Newport County v Morecambe. Tuesday 21st February 2017

 Newport 1 Morecambe 1

Last summer, a couple of weeks before a holiday in France, I realised I'd lost my passport. Luckily for me, if you fill in a form and go to Newport, you can get a replacement pretty quick. Arriving in South Wales with plenty of time before my scheduled appointment, I decided to have a peek around Rodney Parade.

I've written before on these pages about how enchanting an empty football ground can be in the close season. After sauntering along the River Usk, I'd found Newport's home since 2012, on it's east bank. An interesting blend of new and old, the ground looked resplendent in the sunshine and I vowed to come back to watch a game this season.

Thus I found myself here on a wet and windy, but thankfully mild February Tuesday evening for Newport's league two clash against Morecambe.

Crossing the River Usk

                                     

Newport County have had a very interesting and turbulent recent history. After the high water mark of reaching the UEFA cup winners cup quarter final in 1981, they were relegated from the 4th division in 1988 and went bust the following year. The club was reformed in the summer of 1989 by it's supporters and began a long and very winding road through the English non league pyramid that eventually led to promotion back to the fourth tier in 2013. 

In the intervening years, the club picked up the nickname "The Exiles", this was because due to a variety of reasons they found themselves having to play away from their old ground and the wider Newport area across the border in England. The summer of 2012 was a significant one for the club. By then they were in the conference and under the management of Justin Edinburgh. They agreed to move in to Rodney Parade, the city's rugby stadium and a few months later, local Euro Millions winner, Les Scalding became chairman of the club. The following season was a joyful one and Newport, still under the helm of Edinburgh secured promotion back the football league via the play offs. Here they have remained since. In 2015 Scalding decided to stand down as chariman. In an act of benevolence, instead of looking to sell his share to the highest bidder, he passed on his stake to the supporters trust who remain in control to this day. 

I'd decided to watch the game for the Hazell terrace and arrived there optimistically hoping I could pay at the gate. Annoyingly I was redirected to the ticket office which was a 5 minute walk away past a squash club, past the length of a rugby pitch and behind the club bar. I still got inside the ground in plenty of time before kick off and took in my surroundings.

It is evident that Rodney Parade was built with Rugby in mind. You can see the lines on the pitch but the tell tale sign is the length of the ground. Whilst the two stands on the side were quite close to the touch line, the stands behind the goals, especially at the open terrace end are a long way behind the goal.

The Hazel stand, clearly the oldest int he ground was a big structure that stretched the length of the pitch. It had a terrace at the front with raised seating towards the rear and was fully covered and enclosed by a multi beamed roof. The atmosphere was good, the dug outs were just in front and most of the noisier Newport fans were here along with a drummer. Though clearly of a certain vintage, from the outside it looked fairly modern having been covered with a shiny silver shell.

The Hazell stand

The Hazell stand

Opposite me was the Bisley stand. A smart modern all seater; It's most striking feature is undoubtedly it's  'polka dot' effect caused by the different colours of its seats. I'd seen pictures of it before tonight and they hurt my head a little bit. The colours of yellow, brown and red don't make a combination that is easy on the eye and it gives the impression of somehow being a computer generated image. Luckily there were just enough people there to break up the pattern and I got away without getting a head ache.

I took a position towards the end of the Hazell terrace next to a building on the corner housing the changing rooms and by the end of the ground that was closed tonight- an uncovered seating area with a separate building behind it with two balconies over looking the pitch. Far away at the other end of the ground was a good size open terrace set a fair way behind the goal.

Newport are rock bottom of league two and facing a gargantuan task if they are to avoid dropping out of the football league after a 4 year stay. I perused the programme and enjoyed manager Graham Westley's notes: He assured the Newport faithful that he wasn't going to let one swallow make a summer, he also warned that he "would never bet against my self". Next he philosophised that "The truest test of a man is when he is on the canvas" adding that he and the team were "ready to throw heavy punches". His final war cry was "We may be down but we are truly alive".

Roused by such Churchillian utterances I looked up and saw a fan that seemed to embody the spirit that Wesley was trying to call upon. He had one leg and arrived in a wheel chair before jumping out and leaning against the the front crash barrier where he stayed shouting encouragement for the duration of the game.

I was aware that Newport had recently resigned David Pipe on loan from Eastliegh. Now 33, Pipe left Newport a couple of years ago, I'd seen a lot of him when he had a couple of seasons at Bristol Rovers in the late 00's. A combative, bald, muscle bound defender, he never backed out of a tackle or shied away from a confrontation. This didn't always work to his advantage and his time at Rovers was followed by a period in prison for a following an attack outside a night club. The resilient Pipe bounced back though after his release, and is still going strong. I was also pleased to see Kevin Ellison in the starting line up for Morecambe. Now 38, the ever green and distinctively tall and bald wideman has had a long and distinguished carer in the lower leagues and is more prolific in front of goal now than he's ever been.

I was also looking out for the state of the pitch. Home to two rugby teams as well as Newport County, Rodney Parade has an unwanted reputation as being one of the worst pitches in the football league, with a lot of games having been abandoned / postponed due to waterlogging and generally being a mud bath. Tonight at first glance it didn't look too bad, it hadn't rained for a few days and on closer inspection it was clear that a lot of sand had been sprayed around to try and hold it all together.

Maybe Graham Westley had barked out his programme notes in the changing room because the home team came out fired up from the off. Attacking the end of the pitch furthest from me, the gap behind the goal was playing tricks on my eyes and it took a while to adjust. As Newport players got ready to shoot on goal, judging by how far they were away from the terrace behind the goal, I assumed they were 40 odd yards from goal before my eyes refocused and I realised they were about level with the penalty spot. It was no big surprise when Newport took the lead after 18 minutes. Alex Samuel, on loan from Swansea, made a run down the right before Pipe took over and delivered a cross in to the box, Morecambe fluffed a couple of chances to clear and the ball ping ponged around a bit before eventually being scrambled in by Aaron Williams from close range.

Newport also had a strong shout for a penalty turned down after what looked like a handball. It's fair to say the game was a physical one and the ref was letting a lot of shoving and elbowing go. 1-0 at half time and 3 vital points were on the horizon for the home team.

Mind the gap

Not long in to the second half though and Morecambe were level with a screamer of a goal. Awarded a free kick mid way in to the Newport half on to the left of the penalty area, the Morecambe attackers jostled around the far post and everyone expected the left footed Michael Rose to swing in a cross. Instead he made an audacious attempt to catch the keeper off guard and aimed for the near post. He hit it so sweetly and accurately that the flailing keeper had no chance. By this point I'd moved to behind the dug outs and had a great view of the ball swerving in to the corner of the net. I imagine the hardy Morcambe fans who made the long trip South and were at the other end of the pitch didn't have a great view, but it really was a magical strike.

Newport needed the points more than their opponents and desperately looked for a second goal. Young Samuel on loan from Swansea caught the eye, most of the Newport players had by now gone very direct and were pumping endless high balls forward, bypassing the midfield. Samuel though had the confidence to hold on to the ball and dribble with it despite the bobbly surface. He had a strange style, he ran at defenders with his head down, not seeming to look up to see who who was around him, he was effective though and often beat a man or two before finding a team mate or making a cross. At the other end of the pitch the Newport defence looked a pretty solid unit and rarely looked like being breached.

The long balls became more and more frequent as the final whistle approached, Morecambe keeper Barry Roache made one fine point blank save right at the death before the ref called an end to proceedings - 1-1 at full time.

On tonights showing, Newport have certainly got the experience and desire in the squad that could help them avoid the drop. With the gap that has opened up between them and safety, Westely and his men really will have achieved the great escape if they are able to maintain Football League status.

@goneforaburtone