Posted by ChrisB on February 27, 2008, 3:28 pm
With the disappointing return of only two points from the last four matches hanging over them, it was important that City regained some lost momentum and got their promotion-bid back on track. Having held City to a 1-1 draw on the Island, and recording their first home win of the season last Saturday, the visitors might have harboured hopes of making a nonsense of the points-gap between the two sides.
The home side made their intentions clear from the kick-off when, within the first 30 seconds, Leon Woodruffe’s pass released Mark Bell on the left and his lofted pass was met by Darren Pond whose left-footed shot beat Sam Webb in the Newport goal but curled just beyond the far post.
In fact the first five minutes saw several chances come in rapid succession for City. A Bell cross picked out Mark Jones at the far post, but his header was blocked by a defender; Mike Lyon rolled a pass into Errol Telemaque’s path and his accurate shot was well saved by Webb at the expense of a corner; an interchange of passes between Lyon and Telemaque saw the latter pull his shot wide; and Lyon hit the side-netting from a very narrow angle. Mark Lilley at the other end latched on to a misplaced pass from Woodruffe, but was quickly closed down by Avery before he could take advantage. But after all this pressure, it came as no great surprise when City took the lead in the ninth minute.
Jones held the ball up well on the right and played it back for Andy Gunn to loop a high cross into the box where the ball was missed by Telemaque and a defender jumping together in front of Webb who, unsighted, failed to gather the ball and Mark Bell, using his head in more ways than one, stooped low to nod the ball gently home.
The half continued in this vein throughout with City generally in command of the midfield and probing well on both flanks, whilst the visitors were clearly defending resolutely in numbers, intent on damage limitation, and hoping that a quick break from defence might catch the City defence cold.
A clever free-kick routine allowed Telemaque to lift a ball to Gunn at the far post with the defenders expecting a shot, but Webb saved well at the foot of the post; a foul on Liam Malone gave City a free-kick twenty yards out and Telemaque’s precise shot drew a fine low save from Webb.
Around the end of the first quarter Newport ventured forward a little more, and, after a patient build-up, Richard Moore found himself in space and faced with a retreating defence but pondered too long on the options, and the chance was gone.
Webb, who was being kept busy and generally performing very well, was at fault, however, on the half-hour when he misjudged a ball into the area from Pond, allowing Bell to take it past him only to see his shot rebound from the post.
As the half reached it conclusion a quickly taken free-kick from Jones to Malone produced an opening for Pond, but he snatched at the shot and cleared the bar; and then Bell, put through by a ball over the top beat Webb with a good shot that just failed to curl inside the far post.
Half-Time: City 1-0 Newport
From the restart a flowing move saw long crossfield pass pick out Mark Jones whose pass down the line set Telemaque free in acres of space but his cross was gathered by Webb at the second attempt.
In the lively first-half the home side had created plenty of chances, but they struggled in the second period to really take command and put the result beyond doubt, with Webb comfortably dealing with a succession of high crosses into his territory from various parts of the field.
Lyon just missed the target after some good footwork on the edge of the box, while Telemaque was close to beating Webb to a bouncing ball over the top and was then just offside as he raced into an inviting space between the back-four and the keeper.
Lilley seemed surprised at the Clubhouse End to find himself with time on the ball and pulled his shot wide, and with ten minutes left Saunders had by far the best chance to square matters but, after some neat footwork, shot weakly at Smith.
With two minutes left a through ball finally produced a clear run on goal for a City player, and substitute Yashwa Romeo accelerated away from a last-ditch tackle to finish calmly and deliberately beyond Webb.
Full-Time: Oxford City 2-0 Newport (IoW)
City: Smith, Saulsbury, Woodruffe, Gunn, Pond, Avery, Jones, Malone, Lyon (Redknap 72), Telemaque (Romeo 72), Bell.
Newport: Webb, Woodford (Squib 57), Bailey (Tigwell 30), Lewis, Mann, Lewis, Bartlett, Moore, Saunders, Lilley (Thomas 84), Zamitt.
Three points then; and now just one point covers the top four. The clubs around us all have games in hand, so it’s going to be a long, hard two months to the end of the season. But could we really expect anything different?
A goodly number of chances in the first half, but really rather unconvincing after the break, and a feeling among many watching from the sidelines that more of a passing-game, rather than the long-ball over the top, might have been more successful in unlocking a packed and determined defence.
Still, isn’t this when managers say, “it wasn’t pretty, but it was three points”? And certainly there have been, and will be, times when City play much better but don’t win.
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