Newport (H) Ratings

Holy – 7 – Kept us in the game first half, when Newport were pretty much in control, with a top class save from Zanzala. Used the ball intelligently in the wind and coped well on a blustery day. Criminally under-rated by some of our fans but a really steady and calming presence.

Senior – 4 – Some really excellent stuff in possession of the ball coupled with positional chaos and defensive ineptitude. Possibly a footballer, but not a defender.

Armer – 7 – Excellent overlapping, on the ball, and Mr Dependable in defence. It’s a shame he didn’t score the sitter he missed to cap a fine display.

Feeney – 6 – If you were in the trenches you’d want Feeney beside you. Use of the ball could be better but a true savage defensively. Looked comfortable over on the left of a central defensive two.

Huntington – 5 – Zanzala had him in his pocket, but for some strange reason Newport failed to exploit this (especially after the agricultural challenge which saw him booked). His lack of pace is a liability waiting to happen.

Mellish – 6 – Decent in defence, mixed bag when pushed into midfield. It’s not really fair on him to be swapping position all game, he wouldn’t have to if Simpson got his tactics right from the start.

Guy – 6 – Awful first half, improved after the break. When Guy finds a bit of form the team overall looks more comfortable.

Moxon – 5 – Some decent corners and one or two exceptional pieces of play, but has a tendency to overplay and needs to learn to tailor his game to the conditions. Sometimes simple is good, as is having the experience to know when to try the defence splitting pass and when not to.

Gibson – 5 – An improvement (although he could hardly have played any worse than recent efforts, in fairness). At least he was involved and asking the question today, although not always (rarely, in fact) the right question.

Dennis – 6 – All round game was awful, in fairness. Slow, weak, can’t jump, passing off the mark, work rate dubious. He barely looked like a footballer all first half...but then Newport have a brain fart in defence and who is the only player to read what’s going on? Kept the ball alive for goal two (although you’d be cheeky calling that “pass” an assist, being behind the man), but his value was purely in the awareness shown for the first goal.

Gordon – 7 – Just about the only piece of technical play worth paying money to watch all afternoon. Took a turkey of a pass from Dennis, ripped his way into the box and showed a real touch of class with the finish with his left foot. Our task as a team should be pretty simple henceforward – get the ball to Gordon in the final third. Decent amount of spadework also.

Subs

Patrick – Great to see Patrick causing havoc running with the ball again.

Sho-Silva – Decent shift

McCalmont – Not on for very long but showed some decent awareness and use of the ball