Newtown came out on top in a six-goal thriller with the Cefn Druids at The Rock in a match which had plenty of drama.
The Robins put a lot of relegation worries to bed with a flurry of attacking play and have risen to eighth as they look to continue their revival.
Druids meanwhile drop to bottom of the Cymru Premier after Aberystwyth’s late winner and things look bleak with Bala and TNS their opponents in the coming week.
The tone of the game was set in the opening exchanges as both sides came out at a furious pace. With Cefn Druids hoping to leapfrog Newtown out of the relegation places, both sides were looking to attack in order to gain the initiative.
Mwandwe put the Robins on the front foot immediately with a surging run off the left winning a free kick in dangerous territory. Alex Fletcher’s effort was not far wide.
The first goal of the contest came only four minutes in. Jordan Evans popped up in the box arriving late to meet Nick Rushton’s low cross and sweep the ball past Dawid Szczepaniak with his left foot. The attack had looked lost but all credit to Rushton for making a menace of himself down the right and keeping the move alive.
Druids overcame their stuttering start to almost grab an immediate reply. Both teams were finding joy down each other’s flanks and Jo Faux created room for a cross to Harry Brazel at the back post. Despite evading the entire Newtown defence Brazel could only head wide with his downward header. Druids would come to rue this miss.
Newtown began to adopt a direct style of play, attempting to find the pace of Mwandwe and Ofori. The result was a mismatch and caused all sorts of problems for the Druids centre halves Wise and Mooney. Callum Roberts and Jordan Evans in particular benefitted from the lack of Druids attention.
The fruit of this tactic was borne when 15 minutes in Roberts charged into the space vacated by Mwandwe and was cheaply brought down by Ethan Cartwright. Alex Fletcher lofted in an inviting set piece and Druids were statues as Mwandwe flicked the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0.
The Robins were now rampant. Mwandwe and Roberts were being given the freedom of the Druids right, the evergreen Josh Green and Jacob Wise unable to cope with the continual overloads. On the 20 minute mark Mwandwe was set free to run at Jacob Wise who could not match the young Zambian’s pace. His shot was smartly saved by Szczepaniak.
All of the momentum Newtown had built up was down away just before the half hour when Niall Flint struck to half the deficit. Poor play by George Hughes to lose the ball to Brazel set the move up. Brazel stormed towards the penalty box and picked out Flint in a see of red shirts. The former Robin controlled the ball brilliantly, turning towards goal and smashed it past Dave Jones.
The game was now end to end and at the other goal Szczepaniak produced a great save to deny Mwandwe a second. His reflex save thwarted a Newtown third after some ricocheting from a corner. A timely intervention as Druids soon pulled back level. Jo Faux was invited to run at his man, this time down the right and steered a deep cross to the back post for Charley Edge. Edge knocked it back across for Niall Flint to poke home the easiest goal he’ll score all season.
But the scoring was not done yet. The Rushton-Evans combination proved fruitful once more for Newtown two minutes before halftime. Arsan allowed Rushton to fight his way into the box and the Newtown number 8 battled to get the ball back to Jordan Evans. No doubt involved as his right footed effort was buried into the bottom corner to put the away side back in charge of this topsy turvy match.
Newtown grabbed what would prove to be the game’s sixth and final goal in added time of the first half. Sloppy defending by Druids let Fletcher drive through the middle and slip in Ofori wide in the box. His runs from the right had seldom been challenged by Druids and this time he made them pay. Jinking his way past three defenders he drilled the ball in the near post for a terrific fourth.
The second half did not play out to the same attacking abandonment as the first, but was still a tremendous battle by both sides. Newtown remained resilient, led by their centre back partnership of Mills-Evans and the returned Sutton, and repelled everything Druids had to throw at them. Druids will be frustrated they couldn’t add any quality in the final third to challenge Newtown’s lead, especially after Callum Roberts was shown a second card for dissent with eight minutes remaining.
Overall two very different halves of football from two sides who played to win. Everything was left on the pitch and with some great goals scored no one can complain.
Recap the exciting counter at The Rock
Cefn Druids: Dawid Szczepaniak, Naim Arsan, Josh Green, Phillip Mooney ©, Ethan Cartwright, Harry Brazel (Sam Phillips 60’), Niall Flint, Joseph Faux, Ryan Kershaw (Christoph Azimale 71’), Jacob Wise, Charley Edge (Iwan Cartwight 60’)
Goals: Flint 28’ 37’
Yellow cards: Brazel 3’, Kershaw 30’, Green 48’, Mooney 59’, Iwan Cartwright 71’, Sam Phillips 88’
Newtown: Dave Jones, Jake Phillips, Kieran Mills-Evans ©, Nick Rushton (James Davies 45’), Jordan Evans (Sean MacAllister 79’), Tyrone Ofori (Jamie Breese 71’), George Hughes, Shane Sutton, Alex Fletcher, Lifumpa Mwandwe (James O’Neill 86’), Callum Roberts
Goals: Jordan Evans 4’ 43’, Mwandwe 15’, Ofori 45+2’
Yellow cards: Callum Roberts 58’, Mills-Evans 64’
Red cards: Callum Roberts 82’
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