Cardiff Met send Newtown home empty-handed after Harry Owen winner
Cardiff, Wales - 22nd September 2023: Harry Owen of Cardiff Met in action against Brad Young of TNS. Cardiff Metropolitan University v The New Saints in the JD Cymru Premier at Cyncoed Campus on the 22nd September 2023. (Pic by Lewis Mitchell/FAW)
Cardiff Met struck just before stoppage time to claim a 2-1 win and end Newtown’s unbeaten run in the Cymru Premier.
Harry Owen’s 91st-minute winner brought to an end the Robins’ seven-game unbeaten run and brought them to within three points of Chris Hughes’s side.
The game kicked off amid a cool breeze, but it did not take long for the game to heat up. The visitors started well, getting a corner and a shot off-target within the first five minutes. Met defender Joe Evans, the best player of the first half, often found himself doing last-ditch defending in the opening minutes, as Newtown were linking up well to reach the Met D-box.
There was a slight injury concern for the home side when Harry Owen went down twice, needing treatment from the physio. Newtown continued dominating the first quarter, as Met players started getting frustrated, with CJ Craven getting booked for shouting at the referee.
The Archers started getting a hold on the game, as Elliott Evans’ effort was somehow cleared by the Newtown defence from a brilliant long ball down the right, an area Met often used to go ahead in the first half. There were a hattrick of corner kicks for the hosts, followed by a wonderfully stitched long from Dixon Kabongo to Lewis Rees.
CJ Craven came the closest to scoring for Met, but his curler from the edge of the box went just wide off the Newtown goalie Wycherlee’s right post. Newtown seemed a bit rattled during the end of the half, with two of their players getting booked for rough tackles.
Cardiff Met came out strong in the second half, continuing the momentum from the end of the first half. Matthew Chubb stretched brilliantly to put the ball in the back of the net off a cross from the left, however, the celebration was short-lived. Within three minutes, the travelers equalised after the ball found Aaron Williams’ feet in a crowded d-box, as the Englishman slotted it past Alex Lang.
After the dramatic first few minutes of the second half, the gameplay became scrappy as fouls were committed by both teams. No team really got any fluidity in their attack, and Met marksman Lewis Rees went down twice needing treatment. Finally, Rees was subbed off for young Englishman Thomas Vincent.
At the penultimate minute, out of a rare patient build-up by Met, the ball reached Harry Owen who hit a low shot and beat Wycherley for pace, as the ball hit the back of the net, much to the disappointment of Newtown manager Chris Hughes, who banged the side of the dugout in frustration. Seven minutes of added time was not enough for visitors, as the Archers saw them out to register a second win on the trot in the JD Cymru Premier.
