Rovers sunk by former loan forward Telford
DOM Telford returned to haunt Bristol Rovers with two goals for Newport in Saturday’s League Two clash at the Memorial Stadium, writes Sam Frost.
Despite losing skipper Matt Dolan to injury early on, the Exiles took the lead when Courtney Baker-Richardson slid home Jake Cain’s cross.
Telford then flicked in his first, but Brett Pitman’s top-corner strike gave Rovers a lifeline moments before half-time.
However, former Rovers loanee Telford sealed victory from close range after being played in by exCheltenham loan midfielder Finn Azaz, the striker’s seventh goal in nine games.
It gave manager James Rowberry victory in his first game in charge of Newport on another difficult afternoon for Pirates counterpart Joey Barton.
The Rovers boss said: “We gave the opportunity for them to get that first goal and then we compound the errors by giving another soft one away.
“We managed to score a good goal ourselves, a moment of quality from Brett, and we start the second half looking like the team who are going to get back into the game and hopefully go and win it.
“And then again, another poor decision at a key moment. We get
BRISTOL ROVERS ............. 1 NEWPORT COUNTY ......... 3
counter-attacked and then the game is put beyond us.”
Barton had been bullish in the summer months about Rovers’ targets for the season, but asked if he still believes his side is capable of finishing in the top seven this season, he said: “After today, you do worry about that, but everybody in our division is beating everybody else at this moment in time.
“We are yet to play consistently well for a prolonged spell. You would think with the personnel we’ve got, once it settles down and we get relationships built, that will start to unfold.
“It isn’t happening quickly enough for us, but I think we’ve got enough quality in this group to win any game in this division when the penny drops and we put a consistent run together. We’ve got to stick together.”
Rovers: Belshaw, Anderson (Coutts 69), Kilgour, Taylor, Anderton, Thomas, Whelan (Finley 69), Evans, Nicholson, Pitman, Collins (Westbrooke 69). Not Used: Spence, Hoole, Ward, Brown.
Booked: Finley.
Goals: Pitman 45.
Newport: Day, Clarke, Dolan (Azaz 16), Demetriou, Norman, Willmott, Cain, Cooper, Lewis, Baker-Richardson (Abraham 87), Telford (Ellison 79). Not Used: Fisher, Collins, Missilou, Townsend.
Booked: Clarke, Willmott, Baker-Richardson, Abraham.
Goals: Baker-Richardson 27, Telford 31, 61.
Referee: Scott Oldham (Lancashire).