Jason Bowen returned to the starting line-up on the right flank. Injury-hit County saw both John Brough (knee) and Lee Collier (ankle) retire through injury during the game.   

 

Histon were keen to press home the advantage in the early stages and Mark Ovendale had to be quick off his line to block a shot from Danny Bloomfield having seen Matthew Langston hit the post and Neil Kennedy smash the ball into his side-netting from a close range offside position. Julian Alsop tested Lance Key in the home goal with a towering far post header from Jason’s Bowen’s enticing cross before Ovendale had to make a repeat one on one save with the livewire Bloomfield.

 

Histon had the upper hand as the half drew on but it was County who came closest to taking the lead. A perceptive Bowen through ball set Craig Hughes clear of the defence and his cross shot eluded Key only to bounce against the foot of the far post. Bowen was close to being first to the rebound as the defence scrambled the ball to safety.

 

The home team visibly stepped up a gear in the second half and had three chances in the first three minutes; John Kennedy coming the closest with a looping chip shot which landed on the top of the cross bar. Once captain John Brough was forced to retire with a recurrent heel injury in the 52nd minute a patched up defence struggled to cope with the invention, pace and movement of the home attack. The inevitable home goal came nine minutes later, midfielder John Kennedy drilling home the loose ball from 25 yards from a corner.

 

County’s defending was at times desperate. Ovendale was forced into a number of saves and interceptions and replacement captain Damon Searle incredibly made a double-clearance on his line under intense pressure. More composed finishing would have seen the home side double or treble their lead but County held on. In the final ten minutes County exerted their most sustained pressure of the match but were wasteful with their set-pieces and could not create the one clear chance they needed to salvage an undeserved point from the game.

 

Defeat at Histon saw County slip to fifth place in the league. Similarly to the disappointment at Salisbury County must perform better at critical away matches and will be glad to have got this fixture out of the way. Manager Peter Beadle has a concerningly busy treatment room and may have limited selection options for the mid-week home fixture with bottom club Farnborough Town.     

               

Line Ups:

 

Newport: Ovendale, Thomas, Searle, Davies, Brough © (Williams 52), Edwards, Bowen, Collier (Green 76), Alsop (Blake 60), Hughes, Evans Subs Not Used: Prosser, Giles

 

Histon: Key, Haniver, Jackman (Knight-Percival 27), Langston, Mitchell-King, A Cambridge, Kennedy, Murray (I Cambridge 84), Bloomfield, Kennedy, Barker ©, Subs Not Used: Nightingale, Roberts, Andrews

 

Goals

Histon: John Kennedy (59)

 

Cautions

County: Nathan Davies (foul)

 

Attendance

1189

 

Officials

Referee: J Lodge (Colchester)

Assistants: S Cheney (Rushden) and R Earl (Daventry)

 

Man of the Man

County: Mark Ovendale

Histon: Nathaniel Knight-Percival

 

Conditions

Dry and sunny

 

Match Rating

4/5

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