The charming Church Road ground in Hayes has proved itself a graveyard for countless teams in Blue Square South this season, so Peter Beadle will have been delighted by the manner of Newport County’s excellent three-point haul from his side’s visit to the London suburbs on Saturday.  League leaders Lewes were defeated at Hayes & Yeading, as were both Havant and Bromley (walloped by six goals!) recently; while only last week, John Relish’s Bath City were the latest high-flying outfit to return home pot-less after a resounding 3-0 spanking.

Thankfully for Beads and the Amber Army, who once again travelled in impressive numbers, Newport County continued their recent upturn in fortunes with a third straight League victory to elevate the Exiles back into the play-off positions with games to spare.  Ultimately, County’s fate is firmly back in their own hands once more, with just eleven League fixtures still to come.  The Newport boss decided on an unchanged line-up, keeping faith with the same side that narrowly saw off Bishop’s Stortford last Saturday, including young rookie ‘keeper Scott James who had performed with such maturity over the past two games in the absence of Glyn Thompson. ‘Lawnmower Man’, Tony Pennock, had thankfully recovered sufficiently to make his return and take up a place on the substitute’s bench.

Despite the drifting rain that inevitably made conditions rather troublesome and tricky, the home side started brightly with Lee Jarman having to make an impromptu block early on, to deny Kieran Knight from having a clean strike at James’ goal; while on 12 minutes, County threatened for the first real time when home skipper Saroya had to be on his mettle to deal with a curling free-kick by Gurney.  The Exiles came even closer six minutes later when Craig Hughes turned his marker brilliantly before striking a low shot from 20-yards that squirmed through the ‘keepers hands; luckily for the relieved custodian, he was able to recover in time and grab the loose ball at the second attempt.  County were beginning to get on top by this stage and the goalkeeper’s luck was to run out six minutes later when another piece of indecision by the United number one allowed top-scorer Charlie Griffin to put County ahead.  Craig Hughes met Searle’s long clearance with a delightful glancing-header that allowed GRIFFIN to race clear and hit a low, cross-shot that ‘keeper Delroy Preddie appeared to have covered; alas for the stopper, the tame effort somehow evaded his despairing grasp and nestled instead inside the bottom-right corner of the net.

Buoyed by their breakthrough, County continued to take the game to their hosts and only a superb last-ditch block by Allen-Page denied Hughes, after Jason Bowen had cleverly cut the ball back to him.  Bowen again caused mischief down the right flank on 32 minutes when his excellent cross into the mixer was somehow deflected over the bar by an alert Palmer.  On 38 minutes, Newport rammed home their superiority further, albeit with a somewhat fortunate second goal.  A free-kick was won, wide out on the left-flank; up stepped County’s new dead-ball expert Andy GURNEY who swept over a viciously-curling kick that somehow evaded everybody in the packed goalmouth and found the back of the net.  Once again unfortunately, question marks had to be asked over luckless home stopper Preddie’s part in the goal.  It could even have been three for the visitors shortly before the interval when Nathan Davies’ drive was well-saved at the second attempt by Preddie.

County began the second period pretty much where they left off and only a superb piece of defending denied Griffin another goal in the 48th minute.  A slide rule pass from Bowen sprang the offside trap and set Griffin free, he subsequently rounded the ‘keeper only to see his goal-bound effort brilliantly thwarted by a sliding Ram Marwa.  The respite was short-lived however and within seven minutes, County had all but killed the game off and sealed a terrific away victory.  The scorer on this occasion was winger Richard EVANS who raced away down the left channel, and made full use of the space he was afforded by cutting inside and striking a fine low shot into the corner of the net with his right peg.

United made gallant efforts to claw their way back into the match, using their right-flank to good effect.  On 63 minutes, Palmer set up Collins who was too hurried with his finish and shot over the bar.  Nine minutes later, the home side appealed in vain for a penalty after Scott and Searle had collided, the Referee however wasn’t interested and waved away the protests.  The changes began to come and Lee Fowler entered the fray in place of Bowen; quickly followed by the appearance of Clarke and Alsop for Griffin and Evans.  County had not surprisingly eased off and settled for three by this stage, although they did almost snatch a fourth on 80 minutes.  Jermaine Clarke advanced towards goal down the left, but Preddie was able to read the danger and raced out to smother.  This was followed by a couple of attempts on the Newport goal, but both were from range and left Scott James largely untroubled.  Hayes & Yeading did get the consolation goal their efforts merited in the final minute, when substitute Joel LEDGESTER got on the end of a cross from fellow sub, Kyle Matthews, to knock home his first goal for the club.

Full marks to Peter Beadle and his County team; they took three points in some style from a veritable fortress of an away venue – crucially not allowing Tuesday night’s FAW Cup Final to distract the players in any shape or form.  A massive away victory at a critical time, one that ranks up there alongside Eastleigh as County’s finest of the season.

Man of the Match:

Hayes & Yeading: Nevin Saroya (solid captain’s display)

County: Nathan Davies (here, there and everywhere)

Special Mention: The County management team who kept the team focused on the job in hand, despite the distracting, looming prospect of a cup final showdown in just three days time.