Telford to the rescue as Exiles earn a point
CRAWLEY TOWN...........................................1 NEWPORT COUNTY......................................1
DOM Telford saved Newport County from back-toback defeats as he popped up in the right place at the right time to tap home an 84th minute equaliser.
That extended his goal rush to 12 in the league and 13 for the season and shattered Crawley’s hopes of picking up two wins in four days to boost their climb out of the lower reaches of the League Two table.
It was a goal with his first attempt of an otherwise miserable second half for County, who bossed the first 45 minutes and then allowed themselves to be hustled out of their stride. They then had to thank the cross bar for saving them in the 90th minute when Kwesi Appiah lobbed Joe Day and saw his attempt come back into the safe hands of the visitors’ keeper.
Crawley came into the game having finally broken their six match losing streak at Barrow last weekend, but contented themselves with sitting back and allowing County to play keep-ball. County enjoyed 70% possession and won three corners without conceding any in a dull first-half.
Crawley tried to hit County on the counter attack and managed to cause a few scary moments. Nothing came of them, though, and the better chances were all at the home end. The best of them came when Ellison was played through and opted to shoot early.
His left footed attempt across goal from 25 yards forced Crawley’s keeper Glenn Morris to show remarkable agility for a 37-year-old as he dived full length to tip the goal bound, low shot just wide of his left hand post.
Having looked so comfortable throughout the firsthalf, County had a terrible start to the second. They lost skipper Dolan after an aerial collision and two minutes later conceded a sucker goal.
Lewis gave away a silly free kick five yards outside his box with a needless body check on James Tilley and Jack Powell’s teasing cross was met by Appiah. He had a free header and buried the ball in the top right corner.
The loss of Dolan was a killer blow to the visitors, who put under huge pressure from a revitalised Crawley team who force Day to pull off a wonderful save from Will Ferry in the 68th minute.
Crawley Town: Morris; Davies, Francomb (captain), Francillette, Craig; Powell, Frost (Ferry 46, Nichols 72), Hessenthaler, Tilley (Grego-Cox 67); Appiah, Nadesan
Subs Unused: Nna Noukeu, Bansal-McNulty, Kowalczyk, Battle
Newport County: Day; Demetriou, Dolan (captain, Cain 53), Clarke; Norman, Lewis, Azaz, Cooper, Upson (Fisher 83); Ellison (Baker-Richarson 57), Telford
Subs Unused: Townsend, Bennett, Haynes, Cain, Abraham
Referee: Sam Allison
A last-minute goal from top-scorer Paul Mullin earned Wrexham a 2-1 win at Halifax Town in the National League.