand-side found Gruff John free at the back post. John attempted to control the ball, but it went out for a goal-kick.
Darren Thomas ambitiously fired wide from range.
Newtown came close on a couple of occasions. The first came through James Rowland, whose guided effort from the right bounced narrowly wide of the near post. Lifumpa Mwandwe then showed his quality by driving at the Caernarfon defence and having a shot blocked by John inside the area.
The ball fell kindly to Danny Gosset at the edge of the area, but his left-footed volley flew left of the post.
Caernarfon passed the ball superbly, with Dion Donohue’s ability to play from the back massively bolstering their options.
Positive play for the hosts saw Gosset find space on the left-hand-side, but his cross was collected by Dave Jones.
Mwandwe continued to showcase his threat on the break, as he drew a foul out of Noah Edwards on the edge of the box. Jordan Evans stepped up, but he couldn’t beat the wall.
James Rowland’s cross from deep almost caught Jakub Ojrzynski out, but the goalkeeper recovered and tipped the ball over the crossbar.
Rob Hughes provided an inch-perfect cross from the right-hand-side which found Iwan Cartwright free at the far post. Cartwright’s header was straight at Jones in goal.
Caernarfon were reduced to 10-men in the 34th minute as Mwandwe had the beating of former Wales international Steve Evans who brought the electric winger, through on goal, down outside the box. From the resulting free-kick, Craig Williams fired over.
The best chance of the half fell to Newtown’s James Davies, whose goal-bound header was miraculously cleared off the line by John.
Newtown ended the half strongly, with Jordan Evans forcing a somewhat comfortable save out of Ojrzynski. Moments later, Mwandwe cut inside from the left and thumped a strike agonisingly wide of the post.
The Robins came out of the blocks firing for the second half. Jordan Evans had another attempt saved from the edge of the box.
Newtown’s pressure was rewarded as Jordan Evans scored on his fifth attempt from range. This time on his right foot, the midfielder smartly guided the ball into the bottom left corner to break the deadlock.
The Robins continued their momentum by creating a handful of chances for the five minutes following the goal, but were denied by excellent goalkeeping and defending.
The attacking bombardment continued as Rowland was found outside the box by Jordan Evans before narrowly shooting wide of the post.
Donohue played an accurate ball over the top to Gosset, but his lofted effort was off target.
The Canaries had a strong penalty shout in the final 10 minutes when Noah Edwards seemed to be brought down inside the box, but the referee claimed it was outside the box.
It was then Newtown’s time to defend a goal-mouth scramble, with close-range efforts from Sion Bradley and Cai Jones being denied.
Hopes of a late equaliser were put to bed when Aaron Williams calmly slotted home following a cross from the right-hand-side.
Caernarfon Town: Jakub Ojrzynski, Iwan Cartwright, Gruffydd John, Steve Evans, Dion Donohue (C), Sion Bradley (Gwion Dafydd 84’), Danny Gosset, Darren Thomas, Rob Hughes (Cai Jones 65’), Noah Edwards, Ryan Williams.
Yellow cards –
Noah Edwards (24’), Cai Jones (84’)
Red card –
Steve Evans (34’)
Newtown: Dave Jones, Callum Roberts, Kieran Mills-Evans, Lifumpa Mwandwe, James Davies (Nick Ruhston 74’), Aaron Williams, James Rowland, Craig Williams (C), George Hughes (Jordan Evans 21’), Jake Walker (David Cotterill 74’), Naim Arsan.
Goals-
Jordan Evans (52’), Aaron Williams (84’)
Yellow card-
Jake Walker (54’)
(Featured image: John Smith/FAW)
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