Newport earn maiden win in National League
Newport are up and running after bagging their first National League Two West success.
The Old Showground outfit bounced back from their opening day defeat away to Old Redcliffians to secure a 35-28 success at home to Bournville last Saturday.
Newport ran in four tries through George Castledine, Nicholas Murphy, Jack Wells and Tristian de Jager while Jacob Leonard added three conversions and three penalties. Head coach and director of rugby Bob Adams was delighted with his side’s response to the opening day setback.
“The players had responded really well in training to the opening day defeat and they took that into the game,” said Adams. “We were 13-0 down but from the 25th minute onwards I though we were in control.
“To be honest it was probably more of 15 to 20 point game rather than the eight points, but we squandered three or four other good opportunities to score.
“We stripped things back down and used the systems that served us well last season. We were more compact this week and I was pleased with the performance.
“But the penalty count is something we have to look at and we also had a reminder that you can’t switch off.
“We did that late on and conceded a try and that made the game a little bit tighter than is should have been.”
Bridgnorth are braced for a tough test when they open their home schedule on Saturday.
The All Blacks will run out in front of their own fans for the first time this season when they host Bromsgrove.
And they will kick off with their confidence boosted having bounced back from an opening day defeat at Syston to claim a 25-14 success at Broadstreet last weekend.
Head coach Bryan Smallman was delighted to get the first win on the board but acknowledges that there is still plenty of work to be done.
“It was great to get a win after the loss the week before where we felt we were robbed slightly,” said Smallman, who took charge of first-team affairs in the summer.
Centre Dan Spencer-Tonks claimed two tries and number eight Connor Nicholls one against Broadstreet, with Elliott Murphy kicking the other points.
Ludlow are geared up for a tough test this weekend after chalking up win number two in Regional Two West Midlands.
A 32-19 success away to Walsall maintained Ludlow’s perfect start as they head into a Shropshire derby with Whitchurch, who lost 25-22 at Hereford. “It’s always a tough game at Whitchurch and I don’t think Ludlow have won there for a while,” said head coach Mikey Jones. “We will need to be at our best but with given our form we can go there feeling confident.”
Ludlow ran in five tries on Walsall’s 4G surface with Rhys Perkins, Ben Chamberlin, Joe Doyle, Will Hodnett and Jack Davies touching down. Jack Lines added two conversions and a penalty.
Telford Hornets endured an afternoon to forget as they slipped to a 41-8 defeat at Longton in Counties One Midlands West (North)
Dan Robinson scored a penalty and Cameron Mitchell a try for Telford.
However, county and league rivals Shrewsbury did earn their first success of the season – 48-21 over Uttoxeter.
Market Drayton’s planned clash away at Harborne in Counties Two Midlands West (North) was postponed due to a number of the Drayton players having army commitments. That game will be replayed at a later date.
Bridgnorth II – who Drayton face this weekend – beat Veseyans 19-9, while Shropshire rivals Clee Hill and Oswestry battled out a 5-5 draw, Cleobury Mortimer beat Luctonians III 25-18 and Newport II lost 33-31 at Handsworth.
Ludlow II and Whitchurch II conceded their matches against Cannock and Willenhall, respectively, in Counties Three Midlands West (North).
Bishop’s Castle & Onny Valley were awarded a home walkover against Trinity Guild in Counties Four Midlands West (South).
