Inniss relieved as first goal banishes memory of miss in cup semi-final shootout
RYAN Inniss was a relieved man as a he bounced back from last week’s EFL Cup semi-final heartache with a career first goal in a 2-1 win over Bradford City.
The Newport centre-back missed the decisive penalty against Salford City in midweek which cost the Exiles a trip to Wembley.
But he played a starring role in their convincing victory over the Bantams which keeps Michael Flynn’s side within touching distance of the play-offs considering they have three games in hand over most of their rivals.
“After Salford I was thinking I’d let the lads down but I wanted to take that penalty and I stepped up with conviction but missed,” said Inniss.
“I was extra pumped to try and make a contribution, especially with getting a goal. I feel like I can offer a lot more in the opposition’s box so hopefully I can go on a run now.
“I was positive about the situation and thought I’d played well in the game so wanted to take the penalty. If I’d shied away I would have blamed myself more.
“I wanted to put in a good performance against Bradford, which I obviously did, and I wanted to repay the fans for the miss.
“I was almost trying too hard. Someone with my stature and size should be getting five or six goals a season.
“I’ve definitely been creating the chances and the lads have created a few for me as well so I definitely think I’ve been letting them down a little bit. But I’m confident now I can go on a run and score more goals.”
Two first-half goals from Inniss and Scot Bennett was enough to secure all three points for Flynn’s side with Clayton Donaldson grabbing Bradford’s only goal.
It was the visitors who took the lead when dangerous striker Donaldson’s powerful header left Tom King helpless to put Bradford into the lead.
It would have been easy for Newport to crumble at that point but the Exiles hit straight back with Josh Sheehan flicking the ball onto Innis who hacked the delivery past Bradford goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell to level the scores.
The momentum was all with Newport who continued to pressurise the Bradford penalty box. And they took the lead when the ball sat up favourably for Bennett just outside the box who proceeded to hammer it into the bottom left-hand corner.
Bradford began the second-half on the front foot and came mightily close to finding the back of the net when Jake Reeves’ shot rattled the crossbar. But Newport always had an answer and despite Bradford throwing the kitchen sink at the Exiles in the closing stages of the game their defence remained intact.
NEWPORT County: (3-5-2) T King; R Inniss, S Bennett, M Demetriou; R Willmott, J Sheehan, D Gorman (K Howkins 79), O Khan (M Dolan 88), R Haynes; J Green (T Abrahams 74), J Matt.
SCORERS: Newport – R Inniss 28, S Bennett 33. BRADFORD – C Donaldson 26.
REFEREE: Joshua Smith.
ATTENDANCE: 3,439.