■ Newport report: Page 46
NICKY Maynard scored in the 118th minute of an epic encounter at The New Lawn to send Newport County into their second League 2 play-off final in three years.
Wembley seemed a million miles away when Michel Flynn’s men conceded two goals in the space of a minute early in the first-half to lose their advantage from the first leg in the blink of an eye. When it went to 3-0 eight minutes into the second half it looked like curtains for County.
But as Flynn always suggests, doing things the hard way is in the DNA of his side. In the end, Flynn’s inspired second half substitutions, coupled with Maynard’s late, late goal, carried them to the final and a clash with Morecambe for a place in League 1.
Just as County had started with a bang in the first clash, so Forest Green exploded out of the blocks. They locked-up County in their own half and struck first from a corner conceded from a sixth minute free kick given away when Josh Sheehan brought down Aaron Collins on the edge of the area.
Collins then fired in the corner and found Ebou Adams and he halved the deficit in the sixth minute. No sooner had County re-started than they conceded again.
The home side regained possession, pressed forward and a cross from the left by Baily Cargill allowed Collins to race onto it and stroke it underneath Tom King in the County goal with a sweet caress from his right boot.
That made it one goal each in the family stakes after younger brother Lewis had scored at Rodney Parade and put the two teams on level terms. Those opening 10 minutes were nothing short of a disaster for Michael Flynn’s men.
They managed to compose themselves and proceeded to dominate much of the rest of the half. Sheehan and Aaron Lewis grew in stature and influence and they forced the home side back onto the defensive.
Anthony Hartigan fired a long range shot over the bar and then Mickey Demetriou headed inches wide. They were the best of the efforts from the visitors before the break and they were happy to see another smart effort from Aaron Collins hit their cross bar and bounce clear.
Flynn made two changes at the start of the second half, bringing in Ryan Taylor and Joss Labadie for Padraig Amond and Hartigan. One of Labadie’s first impacts was to concede a free kick with a slight nudge in the 52nd minute.
From that position 35 yards out Nicky Cadden curled in a teaser that beat the defenders in the air and bounced in front of King and skidded straight into the back of the net. That put Forest Green ahead over the two legs for the first time and well and truly in the driving seat to head to Wembley.
That goal forced Flynn to go for broke and he introduced Ellison and Nicky Maynard up front to try to find a goal to bring the game back to life. It was a gamble that worked brilliantly well for him.
Within eight minutes of taking the pitch, and at 42 becoming the oldest outfield player to appear in a playoff match, Ellison struck a sweet left footed strike and County were back on level terms.
It got even better six minutes later when another of Flynn’s second half subs, Labadie, swept in a cross from Ryan Haynes to put County ahead with 15 minutes to go.
They held on for 13 of them before old boy Jamile Matt got in front of Haynes to toe-poke a cross from Odin Bailey from the left into the County net to level things up for the third time in the tie.
Matt’s 17th goal of the season sent the game into extra time, with Forest Green leading 4-2, but Maynard should have put County back ahead on aggregate four minutes into the extra period when he had a free header on the six-yard box and somehow managed to guide Haynes’ pin-point cross inches wide.
It took until the 28th minute of the 30 in extra-time for either side to score again when Maynard ran on to Lewis Collins’ clever cross. It was worth the wait.
FOREST GREEN: McGee, Bernard, Godwin-Malife, Cargill, Wilson (Richardson 81), Sweeney, MooreTaylor, Cadden (Bailey 81), Adams, Collins (Young 81), Matt
SUBS: Allen, Wagstaff, Davison, Thomas
NEWPORT COUNTY: King, Shephard, Bennett (Farquharson 71), Demetriou, Lewis (Ellison 62), Hartigan (Labadie 45), Sheehan (captain), Dolan (Maynard 62), Haynes, Amond (Taylor 45), Collins
SUBS: Townsend, Ledley
REFEREE: Martin Coy