Newtown 4. Haverfordwest County 2.

Haverfordwest County went to Newtown looking to extend their unbeaten run in the League to six games.

With Tom Ramasut out through injury, Bobby Briers and Neil Thomas came into the side, with Paul Michael moving to the bench, and up front, the Gaffer went with the partnership of Woodrow and Bowen.

At the back, Terry Evans was playing in front of a back three, as the Gaffer went with the attacking formation that has worked so well recently.

From the start, the Bluebirds were causing problems for a shaky Newtown defence, and in the fifth minute Nicky Woodrow rose to head home his seventh league goal of the season to give County the lead.

County pressed for a second and were in control of the game, until five minutes of mayhem in their defence allowed Newtown to score three goals.

Twice they allowed Gareth Mansell in to score, in the 14th and 15th minutes and then in the 18th Robbie James was allowed to run across the edge of the penalty area and fire a shot into the corner of the goal.

For a while the usually solid Bluebird defence looked rattled, but gradually County worked their way back into the game, and had several chances, and in the 28th minute Luke Bowen pulled a goal back with a diving header at the far post.

Derek Brazil’s side took over the game, and had several chances to pull level, but were not able to find the target. Both strikers came close, with Nicky Woodrow’s volley just over the bar being the best of the chances.

Just on half time, Neil Thomas was the recipient of a particularly nasty challenge that went unpunished by the officials, who were being heavily criticised by both home and away fans.

The second half began with County chasing the game, and Newtown being forced to defend.

Mike Hartley had a fine game and caused the defence several problems, in tandem with Lee Jarman on the right, and it seemed as if it would only be a matter of time before the score was level.

In the 56th minute, Bobby Briers was replace by Jack Christopher as the Bluebirds went with three forwards to save the game, and the tactical change nearly paid off.

In the 60th minute Luke Bowen had a golden opportunity to level the scores, after the Newtown keeper made a fine save, but he was unable to direct the ball into the net.

The failure of County to score was soon compounded, when Newtown benefited from a handball that everyone in the ground saw, except the officials, and Moses restored the two-goal advantage.

After this goal, Newtown continued to defend, and County continued to make chances with Nicky Woodrow continually harrying the defence, and Neil Thomas making dangerous runs from midfield.

Paul Michael came on in the 72nd minute for Dyfan Pierce, and made a fine tackle in the penalty area to stop a Newtown break.

Despite the chances that they created, though, County were unable to find the back of the net. The defeat means that County drop on place to sixth in the League.

This Saturday, County are home to bottom of the table Caernarfon Town, kick off is at 2.30pm.

Haverfordwest County: Idzi, Evans, Handford, Jarman, Elliott, Briers (Christopher 56), Hartley, Thomas, Bowen, Woodrow, Pierce (Michael 72)