Latest News

Clean Sweep for the Academy and Youth Teams
All 3 academy sides come away with terrific wins on Sunday 22nd of January 2012.
Newtown under 12s travelled to Bala and game away 3-0 winners
The Under 14's were also convincing winners with a 2-0 win and the Under 16's made it the Treble with a 4-1 win.

The Youths had a sterner test against Penrhyncoch youths at Latham Park in the CWFA Cup. Both Teams started lively but a Joe Evans 30......no 35........no 40 yard screamer opened the account for the young Robins. Minutes later and a penalty was awarded to Newtown, Up stepped Elliot Jones, unfortunately it wasn’t to be and Newtown remained at 1-0 up. With Penrhyncoch down to 10 men, a bit of Elliot Jones magic saw Newtown go 2-0 nil up. To make things interesting and it wouldn't be a cup game with out the excitement of a close game; the away team played some nice football and had the share of possession to grab a goal back 2-1. This then kick-started a frantic final 15 minutes with Luke Jarman the town Keeper pulling off some great saves and Newtown building pressure on the battered defence of Penrhyncoch. This pressure resulted in another penalty being awarded to Newtown by Referee Sam Richards. The away team were distraught and vented their anger in a verbal tirade against the ref which resulted in them being down to 9 men. Joe Bell stepped forward and slotted the ball into the bottom right hand corner with a well taken penalty. 3-1 to Newtown with 5 minutes plus injury time to go. It was not all over yet with Penrhyncoch pulling back another goal to make it 3-2. With Referee Sam Richards having a busy day with 8 yellows and 2 reds shown, sure he was delighted to blow the final whistle which saw Dave Jarmans Youths progress through to the next round where they will meet Cearsws (at Cearsws). Final score 3-2 and a very enjoyable game.

Fans Forum
The board was presented with a 5 year plan by chairman Elwyn Preece last Thursday and were very impressed by the forward thinking and presentations done by Elwyn with aid from Management team Bernie, Pete and Wayne,
The Fans Forum this Friday Night (27th January 2012), 7.30pm in the Media Room. Will give all members and fans a chance to see the proposed 5 year plan and give you a chance to have your say about the future of the club.
The management team will also be there to answer any questions you have.
Please come along, Newtown AFC is your club and your say matters.

Newtown Defeat Shrewsbury Town XI in Friendly

Bernie McNally had a second friendly match in a week as he gave his trialists another good run-out, this time against a Shrewsbury Town side that boasted a number of first team fringe players and mostly youths. It was a very evenly contested match on a crisp pitch which was thawing out nicely after a cold day, but was still a bit firm in places. It was Newtown who got the scoring underway with new signing, Callum Wright returning to the club once again, and scoring the opener. He showed a strong presence against Llanrhaeadr last week, and proved he was not afraid to shoot from outside the box. Shrewsbury equalised just after half time, but the winner came from the Robins with Robbie Millington getting a rare strike this season to clinch the match, 2-1.

Newtown have re-signed Max Penk and Nick Rushton on a loan deal from Wrexham AFC and negotiations are on-going with several other players who have trialled with the Club over the last couple of weeks. The transfer window ends on 31st January, leaving the Manager just a further 13 days to complete any new signings.

The fixtures for the second batch of fixtures have been almost settled, with only doubt remaining of the date of the away game with Afan Lido following a late request to change from the South Wales Club. Newtown re-start their league fixtures with three home games on the bounce, starting with the most crucial game of the lot, at home to Carmarthen. They have asked to swap their home game as it clashes with a function at their Clubhouse, but whilst it gives us three home games in succession, it also means we have three away games towards the end of the season.

The Newtown directors have also decided to try one Friday night game to give the region's footballers the chance to support Newtown at an evening game. Newtown will stage this fixture against Airbus in the second game of the new  fixtuers on Friday 10th February in a match that will be sponsored by the local Monty Brewery who will be launching a new guest beer at the Club that night.

For the full list of fixtures, please click on the 1st team fixtures link above.

Reserves Top of League After Win Against Morda Res

Jim Sharman's Reserves are knitting together nicely after half a season together and recorded an excellent 5-1 home win against Morda Reserves at Latham Park yesterday. The goalscorers were Marc Salvati (2), Marcus Ashley (2) and Dan Baker with one. The Reserves have played one or two games more than the other teams around them, but its points on the board that count.

Next Sunday, the Reserves are away to Llanfair Reserves in the League.

Shrewsbury Town Friendly Back On for Tuesday 17th Jan

The Shrewsbury Town FC visit which was unfortunately postponed from last Tuesday has been re-arranged for this coming Tuesday, the 17th January. Kick-off is at the slightly earlier time of 7pm so come along and see the trialists mixing in with the existing First Team squad once again.

Under 16s Supporters Invited to Liaise With Club

Club Director, Nigel Kennedy has arranged a meeting for mid-day today to hear what our young supporters have to say about the Club.

Nigel, who has responsibility for the Latham Centre business side of the Club, is anxious to involve the Under 16s by seeking their views on how we can seek to increase the number of younger supporters at Newtown.

All interested people are invited to come along - Midday TODAY, Saturday 14th January at the Clubhouse - and give your views. Also, if you can't make it, then email the club at office@newtownafc.co.uk and your thoughts will be gratefully received. 

Successful Friendly With Llanrhaeadr For Trialists

Newtown Manager, Bernie McNally put his side through a good work-out tonight in a friendly at home to Llanrhaeadr YM from the Cymru Alliance.

Featuring six trailists, the Newtown side enjoyed the lion's share of possession but went a goal behind half way through the first half when the Llanrhaeadr striker found himself completely unmarked to perfectly meet a crisply struck corner, leaving Nick Thomas no chance in the Newtown goal. The second half saw further changes to the line-up and the pressure on the visitors' defence was starting to grow with a goal for a trialist putting the sides level. Gareth Partridge was playing in an unaccustomed attacking right back role, and it was from that position that a good deal of the attacks were built. A cross from the right found another trialist who met it on the volley and slipped it past the Llanrhaeadr keeper to put Newtown in the lead for the first time. A short while later and another goal sealed a 3-1 victory. Llanrhaeadr proved to be very stout defenders and had some impressive qualities, but rarely threatened to increase their goal tally.

Newtown AFC are very grateful to Llanrhaeadr FC for coming to play at short notice when Shrewsbury were forced to cancel their appearance tonight.

Bernie McNally will get another chance to see trialists in action next Tuesday (17/1/12) when there will be another friendly match arranged, with Shrewsbury FC provisionally booked to attend for a 7pm KO. This is expected to be finalised tomorrow.

Reserves Home To Morda Res This Saturday (14th)

Instead of being away to Morda Reserves this coming Saturday, 14th January, Newtown Reserves will play at home to them, making use of Latham Park whilst it remains available. The Reserves will be resuming their league campaign after playing in the CWFA Challenge Cup last Saturday when they lost 5-1 to Rhayader's Spar Mid-Wales League team.

Latham Park Hosts Under 8s Festival

As part of its efforts to improve links with its community, Newtown Football Club played host to the Under 8s festival on Latham Park yesterday (Sunday) with organiser, Danny Owen expressing his thanks for the assistance of Gareth Owen and his groundstaff team as well as Lisa Armes for her help in organising the teas and coffees that raised income for the Whitestars football section of the club. It was a pleasure to encourage the youngsters to see the Club as something that is part of lives and we hope they will grow up to fill our Academy sides in the future.

Pictured are several of the youngsters that dotted Latham Park with photographs courtesy of Karl Lewis, Caersws.

Click here for a slide show on "You Tube"

Shrewsbury Game Postponed - Llanrhaeadr Filling In

Shrewsbury Town FC have sent their profuse apologies to the Club and advised that they are unable to supply a team to come to Latham Park tomorrow evening (Tuesday 10th Jan) as other commitments have cropped up since the match was arranged. Newtown Manager, Bernie McNally had arranged the fixture to give fans the chance to see a different standard of play and different opposition at Latham Park, and also to give a decent trial to the half dozen players who will be taking part with a view to them joining Newtown for the crucial last period of the season.

Llanrhaeadr Ym Mochnant, from the Cymru Alliance League, were meant to come to Latham Park for a pre-season friendly in the summer, but holiday commitments later ruled that game off. Many thanks to Llanrhaeadr officials for stepping into the breach and agreeing to send their team to Newtown for the same 7.30pm Kick-off.

Supporters are encouraged to come along and see the potential new players on trial at the club, and also to cast their eye over a Montgomeryshire side currently low down in the second tier of Welsh football.

Academy Sides Do Well in Weekend Games

Two totally different games highlighted the variance that Academy football now involves, with Newtown Academy's Under 16s side travelling to play a friendly against TNS' U16s, and the Academy Under 12s on fire in a Futsal tournament in Welshpool.

The Under 16s, coached by Colin Love and Vince Savoia, travelled to TNS, a side they had found hard to stay with when the two sides met in the Academy cup competition earlier in the season, and they returned with a very creditable draw, with the Newtown goal scored by Ashley Jones. Well done to the Under 16s. (Click here for the futsal training video of the Under 16s with Tim Broome)

On Saturday, Junior League official, Vaughan Harding, organised an invitation tournament at Welshpool's Flash Centre with 8 Under 12 teams competing - four from Welshpool and four from Newtown. All three Academy sides have been busy over the past few weeks, training for Futsal, which is a five-a-side game played with a special ball and tall goals. It also has some attractive rules, including a four second rule to get the ball back into play when it leaves the court. A side picked from the Under 12s Academy squad by coaches Kevin Hughes and Andy Heward won the Welshpool tournament, but what was pleasing was that they won it most convincingly, winning all their games and scoring 34 goals and conceding just one ! The winners consisted of Lewis Jones, Dewi Hughes, Jack Clare, Tomos Williams, Tommy Jones, Sam Morris, Rhys Morris and Declan Whitticase.

All three Academy sides are scheduled to play Bala in the Welsh Academy Cup on Sunday 22nd January at 1.30pm.

Shrewsbury Town FC Visit Latham Park This Tuesday, 10th January

A reminder to all supporters that you can watch a mixed Shrewsbury Town squad take on Newtown AFC at Latham Park this Tuesday. The match kicks-off at 7.30pm as Manager, Bernie McNally tries out several trialists as he looks to strengthen the team ahead of the new batch of fixtures. 

Apart from the League cup match away to Prestatyn on 21st January, this is the only fixture left for January and a chance for supporters to see the side in action. Come along and support the team on Tuesday night

McNally Puts Approaches In For Several Players

Newtown Manager, Bernie McNally has been busy notifying clubs of his intention to speak to players about coming to Newtown. Already, tentative enquiries with a couple of mid-Wales based players have not been accepted, with players chosing to ensure they play football by staying with their clubs in the lower leagues, rather than fight for a place in the Newtown side. McNally intends using his Midlands connections to search for new blood to strengthen the Robins for the crucial ten league games against our bottom half colleagues. Like all our supporters, the Manager knows that we are totally capable of beating all the other five teams in the bottom half, with a potential of 30 points up for grabs which could easily see us safe from relegation.

Newtown Look Ahead to Second Half of Season As Split Commences

Newtown concluded their first half of their league fixtures with a disappointing finale away to The New Saints, where they lost 5-0. To be fair, The New Saints are pretty invincible on their own turf, but our poor goal difference is costing us dearly and another 5 goals against did us no favours at all. Manager, Bernie McNally was hoping for some showing of the form that saw the Robins control the game for an hour at Latham Park on Boxing Day, but whilst there were flickers of control, TNS were ruthless on their home surface.

We now look ahead to the split, with fixtures re-commencing on the weekend of February 4th where we already know we will be facing an away trip to Carmarthen, although the fixtures have not yet been totally finalised as there are still unplayed games to be settled. The bottom three positions are already decided as the unplayed games are not going to affect Aberystwyth who finished 10th, Carmarthen 11th and Newtown 12th.

Carmarthen officials have asked Newtown to swap the fixture for a home game at Newtown on 4th February as they have a function on at the club that day. The matter has been referred to the Newtown Board and Management team as it will give us three home games in succession and also three away games in succession towards the end of the season, so views are currently split.

The board also have to consider what days to play their home fixtures on - with the League actively encouraging Friday nights and Sunday games to improve spectator numbers. Newtown know they will face the majority of their away games on Fridays or Sundays, but have yet to hear from all their opponents with their preferences.

Provisional Fixtures for Second Half of Season

The Fixtures will be finalised after Neath v Port Talbot on 12/1/12 and Bala v Afan Lido on 14/1/12. Also, actually playing days will be likely to change to Fridays or Sundays.

Saturday 4^th February 2012

Airbus UK Broughton v Afan Lido

Carmarthen Town v Newtown AFC

Port Talbot Town v Aberystwyth Town

Saturday 11^th February 2012

Aberystwyth Town v Carmarthen Town

Afan Lido v Port Talbot Town

Newtown AFC v Airbus UK Broughton

Saturday 18^th February 2012

Aberystwyth Town v Afan Lido

Carmarthen Town v Airbus UK Broughton

Newtown AFC v Port Talbot Town

Saturday 3^rd March 2012

Afan Lido v Newtown AFC

Airbus UK Broughton v Aberystwyth Town

Port Talbot Town v Carmarthen Town

Saturday 10^th March 2012

Airbus UK Broughton v Carmarthen Town

Carmarthen Town v Afan Lido

Newtown AFC v Aberystwyth Town

Saturday 17^th March 2012

Aberystwyth Town v Port Talbot Town

Afan Lido v Airbus UK Broughton

Newtown AFC v Carmarthen Town

Saturday 24^th March 2012

Airbus UK Broughton v Newtown AFC

Carmarthen Town v Aberystwyth Town

Port Talbot Town v Afan Lido

Saturday 7^th April 2012

Afan Lido v Aberystwyth Town

Airbus UK Broughton v Carmarthen Town

Port Talbot Town v Newtown AFC

Saturday 14^th April 2012

Aberystwyth Town v Airbus UK Broughton

Carmarthen Town v Port Talbot Town

Newtown AFC v Afan Lido

Saturday 21^st April 2012

Aberystwyth Town v Newtown AFC

Afan Lido v Carmarthen Town

Port Talbot Town v Airbus UK Broughton

 

Reserves Lose in Cup v Rhayader

Jim Sharman's Reserves took on Rhayader in the Central Wales FA Senior Challenge Cup this afternoon, and found the mixture of Spar League and Reserves a little too hot to handle as they lost 5-1. Adam Jenkins scored the goal for Newtown.

The Reserves recommence their league fixtures away to Morda Reserves next Saturday, 14th January, followed by another away game against Llanfair Reserves the following Saturday, 21st January.

Manager Fixes Friendly Up With Shrewsbury Town

Newtown Manager, Bernie McNally has arranged for a visit by Shrewsbury Town FC. The Shropshire Football League side is to take on the Robins at the start of the mid-season break with pledges to field several first team squad players in the eagerly awaited encounter. The match will take place on Tuesday 10th January at 7.30pm at Newtown's Latham Park. Further information on players expected to take part will follow in due course.

Save the date and come along to see a cracking night of football at Latham Park.

This coming weekend's final game of the first batch of fixtures, against TNS on Monday 2nd January, sees the Welsh Premier League begin a five week break from league action. The second batch of fixtures, featuring the bottom half of the League against each other in a home and away 10 match session, starts on Saturday 4th February, 2012, but we won't know who we have got until the final league positions are known. There will be a home and away League Cup match against Prestatyn on the 21st January and week beginning 29th January for the return match.

There is a lot of managerial activity leading up to the start of the January transfer window. Notices of approach have been served on six club secretaries surrounding players the Manager is interested in, with him being keen to strengthen in several areas of the pitch. As we approach the end of the year, Bernie McNally has said how pleased he is with the squad in general, but there are deficiencies in some key areas which is where he is looking to strengthen. He has a very young team that is rapidly gaining in experience and is one he is confident will grow to become a viable force in the League - but for now, the emphasis is on Premier League survival and it is important we remain above Carmarthen and target another bottom six club to try to overtake to ensure we finish in the top ten.

CLICK HERE ( UNLUCKY LADS WELL PLAYED )

Newtown In Control For An Hour - But Succumb 1-3 To TNS

Bernie McNally's Robins had the festive crowd in the palm of their hand for over an hour as they more than held their own, creating all the chances at home to former Champions, The New Saints. A goal-less first half came about only because of an excellent TNS save and two highly generous refereeing decisions. Robbie Millington was played through the TNS defence in the 20th minute  and was one-on-one with Paul Harrison in the TNS goal; he struck the ball cleanly enough, but it went straight at the keeper who smothered the shot well. Not long after, Zack Evans had an excellent dribbling spell, taking the ball into the TNS penalty area where he was pulled and pushed, but managed to stay on his feet, but was totally bundled off a shot at goal and despite the whole crowd rising in protest, there was nothing amiss as far as the Referee and his Assistant, who both had clear views of the incident, were concerned. With the Newtown faithful still rumbling in discontent, Robbie Millington was again put through and just as he was about to fire his shot away, a clear push from behind, seeing Millington bundled to the floor, was also ignored by the Referee and Assistant.

The second half began with Newtown even more dominant, and they had the extra possession to go with it as they constantly put pressure on the TNS back line. A Nick Rushton shot from wide on the right saw the TNS keeper completely beaten, but the shot hammered against the foot of the far post and rebounded to safety. Just a couple of minutes later, in the 55th minute, with Newtown were back in their opponent's box again and a Zack Evans corner picked out Luke Boundford about eight yards out from the far post and his header connected sweetly with Evans' cross and it was powered into the net to open the scoring and put Newtown into a totally deserved lead. 

Then came the substitution that changed the game - and as always, it was the emergence of Scott Roscoe that was to be the undoing of Newtown. The veteran midfielder came on as a substitute and totally changed the quality of play in the TNS centre and ran the show. A good move down the right hand side saw an excellent shot from Simon Spender to equalise after Newtown had led for just 13 mintues. From then - there was only one side in it, and the dominance Newtown had shown for over an hour, dissipated almost without trace. Roscoe was involved in nearly everything TNS did, and their pace picked up and all of a sudden the match dynamic changed completely. A six minute spell in which Newtown were bombarded by TNS pressure resulted in three goals, Tom Roberts getting the second and Craig Jones the third in the 74th minute.

Newtown rallied to produce a good defensive quarter of an hour to end the match without conceding further, but no chances befell the Robins' strikers in that time. 

It was very much a case of missed opportunities for Newtown, as the three first half incidents came back to bite. A very good performance for an hour and they thoroughly deserved the lead they had - but had they been rewarded with one penalty from the two clear-cut incidents in the first half, then a 2-0 lead would have been a bit harder for TNS to recover from. Zack Evans went off with an injured leg and may be a doubt for the return fixture on New Year's day.

Go to The Venue with pride lads - you played some excellent football today and enjoyed more than your share of possession - you just need to retain a bit more belief when the opposition get a goal. TNS showed some good quality today, but only for the final 30 minutes - so we can go to them with confidence.

Robins Fail to Take Off Against Airbus

A very poor display by Newtown at home to Airbus UK last Saturday saw the Robins slump to a 3-1 defeat. Airbus rise to the top of the bottom half and look to have come out of their poor early season form. Newtown remain in 11th position, with an 18th minute defensive misunderstanding allowing Sheridan in for a simple side footed goal from which the Robins failed to recover. Another Airbus goal from Mike Hayes seven minutes later put the visitors 2-0 up and Newtown never really looked like competing, going 3-0 down to a Mark Allen goal in the 52nd minute. All the goals were gifted to the visitors, leaving Robins Manager, Bernie McNally feeling very frustrated. A late penalty from Zack Evans restored a little Newtown pride.

The picture (left) shows Newtown keeper, Nick Thomas rising above the Airbus striker and Newtown defenders to claim the ball - photo courtesy of Kevin Hughes.

The new Robins mascot, Rocky the Robin was unveiled on Saturday with the generous support of the Social Club committee. The "Rocky" title was bestowed by several of the supporters at the game, although whether it refers to the mascot's tough, uncompromising support of his team, or to the team's perilous league position, is not confirmed!

Well done to the Social Club committee for commissioning the mascot and also to the willing volunteer who fills the suit - Owain Morgan.

The Management team will be having no relaxing Christmas period as they prepare for the two crucial games against The New Saints over the festive period. We start on Boxing Day (Monday) with a 2.30pm home KO and will be hoping that TNS' discomfort on grass continues. They only managed a one goal advantage over both Carmarthen and Aberystwyth recently and we will be looking for the Robins to lift their spirits in line with the Christmas feel-good factor and give the full-timers a tough time. 

Newtown will be without Max Penk who will be serving his second week of a three game suspension, but will welcome back Jamie Pryce who was suspended for five yellow cards against Airbus. Other than that, there should be a full squad available for selection against TNS and some good weather, for a change, will hopefully bring out a good crowd to support the Robins in their quest for desperately needed points.

Carmarthen and Aberystwyth will play each other twice over Christmas and with those two teams being our main rivals in the relegation zone, we can only hope for favourable results - two draws being the best outcome, probably.

The target for the second set of fixtures, which start in the first week of February, will be to vastly improve our performances against sides in the bottom half with us. We have had a very hit and miss season with those teams, but some transfer window recruitment might assist in that regard. Interest is being shown by McNally in several players, all of which are outside the Welsh Premier League as he continues to operate as frugally as he can within budget.

If we start to look at the relegation scenarios, then there is a guaranteed promotion place going to one of the North Wales clubs as seven teams in the Cymru Alliance have applied for the domestic licence, and five of those are currently in the top five positions - in the South, it is not so obvious with just Bridgend and Haverfordwest applying. At the moment, the Welsh Alliance is led by runaway leaders, Cambrian & Clydach, but Bridgend are back in 5th with just 2pts separating them from second position and they have 4 games in hand. Haverfordwest are down in 9th place, but are only 6pts adrift and have two games in hand. So, both promotion places could easily be occupied at the end of the season, meaning we cannot simply continue to target remaining above Carmarthen, but must aim for 10th place at least.

The FAW have published the Fair play tables for the period up to 1st December and Newtown are in 4th position, but have had a couple of dismissals since then, which will knock us down the table when the next list is published. Carmarthen, Airbus and TNS are above us in the table. Clubs can face sanctions if their disciplinary records are worse than the League average over the season.

Merry Christmas to our Club Members, Supporters, Staff, Players and Management team from the Newtown Board of Directors.

CLICK HERE

Groundsman Predicts Pitch OK for Airbus Game

Tomorrow's match at home against Airbus UK appears to be OK following work on the pitch by Groundsman, Gareth Owen (pictured left) and his small team. It has had to soak up an awful lot of rain over the last fortnight, so conditions will obviously be soft. At the completion of work today, conditions were fine but it had just started to rain again. Fortunately we appear to have avoided the snow that was confidently predicted for last night and this morning, but we need to see a dry night and day tomorrow to give us good passing conditions for the team.

An early start for Gareth tomorrow will see him inspect the pitch and local Referee, Mark Farrington is on standby to inspect the pitch at 10am to avoid unnecessary travelling by anyone - but at this stage the match is definitely ON for its 2.30pm kick-off.

Newtown will be welcoming back many ex-Robins to Latham Park with Danny Desmorneaux, Mark Allen, Craig Whitfield, Gavin Cadwallader and Adam Worton in the current squad. There was a narrow 3-2 defeat for the Robins when they visited the Airfield at Broughton earlier in the season, so we are looking to avenge that tomorrow.

The defence is going to be a little frail with the suspensions brought about by the red cards dished out at the end of the last game at Afan Lido; both Max Penk and Jermaine Johnston received red cards for "violent conduct" and "offensive language to the Referee" respectively, but Penk's red card looked very harsh as his petulant back kick to the shin of an attacking Lido player, reminiscent of Beckham in the World Cup many years ago, could have easily been dealt with by a yellow card. They are joined on the suspension list by Jamie Pryce who has amassed five yellow cards now and that leaves the squad very short.

Negotiations have started with Wrexham AFC to retain the on-loan agreements in place for Penk and Nick Rushton, and it is hoped to conclude those early next week. Enquiries are also going on with several other players that Manager, McNally hopes to attract during the transfer window.

This week's edition of the Welsh Premier Times contains a very fair and optimistic appraisal of Newtown AFC by Port Talbot columnist, Mark Pitman - click here to read the article.  http://www.welshpremier.com/uploads/documents/WelshPrem10985Pages1.PDF

Newtown Reserves have no fixture tomorrow (Saturday)

Afan Lido Get Revenge Win Over Robins

After losing to the Robins at Latham Park earlier in the season, it was revenge for the vastly improved Afan Lido today as they secured a 3-2 victory in the last three minutes of the match. Twice they went ahead and each time Newtown came back, firstly through Steve Blenkinsop and then through Nick Rushton, but once again, it was a very late winner that was the Robins' undoing as we seem to find it impossible to defend for 90 minutes some weeks.

More concerning today was the loss of both Max Penk and Jermaine Johnstone who received red cards in the dying minutes of injury time. JJ is alleged to have sworn at the Referee when in fact he was retaliating to the receipt of abuse from an opponent, but his second dismissal of the season for silly misconduct will be most concerning for the Latham Park management. Manager Bernie McNally is considering asking the Club to appeal against the dismissal of Max Penk as he is of the opinion that no contact was intended or made on the challenge that led to the dismissal where Max is alleged to have slid into a tackle and kicked his opponent.

This was a big three points to have handed to Afan Lido, who now move well clear of us with a big 8 point lead in 8th. Carmarthen were leading for a long time against Airbus, but finally fell to a 3-1 defeat, but more bad news for us was the very valuable point gained by Aberystwyth at home to TNS as that puts them two points ahead of us.

The big expectation is that we will pick up points in the "second half" of the season following the split, but Afan Lido is probably one of the sides we will be playing and we have to beat these teams if we wish to remain, or deserve to remain in the Welsh Premier League. Manager, McNally will be a busy man in the transfer window as he looks to shore up a frail defence at times. Before then, though, we have to get past Airbus with three players out next week as Max Penk and Jermaine Johnstone will now join Jamie Pryce on the banned list, with Jamie out for receiving five yellow cards over the season. This latestpenalty on Jermaine Johnstone sees the end of his loan period from TNS as he will be out next week and unable to play against TNS over the two festive period fixtures.

No Game for Reserves Today

There was no fixture for the Reserves today as their Morda opponents called the game off yesterday due to a waterlogged pitch.

CLICK HERE

Reserves Challenging For Division Lead

Jim Sharman's Reserves are doing well still, winning 8-0 today at home to Kerry Reserves. Goals were scored by Mark Salvati (3), Adam Jenkins (2), Lydon Birch, Anthony Moore and Mark Hughes. Placed in 5th with just three points separating them from the top four sides, the young Robins are proving to be a quality outfit in the Montgomeryshire League Second Division. The sides above the Reserves, before today, were Morda, Newtown Wanderers, Four Crosses Reserves and Llanfair Reserves.

Newtown v Bangor action

Newtown Penalised with Points Deduction for Registration Irregularities

Newtown AFC have received a points deduction penalty following a hearing conducted by the Welsh Premier League in relation to a breach of registration rules.

The Club has been told it will have 3pts taken off its total which the Newtown Board of Directors feel is an archaic method of penalising Clubs in the modern era. The new look League is smaller so half the league is realistically fighting to avoid relegation; the whole League has a genuine opportunity to compete for European places and there is prize money all the way down to 10th place. All of this makes a points penalty grossly disproportionate to the technical nature of an administrative problem.

Newtown AFC's Officers attended two FAW hearings, one which imposed a minimal fine and the other which imposed the points penalty. Both hearings advised they had taken account of the exceptional external influences and other mitigating factors.

The hearings came about following pre-season registration of new players, where an international transfer clearance request was submitted by the FAW to its English counterpart. The Club believed it had fulfilled its obligations and had successfully carried out the registration process. Unbeknown to the Club, the English FA did not fulfil its obligations under FIFA rules.

A vigorous defence was put forward by Newtown's Officers, but although the two hearings both said they had taken account of the evidence submitted, the two separate penalties were still imposed, the latter of which the Club believes to be exceptionally harsh.

The deduction of points will obviously affect our relegation fight and disrupt an outstandingly well motivated team at present, but Manager, Bernie McNally has been fully appraised at each step of proceedings and is confident his players will rise to meet this extra challenge.

Club Secretary, Owen Durbridge, has told the Club website that he accepts the ultimate responsibility for the irregularity and expressed his apologies to his Board, the Club's supporters and members and also to the players who have had to compete hard to collect the precious points we have.

The Club has decided not to appeal for various reasons, but is in discussion with its Solicitors to mount a legal challenge on the double jeopardy aspect of being subjected to two hearings and two separate penalties for the same incident.

Rampant Robins Topple League Champions

Magnificent Performance Sees Deserved Win Over Bangor

It is difficult to throw too many superlatives into a match report that can do justice to a powerful, emotional and well deserved performance that came from Bernie McNally's players today. Up against the current Champions and top of the table, Bangor City, nobody expected anything other than a Bangor win today, especially as we have a woeful record against the top four teams. A lot of credit has to go to Bernie McNally for getting his squad fully motivated and sticking with the policy of playing quality football on the floor, but he was rewarded with so many excellent displays by his players that the Match Sponsors, Rees Astley Insurance Co., could not pick a home player of the match, and instead bought all the players a drink for an outstanding collective victory.

McNally's men began by flying out of the blocks and some excellent inter-passing, movement and a desire to get the ball saw lots of early pressure and that was rewarded as early as the 7th minute when a flurry of close passes saw the ball land at Zack Evans' feet, and he struck it solidly from 10 yards out and, putting it to the right of Bangor keeper, Lee Idzi, he beat his man well to score the first goal. Not content with that, Newtown continued on the attack, playing accurate passing football and preventing Bangor countering much at all and whatever did come forward from them was well dealt with by the centre half duo of Sutton and Johnson. Later in the first half, Zack Evans struck a beautiful shot that hit the left hand post, rebounded perfectly to Nick Rushton, who struck it back equally hard, only to see the ball hit the other post and rebound to safety. The Robins could have and should have gone in at half time 2-0 up, but they came out in the same dominant mood. Quite quickly, a ball struck perfectly to Nick Rushton saw him beat the defensive line and he was one-on-one with the keeper, only to fire his shot wide. Rushton caused chaos in the Bangor defence all match, moving intelligently and drawing players away to create space in the box. Bangor's long ball game finally paid off as they lofted a ball forward that landed in a crowded penalty box and was met by Bangor's big striker, Les Davies, who slotted the ball home through a tangle of legs to equalise on 53 minutes.

As the second half moved on, so Bangor changed their game and started playing football on the floor which began to see more pressure on the Newtown defence, but the solid back four of Sutton, Johnston, Courtney and Boundford was resolute and repelled all invasions, but they had to work hard for the last twenty mintues when Bangor were on top in the match. All that paid off on 81 minutes when everybody present rose in unison to celebrate what will definitely be the Goal of the Month for November. Gareth Partridge received the ball on the left hand corner of the penalty area after some excellent passing movements along the left hand side and stuck it hard from about 30 yards and, although Idzi got a touch to it, it gave him no chance as it flew like a rocket into the top right hand corner. It was no more than Newtown deserved for a phenominal performance against a very big and strong Bangor side, and for once, our football paid off and our defence was able to hold on for the last ten minutes for a cracking three points.

Pictured above, the team mob Gareth Partridge after his wonder winner; the middle photo shows a jubilant Paul Jewell in the background whilst Lee Idzi lies prone after Partridge's exocet and the bottom photo shows how much this win means to Newtown Chairman, Elwyn Preece who shows his emotion by hugging Manager, Bernie McNally. (All Pictures courtesty of Kevin Hughes)

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All Three Academy Sides Win Away to Prestatyn

The Newtown based Mid and North Powys Development sides all won away to Prestatyn today, conquering the awful conditions to gain victories for all. Playing a match that was postponed by Prestatyn at the start of the season, again for anticipated heavy rain then, too, the lads have developed nicely since then, and are hard sides to beat now.

Newtown Under 12s win 11-3

With only two pitches available, it was the Under 12s who had to suffer the most, waiting nearly two hours to play their match - but they were raring to go when the match kicked off as they knew the pressure was on them with the older two sides both having already won. All the teams had to contend with howling winds, icy rain, hail and snow, but the Under 12s settled quickly as Captain, Dewi Hughes slotted in the opener from an excellent curling corner from wing wizard, Connor Jones. New signing, Tomos Williams got his first and Newtown's second in his marvellous haul of four goals to put the visitors 2-0 up, but within a minute Prestatyn showed how dangerous they could be and slipped through our defence to pull a goal back. Applied pressure from the Newtown and great goals from Nye Owen, Dewi Hughes and Tomos Williams saw the visitors finishing the half as 5-2 leaders. With the rain now horizontal and the wind against Newtown, they started to pass the ball well, despite the muddy conditions, and a great second half hat-trick from Monty hitman, Jack Clare, another for Nye Owen and two more for Tomos Williams too the final score to 11-3 in Newtown's favours. It was a very hard game for the junior side and an excellent result in terrible conditions. Enthusiastic support and encouragement from the Under 14s and Under 16s was particularly appreciated by the youngsters whilst they played. The Under 12s were Lewis Jones, Rhys Morris, Drew Cook, Kieron Rose, Cameron Heward, Warren Roberts, Sam Morris, Nye Owen, Dewi Hughes, Connor James, Tommy Jones, Jack Clare and Tomos Williams - reported prepared by a proud Kevin Hughes and Andy Heward (Coaches)

Newtown Under 14s win 5-4

The Under 14s made life very difficult for themselves against an excellent Prestatyn side that had only lost the one fixture up until today. They shot into a three goal lead with goals from Kamal Lloyd Jones, Ryan Evans and Josh Baldwin. The home side pulled one back just before the break, but just after the break, Newtown restored the three goal difference after a break from Kamal again. Then a revival from the Prestatyn lads saw them score three goals to pull level at 4-4 leaving a very tense last session, with Kamal emerging the hero, scoring his hat-trick to win the match just two minutes from time. Coaches, Bruce Sears and Josh Evans were also extremely proud of their team with all five goals being of top notch quality.

Newtown Under 16s win 4-2

A hat-trick of Academy wins was achieved thanks to the Under 16s also winning, with goals coming from Dave Laird, Kyle Hulse and Luke Evans (2). The scoring never saw the Newtown side go behind as they opened leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1 and finally, 4-2.

Congratulations to all three sides and their Managers - Well done lads.

Reserves Start Party Off With 4-2 Win

Jim Sharman's Reserves started the winning mood off today with a 2pm KO down the riverside that saw them collect a 4-2 victory against the visiting Llandrinio. Marc Salvati, the Assistant Manager, has been a superb acquisition by Jim and he chipped in with another two goals today. There were also strikes from new signing, Lee Jones and Jamie Selvey.

The Reserves are starting to emerge as a dominant force in their division and are providing the club with a valuable community team which is largely made up of young players. The Board are grateful to Jim Sharman for closely following the agreed strategy with the Reserves and for working within tough constraints.

Newtown Host Racism Red Card Roadshow

Newtown Football Club's function room was full of eager primary school pupils today with the visit of 50 young children from our Park Lane neighbours at Hafren Primary School. The Show Racism the Red Card Roadshow was booked into the Latham Centre facility months ago and after getting a full briefing from Jason Webber and his roadshow colleagues, the youngsters met local players, Kieran Mills-Evans and Zack Evans, who were quizzed on their playing careers by the pupils, and also asked their opinions on Racism issues and what experiences they may have had.

Obviously, the issues appearing in the national press surrounding racism allegations involving top british players, made this roadshow more relevant than usual. Newtown is pleased to play its part in helping spread the word against a most cruel form of abuse and adds its weight to the excellent campaign operating throughout Wales.

Many thanks to Zack and Kieran for attending on behalf of the Robins, and thanks also to Phil and Nerys Williams who assisted with the event and the catering. Lastly, well done to the fifty Hafren school pupils who behaved impeccably and were a credit to their school. All the pupils were given vouchers to the Club's "Bring Your Parents" initiative which saw them provided with a free ticket to this weekend's Bangor City home match whereby each child can bring along a parent free of charge. The Club will be looking to extend this initiative to all the local schools over the remainder of the season.

Neath Overpower Robins 4-0

Lee Trundle has been under criticism recently for lacklustre performances and playing only substitute roles, but today he ruled the roost for Neath as Newtown were swept aside 4-0. Despite the scoreline, Newtown did put out a very good performance, but the goals scored by Neath were well orchestrated by Trundle and each gave Nick Thomas, between the Newtown sticks, no chance. Take away the four goals and a couple of very good saves from Thomas, and he wasn't troubled a lot more!

Shane Sutton had a powerful header bounce back off the bar, and another late shot hit the upright. That was as close as the Robins could come today as we continue to fail to register points against the top four. Another top four side visits Newtown next weekend as Bangor City descend - and they arrive as League leaders after this weekend's results.

Reserves match called off as Lampeter Fail to Travel

The Reserves match in the  Central Wales FA Challenge cup was cancelled late on Friday night when the Club was informed that Lampeter were unable to raise a team for their scheduled visit to Latham Park. Montgomery Amateur League Secretary, Bernie Jones, tried to arrange a last minute match against Kerry Reserves, but this was not possible. Manager, Jim Sharman was disappointed not to be able to give his side the run-out they were expecting.

Youths win against Waterloo 

Newtown Youths went to the top of the League table today after playing away to Waterloo Youths in the Mid Wales Youth League. Luke Mumford and Jakob Sharman were the goal scorers, and there was even the luxury of a missed penalty. Manager, David Jarman was disappointed with the turn-out of some of the more experienced Youth players, but those that formed the squad at Welshpool today worked their socks off. Well done lads, and congratulations on leading the league.

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Neath Latest Side To Lose Management Team As Robins Visit On Sunday

Neath became the latest, but the most high profile, club to lose their Management team when the duo of Terry Boyle and Peter Nicholas were sacked earlier this week. This comes less than a week before Newtown's scheduled visit this Sunday afternoon.

Currently under the control of ex-Swansea man, Kristian O'Leary, the Neath all-blacks will be keen to impress their new player/Manager and, rather than be disillusioned from all their recent troubles, they could be up for the challenge and provide the stern opposition we have come to expect.

Whilst we held Llanelli well last week, we did not create a lot, and Bernie McNally will be keen to put that right, whilst at the same time keeping things tight at the back as he tries to repel Neath's formidable strikeforce. He welcomes back Zack Evans after suspension against Llanelli for accruing five yellow cards, but has learnt this week that Max Penk is the latest player to face suspension for five yellows, but he is not out until the Bangor game a week Saturday. Jermaine Jackson is still suspended, but is back for the visit of Bangor.

Without a senior goalkeeper following the rapid departure of Lee Kendall when the wages problem hit them, and also without the young lad who was injured in the match against Bangor, Neath may be vulnerable at the back. There has also been speculation about star player, Lee Trundle who has only played small parts as a late substitute in their last couple of games.

It is time the young Robins took points off a big name side and one point this weekend would be most welcome. 

The team coach, with room for spectators, is leaving Latham Park at 9am on Sunday and is stopping off for a hearty breakfast half way down where a booking has been made for the break.

Llanelli poor value, but beat Robins 2-0

A poor game to watch today, but one would have to credit Llanelli with doing the job they were tasked to do. The ball barely saw the floor when in possession of the visitors, balls being lofted forward at every opportunity and whenever Newtown tried to attack, it was generally frustrated by the commission of fouls. Newtown had very little possession in the first half, Llanelli keeping the ball most effectively, but not troubling the Newtown goal too much either, and it looked as though half time would arrive goal-less. Kevin Davies had sustained a muscle injury early in the first half and was replaced by Robbie Millington, as Luke Boundford stepped back to fill the right back slot. On the stroke of half time the Llanelli right wing managed to elude Christian Courtney who was not close enough, and struck a cross which found defender, Stuart Jones waiting at the far post for a nod-in through his height advantage.

Height was the issue throughout the match with Llanelli playing the ball to their front men through the air more often than not, but top goalscorer, Rhys Griffiths was kept quiet by the centre half combination of Max Penk and Shane Sutton.

The second half saw a much stronger performance from the Robins, where they had a good share of possession with Llanelli persisting with the long ball and protecting their lead. Some good football from the Newtown lads, but they didn't cause too much bother to the Llanelli goalkeeper. Right at the end of the match, a free kick was taking with far too much haste in our own half, and the first pass went straight to a nearby Llanelli player who pushed the ball through to Antonio Corbisiero whose shot was saved by Nick Thomas, but it was not cleanly held and the Llanelli player picked off an easy tap in, handing the visitors a 2-0 victory that flattered them somewhat, but Newtown did not really trouble them enough to complain about the result.

Whilst our rivals in the bottom half are routinely picking up points against the top four teams, the Robins seem unable to do so. We have Neath next Sunday, and there may never a better time to be playing them as they appear in disarray, throwing away a 2-0 lead to Carmarthen last night, only for the bottom placed Club to come back for an important point. We know we will face a tough run in to the New Year, especially with two games against league leaders, TNS over Christmas and New Year, but we have to stay strong for the second tranche of fixtures which start on February 4th.

Reserves Lose away to Llanfair

Travelling away to Llanfair Reserves today, the Robins Reserves lost 2-0 in the Emrys Morgan Cup. Next week they remain in cup action, entertaining Lampeter Town in the CWFA Senior Challenge Cup - kick-off 2pm

Newtown Announce Family Promotion for Llanelli Game Next Saturday

Newtown's Commercial team have put together a Special Family promotion in conjunction with the Local Football Development Officer, Tim Broome for next Saturday's home game against Llanelli.

Newtown will need all the support they can get as we enter a phase of the season where we take on three of the top four sides in consecutive weeks, starting with Llanelli before going down to Neath on the following Sunday and then bringing Bangor to Latham Park on the next Saturday. This is a crucial period for the Robins as we have had a good measure of success against teams in the bottom six of late, but now we have to start doing what all the other bottom six sides are doing, and that is taking points off the big boys. Airbus showed us again today that Neath are not insurmountable, as they held out for a 2-2 lead after leading. Yesterday, Afan Lido had their second consecutive draw against one of the big four, finishing all square with Bangor after holding Neath the week before.

In readiness for next Saturday, TNS showed that the Llanelli defence can be exposed if you run at them and put together some good passing. Four times their defence was breached yesterday, and our strikers are capable of doing the same thing and revenge for that 9-2 pasting at Llanelli is badly required. A draw would be nice, just to keep the points ticking over in the league table!

Come along and give the Robins your support - the team is giving everything and there is a lot of spirit in the camp. With plenty of support being provided by the hard working volunteers at the club, it would be nice to see that complimented by a strong fan base on match days. Click here for details on how to get your family promotion offer.

Repeat Performance Against Prestatyn - Injury Time Winner Deprives Robins

When these two sides met first time round, it was an overwhelmingly unfair win for Prestatyn at Latham Park, but they scored two goals and we only had one, so you cannot argue too much. Tonight, it was not quite the same level of possession, but the opportunities to win clearly belonged to Newtown, but luck and perhaps a dodgy decision, deprived them in injury time, yet again.

Nick Rushton (pictured) was involved in all the goalmouth action, with him and Luke Boundford forcing fine saves from ex-Robins keeper, Dave Roberts. On the stroke of half time, a jinking run in the box saw a Prestatyn defender trip Rushton and he went down, facing away from goal. A penalty was justly awarded but despite striking low to the right corner, Roberts guessed right and pulled off an excellent penalty save to see the sides level at 0-0 going into the interval. Nick Thomas, in the Newtown goal, also made a superb save.

The second half saw much the same with Newtown pushing into their opponent's half, Rushton again deprived with a one-on-one with Dave Roberts. He got his reward on the 63rd minute (reported wrongly as struck by Steve Belnkinsop) with a 25 yard curling shot which gave Roberts no chance. That lead was retained for just 13 minutes before, sub Darren Hughes, struck the equaliser, heading into the goal from a corner.

A fairly even period followed, until deep in injury time, a mistake by the Referee saw him award a penalty for Prestatyn skipper, Neil Gibson's stumble in the penalty area. Gibson was running with the ball and stumbled on the slippery surface and the ball was cleanly taken from him by Newtown defender, Max Penk, but then Gibson fell and the Referee stunned the visitors by blowing for a penalty which was converted by the home player-manager. A sad way to lose, but Manager Bernie McNally was delighted with the way his side had played, producing bundles of scoring chances, just like last Saturday - and just like the Port Talbot game, deprived of more goals by excellent goalkeeping. Unlucky lads.

The side has to pick themselves up now and prepare for a difficult match at home to Llanelli on Saturday. They had a slightly better preparation tonight, winning at home to Carmarthen, 2-0. Airbus play at Bangor tomorrow night.

Newtown Avoid Big Teams in Welsh Cup Draw 

Rhyl will visit Latham Park

The draw for the third round of the Welsh Cup was carried out this afternoon, and there was no easy tie for the Robins, drawing Rhyl at home for their match over the weekend of Saturday/Sunday 3rd/4th December.

Avoiding the rest of the Welsh Premier League and the two invited sides from the English system, Wrexham and Newport, was the primary objective and that was achieved, but Rhyl will provide sterling opposition as current leaders of the Cymru Alliance. They will be targeting Newtown as ripe for the plucking, having deposited Neath from the competition at this same stage last season.

Newtown are hitting a decent patch of form at the moment, and it is to be hoped that continues into tomorrow night's match away to Prestatyn, because leading up to the Rhyl Cup match will be two difficult ties against Llanelli and Neath.

Elsewhere in the draw, Caersws drew fellow Cymru Alliance team, Llandudno and will have every opportunity to progress at home in that tie, whilst there will be no love lost between Port Talbot and Afan Lido who will meet at the Gen Quip stadium. No-one appears sure of the commitment of Wrexham and Newport to their re-introduction to the Welsh Cup - will they field Reserve teams or Youth sides? Wrexham have a home tie against Airbus UK, whilst Newport have below South Wales club, Barry Town.

The full draw is

Flint Town United v Newport Civil Service
Port Talbot Town v Afan Lido
The New Saints v Bryntirion Athletic
AFC Porth v Cambrian & Clydach
Wrexham FC v Airbus UK Broughton
Carmarthen Town v Bridgend Town
Caersws FC v Llandudno FC
Buckley Town v Taffs Well
Neath FC v West End
FC Cefn v Aberystwyth Town
Newtown FC v Rhyl FC
Bangor City v Llanelli AFC
Prestatyn Town v Goytre United
Newport County v Barry Town
Gap Connah's Quay v Cefn Druids
Merthyr Saints v Bala Town

Dominant Performance and an Excellent Win against Steelmen

Bernie McNally's Robins belied their lowly position with a dominant display against a Port Talbot side that were barely given any chances to threaten the Newtown goal. The first goal for Newtown came after a shaky ten minutes in which Port Talbot probably looked the better side, but some constant goalmouth pressure from corners and free-kicks resulted in a clearance falling to defender, Max Penk (who was standing just right of goal on the 18 yard line, the ball bounced just in front of him and with a skillfully measured lob, he lofted the ball back into the goalmouth and it looped over the Port Talbot keeper, and after brushing the underside of the bar, landing in the goal. It was an excellently executed lob and was reminiscent of the Mark Jones goal in injury time against Bala last week that robbed us of two points.

After that, there was only one side in the game, with barely any shots at goal coming from the Port Talbot strike force of Chris Hartland and Martin Rose. Newtown could easily have gone into the interval 3-0 or 4-0 up, such were the clear chances they had to score. Matt Cook looked to have an excellent penalty appeal waved away by both the Assistant and Referee when his right leg was poised to strike the ball from just five yards out, and it was taken from him by a mis-timed tackle. That was just one chance of many, two of which fell to Nick Rushton when he was put through with just the keeper to beat. The Port Talbot goalkeeper, Bartek Folger, had a massive game for his side and whilst it didn't do them any good in the end, it certainly made the scoreline look more flattering as he kept out at least three excellent strikes from Rushton, Boundford and Evans.

It is pleasant to report that the Newtown defence had an excellent day, repelling all the Port Talbot forages forward. For the home fans, it was pleasing to see former players, Dylan Blaine, Paul Keddle and Chris Hartland again, and doubly pleasant to sent them off on the losing team! Luke Boundford (pictured left) came on as a 75th minute substitute for Robbie Millington and he made an excellent impression straight away, using his pace and power to maximum effect down the right wing. He created a few good chances before scoring the vital second goal on the 82nd minute.

Well done the Robins - an excellent performance with Port Talbot having no complaints at all about the end result. Elsewhere today, Carmarthen earned themselves a much needed win with a fine 2-1 victory over Prestatyn, and another extremely well earned point for Afan Lido who had another goal-less draw with a big side, finishing level against Bangor City. With Newtown currently occupying 8th place, we need a defeat for Airbus tomorrow when they host Neath, otherwise they will climb above us. Just 4pts separate us from the coveted 6th position proving there is absolutely nothing between any of the bottom six sides - indeed, probably the bottom 8 sides.

The Tuesday trip to Prestatyn is equally crucial now as they have proved their vulnerability last night to Carmarthen and last week against Airbus, so we need to ensure they cap off a ten day period with a similar fate.

Reserves lose 9 goal thriller

Unlucky for the Reserves today; they were at home, also, entertaining Waterloo Colts in a league match and there were plenty of goals, but Newtown were on the wrong side of a 5-4 result. It was 2-2 at half time, but some poor defending saw the Colts just edge it. For the Reserves, the goals were scored by Marc Salvati (2), Jakob Sharman and Joe Evans.

Reserves Also At Home This Saturday

Jim Sharman's Reserves have had their fixtures for the coming month and their first match will be at home at the same time as the First Team this weekend. New signing, Dan Baker returns to the fold from Abermule, and is part of the squad for tomorrow's game against Waterloo Colt. Last time round, the sides drew at Welshpool, and with the squad having been strengthened in the interim period, the host team will be looking for a victory to boost their steady climb up the table.There are two big cup fixtures lined up for the following weeks, with an away trip to Llanfair Utd Reserves set for 12th November where they will compete in the 2nd round of the Emrys Morgan Cup, and the following week will have them at home to Lampeter Town in the second round of the CWFA Senior Challenge Cup. Waterloo Colts were offered a 5pm KO tomorrow, so that the Reserves could play under lights on Latham Park after the completion of the First Team match against Port Talbot, but they were unable to accept that offer.

Port Talbot The Visitors on Saturday

Bernard McNally's Robins entertain Port Talbot Town this Saturday, 5th November and we certainly hope there will be Fireworks on the pitch and that similar form to that produced away to Bala is produced at Latham Park. McNally will welcome back defender, Jermaine Johnstone from suspension, but it will be shortlived as he is set to receive another two match ban for remarks made to the 4th Official in the Aberystwyth match. That is not due to start until 9th November, making him eligible for the Port Talbot and Prestatyn games. Selecting from a full squad, the Manager was pleased to get the OK from Physio, Wayne Peter on striker, Nick Rushton who has been hitting some form in the last few games.

Port Talbot will be without the influential striker, Cortez Belle who is injured and stretchered off in the match with TNS two weeks ago. But they have a very able replacement in the shape of Martin Rose who scored twice in his return to the side against Carmarthen last week. In the earlier fixture this season, a very questionable decision by the Referee resulted in no penalty being awarded for what was seen to be a clear foul in the penalty area. Newtown felt they had acquitted themselves well at the Gen-Quip stadium and are confident of putting in a similar performance on this occasion.

Newtown will be renewing acquaintances with three former players from last season, with Chris Hartland, Paul Keddle and Dylan Blaine all moving to Port Talbot this season. Keddle will be in a familiar left back position one would expect and Hartland may well be on the same side attacking down the wing but there could be a big change for Dylan Blaine as he was in an unfamiliar centre half position against Carmarthen last week.

Port Talbot have prompted praise for allowing Under 16s in for free for their last game or two, but its worth pointing out that this has been the policy of Newtown Football Club all season as it was part of the overall strategy to try to attract additional spectators this year, being combined with our loyalty discount scheme and slashed season ticket prices.

Academy Sides Produce Good Performances Against TNS

Good performances from the three Academy sides today (Sunday 30th Oct) as the Under 12s and Under 14s both came back to show the best type of spirit and get draws, whilst the Under 16s did well to restrict a strong TNS outfit to 5-1.

Click here to read the full report - photographs and Under 12 report courtesy of Kevin Hughes, and Under 14 report courtesy of Bruce Sears

Newtown's promotion of The Show Racism The Red Card Campaign is organised for today's match against Aberystwyth. To read more click here

Youths Secure Second Half Recovery to Beat Llanymynech

Trailing 2-0 to two first half goals from Llanymynech striker, Rob Carruthers, David Jarman's Youth side were giving the famed "hair drier" treatment at half time and immediately responded by coming out for the second half a more determined team, netting six goals for a fine 6-2 score. Goals for Newtown came from Elliot Smith, Ryan Davies, Joe Bell, Ben Davies and Luke Mumford (2). It was just as well for the young Robins that their goalkeeper, Luke Jarman had an excellent match between the sticks as he prevented the first half being much worse. An excellent recovery though, well done lads.

Reserves Make it a Double Victory 

Jim Sharman's Reserves triumphed 3-2 at Llanymynech today where they played Oswestry outfit, Trefonen. Striker, Marcus Ashley got some valuable goal scoring experience by grabbing a hat-trick, scoring all the Robins' goals for the Reserves giving the young side a new found confidence.

Newtown Announce Family Promotion for Saturday 12th November

In conjunction with the Local Football Development Officer, Tim Broome, Newtown's commercial team have announced a special family promotion for this weekend's home game against Llanelli. With our rivals all taking points off the top teams, as Airbus added another point to their tally by drawing with Neath today, we have to start doing the same. Already promoting cheaper adult prices, the Club are now trying to encourage more youngsters to come to the match with their parents and for a £10 price there will be entry for two children, two adults, two free T-shirts and two free hot-dogs. 

Families are asked to email the club at office@newtownafc.co.uk to claim their family entry and the Club will reserve their T-shirts for them.

Academy Sides Produce Good Performances Against TNS

Good performances from the three Academy sides today (Sunday 30th Oct) as the Under 12s and Under 14s both came back to show the best type of spirit and get draws, whilst the Under 16s did well to restrict a strong TNS outfit to 5-1.

The Under 16s, playing on Latham Park, scored through Callum Love, but they were against a dominant TNS side and had to battle hard to keep the score to 5-1.

The Under 14s took the lead through a Ryan Sears header but quickly found themselves under the cosh from TNS, going 3-1 down. Some excellent work in midfield inspired a comeback, with a brilliant goal from Josh Baldwin and then Ryan Sears provided for Kamal Lloyd to equalise. A couple of more chances fell to Kamal for Newtown to re-take the lead, but not quite good enough to beat the TNS keeper. A great comeback and some good resolve by the lads - well done.

Well done too, to the Under 12s - after a sluggish start kicking against the wind and into the sun Newtown soon found themselves 2 - 0 down with TNS passing the ball well and controlling the play and this remained the score untill half time. In the second half Newtown began to pressurise the TNS defence a bit more and after a subtle through ball from NFC captain Dewi Hughes (pictured left), Tommy Jones struck the inside of the far post with the TNS keeper beaten, against play TNS landed a sucker punch and caught Newtown defence napping to take a emphatic 3-0 lead with only 10 minutes remaining on the clock.

Within minutes Newtown got the luck they deserved and were awarded a penalty after Dewi Hughes was brought down with the goal at his mercy, up stepped Tommy Jones to fire home and make the scoreline a little more flattering for the Newtown lads. Minutes later TNS were awarded a penalty after Rhys Morris was found guilty of a foul in the box, up stepped ex nfc academy player Ryan Gardener to fire high over the Newtown goal which seemed to be the kickstart for Newtown, who responded with non-stop attacking football, the pressure finally paying off from free kick wizard Jack Clare (pictured right) who hit a superb 25yard scorcher that got the Newtown geriatric barmy army to their feet, now only three mintues remanining. ~Maybe just maybe ..... Newtown kept pushing and Tommy Jones got his second of the game with a great lob and levelled the match 3 - 3, at the other end Newtown keeper Lewis Jones pulled of some great saves and defenders Sam Morris, Keiron Rose and Rhys Morris were exceptional if the game had lasted another 5 minutes WHO KNOWS!

This weekend will see Newtown AFC support the Fortnight of Action during their fixture against Aberystwyth Town FC, where both teams will be wearing anti racism T-shirts prior to kick off and jointly supporting the anti racist message. This period of concerted action encourages participation from all sections of communities to celebrate diversity and tackle racism. A major aim of the Fortnight of Action is to encourage anti-racist actions, events and initiatives to take place throughout the year. Many organisations begin their actions during October and run follow-up events during the year. One proven way of making a difference is to act on a local level to break down barriers that lead to racist attitudes and behaviour. These barriers can include:

• Racial stereotyping
• Ignorance of other cultures
• Excluding practices
• The idea that any one culture or racial group is superior to another

This is the Good News

Jamie Pryce scoring Newtown's first goal

Yet Another 6 Pointer as Robins Host All-Gold

The Robins face their third "6-pointer" in successive weeks tomorrow (Saturday) as they host Carmarthen Town. The "All Gold" are one of only two teams that the Robins have taken points off this season, having beaten them 1-0 at Carmarthen in the opening fixture of the season. Going down 3-2 away to Airbus last week saw us lose a critical basement battle there, having beaten Afon Lido a week earlier. Tomorrow's game and then the following week's affair with Aberystwyth are two more crunch fixtures.

Bernie McNally is expected to select from a full squad and as much support as possible is required to urge on the Robins in their quest for full points. If the match itself is not encouragement enough to visit Latham Park, then come to see the fans match before hand. A spectators match has been arranged with Carmarthen fans and it will be repeated next week at home to Aberystwyth.

Academy Sides Get Mixed Results at Rhyl

Travelling to Rhyl yesterday (Sunday), Newtown's Academy sides lost two and won one. The under 12s lost their first match of the campaign 3-2 against a strong Rhyl outfit. They were 2-0 down against the wind within 10minutes, and with it looking ominous, a battling performance from the midfield trio of Dewi Hughes, Drew Cook and Nye Owen pulled back some possession which resulted in good goals from Jack Clare and Nye Owen. In the Newtown goal, Harry Turner had no chance with any of the goals, but a good performance despite the result. The Under 14s had an excellent 5-0 win after goals from Nick Joyce (2), Gethin Stephens, Ryan Evans and Josh Baldwin. No luck for the Under 16s either after they looked the better team for 35 minutes, leading through Luke Evans, but a couple of mistakes saw them 2-1 down at half time and a few heads went down, leading to a 4-1 defeat eventually, but another good performance in the first half.

Robins Drop To Bottom Despite Spirited Performance

The Robins slipped back to the foot of the table after losing 3-2 to fellow relegation battlers, Airbus. With just two wins coming from the first ten games it was a goal in the last ten minutes, yet again, that sunk the ship against at the Airfield. Having come back from 2-0 down to equalise through Nick Rushden and Jamie Pryce, the Robins lost to an 83rd minute goal.

Excellent Cup Win for Reserves

Competing in the first round of the Emrys  Morgan Cup, the Reserves had an excellent 8-1 at home over Ceredigion outfit, Llanon today. Goals came from Marc Salvati (2), Lewis Sim, Joe Evans and Marcus Ashley (4). Well done to the lads and best of luck with the draw for the next round.

 The Reserves also learned their opponents for the second round of the Central Wales FA challenge cup; they have drawn Lampeter at home and play on Saturday November 19th.

Newtown Youth Team Win Against Llanidloes Youth

David Jarman's young Robins had a 2-1 success tonight in a difficult match at home to Llanidloes. The visitors took a 1-0 lead, but after coming on as a second half substitute, Mir Sukuozde scored both Newtown goals to snatch a late victory. Another young team was put out tonight, but they played excellently.

What a goal !

The Afan Lido keeper is rooted to the spot after Shane Suttons

Reserves Suffer Defeat at Llandrinio

A 3-2 defeat with a missed penalty in the last minute saw the Reserves return from their trip to Llandrinio with no reward. Huw Roberts and Ritchie Rees netted for the young Robins who will competing at home in the Emrys Morgan Cup next Saturday when their visitors will be Llanon for a 2.30pm KO.

Robins Entertain Lido Tomorrow (Sat) in Crunch Game

Newtown Manager, Bernie McNally has been busy this week, preparing his squad for a vital game in Newtown's bid for Welsh Premier League survival. Tomorrow (Saturday) the Robins host Afan Lido for the first time in several years and McNally knows that only three points will suffice. After starting the season with an important away victory to Carmarthen, Newtown have conceded 28 goals and have lost the subsequent seven matches. Currently lying bottom of the table, Newtown must strive for maximum points which may lift us two places and put us within touching distance of the teams we always expected to be competing with at the lower half of the table. Zack Evans is an injury doubt after pulling his hamstring away at Bangor last Friday, but apart from that the Manager will select from a full squad. The good weather should help to bring along much needed supporters as the Robins need every assistance to propel them to victory.

The mid-week match of Afan Lido v Aberystwyth ended in a goal-less draw, which pushed each of those clubs a little bit further away from Newtown, but at least kept them within a catchable distance if we can start picking up points. Also taking place tomorrow is Carmarthen v Airbus and with neither side having had much success so far, the result of that fixture will impact upon us considerably.

McNally, speaking to the Club website earlier today, has said how conscious he is that the team is not performing to their capabilities; the football played in the mid-week fixture against Prestatyn at the start of the month showed the quality we can play to, but a lack of control in the last quarter of the pitch and perhaps a little loss of confidence in front of goal, meant we let that game go without gaining any points, and we have to look at scoring points when we have so much possession. New loan rules this season allow clubs to "loan" players from other Welsh Premier clubs outside the transfer window and McNally said he was busy contacting the other Clubs to see what players may be suitable to join us until January.

Young Robins Lose 4-1 to Waterloo

A disappointing result for David Jarman's Youth side as they lost 4-1 to their Waterloo Rovers visitors. The loss of half the first choice squad to the college team who are playing tomorrow was a major factor, but many thanks to those that stepped in to fill the breach. The Newtown scorer was Jakob Sharman. The next youth game is again at Latham Park where the visitors will be the Llanidloes Youth team on Monday October 3rd at 7.30pm.

Youths Lose 6-1 with Weakened Team At Caernarfon

The Youths slipped to a 6-1 defeat in the Welsh Youth Cup at Caernarfon yesterday. Joe Evans (pictured) collected the Robins goal,, but travelling with a very young and weakened team, the Robins were up against a very strong local outfit. The Club is grateful to the commitment of those players who travelled and to David Jarman, the Youths Manager for his efforts in this year's Welsh Cup competition.

Tomorrow night (Tuesday 27th Sep) the Youths will be playing at home to Waterloo Rovers on Latham Park - 7.30pm KO. They won their opening game against the reigning champions TNS, and will find Waterloo a strong challenge as they are once again weakened. The contingent of Robins players at Coleg Powis are committed to an away game with the college team in Wolverhampton on Wednesday and have declared themselves unavailable, leaving David Jarman with another selection issue, having to rely on the young 16yrs olds in his squad. Good luck lads.

Interestingly, this type of situation raises the problems faced by clubs in trying to field youth teams at whatever level, be it Mid Wales League, Welsh Youth Cup or the Academy U19s Competition - there are simply too many demands on the players aged between 16 and 18. Not only are there these youth competitions, but there are a lot of the same players in the College side, and playing for them is obligatory, and then there are the Saturday senior sides ALL of these players belong to; and as if that wasn't enough, this coming weekend there is the additional problem of the Montgomeryshire Cup starting, which caused the Robins problems last season when it clashed with the CWFA Youth Cup fixtures.

Reserves Win Cup Match On Penalties

Marc Salvati was the hero for the Reserves today, scoring both goals as they played their local derby against fellow new-boys, Newtown Wanderers. The fixture was in the first round of the Tanners Cup and it finished 1-1 after normal time and 2-2 after extra time. Going to penalties, the match was settled 3-2 with penalty conversions by Marc Salvati, Jamie Selvey and Lewis Sim. There was plenty of work for Referee, Eddie Pryce with some niggling tackles and some players with too much to say with yellow cards coming thick and fast, but there was some quality football from the Reserves who passed the ball around well.

Neath Too Strong For Robins

Bernie's Boys were not able to contain their Neath visitors last Saturday as we celebrated our first live TV match of the season with a 4-0 defeat. This was Neath's first points from away goals, but the first half hour saw the sides still locked on 0-0, with both sides having chances to spurning them. As might have been expected, Nick Thomas was the busier of the two keepers, and he produced a couple of excellent saves. Matthew Rees broke the deadlock on 32 minutes, but another goal followed 7 minutes later from Luke Bowen as Neath began passing the ball a lot better. Robbie Millington and Nick Rushden opportunities, but 10 minutes into the second half, some good set up play resulted in the third goal for the visitors, from Chris Jones. Lee Trundle was a big influence with some fine passes, and with only minutes remaining, Kerry Morgan hammered in the final nail with the fourth goal for Neath.

Two difficult games behind us with Neath and Llanelli disappearing off the fixture list for the first round and now we have to re-discover confidence and pick up some points on the road at Bangor this Friday and then face Afan Lido at home the following week, with the game obviously attracting the title of "six pointer".

Reserves collect first Win Against Llanfair Res

Well done to Jim Sharman and his lads as they collected their first win of the season with a 3-0 victory at home to Llanfair Reserves last Saturday (Switched last minute to facilitate the opposition). Goals from Huw Roberts, Lewis Sim and Marc Salvati. The Manager was very pleased with their first 3pts and is now looking forward to the team's first derby game of the season this Saturday when they play hosts to fellow Newtown side, Newtown Wanderers in the Tanners Cup

Academy Games Postponed by Prestatyn

All three Academy games had to be postponed on Saturday afternoon after the Club were informed by their Prestatyn hosts that heavy rain overnight and more forecast for Sunday would mean their junior pitches were likely to be unplayable. Whilst it is a bit disappointing to see games called off so early in the season, we recognise the problems pitches can present at times. The matches have been tentatively fixed for Sunday 23rd October when Prestatyn were scheduled to have a friendly match. Many thanks to the Age Group coaches for contacting all the players at the last minute.

Youth Team Off to Caernarfon This Weekend

 The Youths will be playing their second Welsh Youth Cup match this weekend when they make the journey to the North West Wales coast to visit Caernarfon. David Jarman will hopefully be picking from a full squad and his lads are buoyant after a good first round game and a successful start to the League season with a win over TNS last week. Scheduled tomorrow night (Tuesday) is a re-arranged match against Waterloo Rovers. KO is at 7.30pm on Latham Park for a game that was held over from yesterday. 

Pre-Match Entertainment for Saturday

Newtown will be hosting pre-match entertainment this Saturday before the live showdown with Neath (kick off 3:45). Top comedian Mr Mick Martin along with a hot meal will be served before the game with the entertainment stating at 2pm. Admission to the game and the pre-match entertainment is only £12, available on the day or if you are a season ticket or VP member, a reduced rate of only £7.

Please come along and support the club and have a laugh before the important fixture.

Newtown Youths Get Superb League Start

David Jarman's Youth side got their new League season off to a tremendous start tonight as they defeated the current Champions, TNS 2-0 to start in the most emphatic manner. Elliot Jones scored the first goal just before half time, an excellent strike to open a deserved lead; a very tight second half ensued before Lewis Groves scored the goal to make the match safe in the last ten minutes. The Robins Manager was delighted with the performance of his young charges and congratulated them on a thoroughly deserved win.

The Robins began their youth campaign a week ago by winning 3-0 away at Criccieth in the Welsh Youth Cup and now enter the next round away to Caernarfon on 25th September. Tonight's team competes at Under 18 level, whilst the Welsh Youth Cup is at Under 19 level.

Many congratulations to the young side and best wishes for a successful season.

Millington on target again for the Robins

Academy Squad Unveil New Kit Sponsored by Control Techniques

Newtown Academy Squad is pictured assembled before the start of their first fixture of the new season at home to Llandudno. The new yellow and black away kit was sponsored by Control Techniques and the lads all looked very smart before their first match which they were very successful in.

Pictured are the three Academy squads - the Under 12s, Under 14s and Under 16s.

Prestatyn are Newtown Visitors Wednesday Night (7th Sept)

A much needed three points is the target tomorrow night when Newtown entertain Prestatyn in the only League fixture to be placed in mid-week this season. Both teams approach the fixture from totally different perspectives, with Prestatyn coming on the back of a hefty 6-1 demolition of Carmarthen last Saturday, whilst Newtown slipped to another late defeat away to Port Talbot, 3-1. In all the matches played by the Robins so far, none have seen them overawed by the opposition and the Robins Manager, Bernie McNally is still confident in his team's abilities. Speaking to the Club website, McNally said, "I know we are capable of taking three points from this fixture, and our lads are still hurting from a couple of decisions which cost us at Port Talbot, so I expect to see them come out in a determined fashion. Prestatyn will be very confident and they are a good side, proved by their position last season. We will need to improve, and with Robbie Millington back, I am keen to see him linking up with Nick Rushton up front and increase our scoring opportunities."

Steady rain is forecast for the evening, but there will be plenty of warmth and welcome in the Clubhouse for supporters, so come along and take advantage of our loyalty discount ticket price of £5.

Victory for Newtown Youths in Qualifying Round of Youth Cup

Jammy's young Robins returned from their trip to the Criccieth area with a 3-0 victory over village side, Llanystumdwy. That puts them into the First Round proper which is scheduled to take place on Sunday 25th September. We will have to await the next draw now, but it would be nice to get a home game for a change. Joe Evans (pictured) got the scoring started in the first half and the Newtown side had to wait until halfway through the second half for the game to be made safe, with strikes from Rhys Roberts and finally, James Price.

The Under 16s were also in action under the Management of Colin Love and Vince Savoia, but they came up against a very fit WBA/Shrewsbury side which dished out a 6-0 defeat to the Robins side. It was only 2-0 until the last twenty minutes, after which the further four goals came. The Academy fixtures for U16s, U14s and U12s all start next week when the Newtown Academy teams are at home to Llandudno with games kicking off at 1.30pm.

YOUTHS COMPETE AT CRICCIETH IN WELSH YOUTH CUP TODAY

David Jarman has taken his Under 19s youth side up to Llanystumdwy near Criccieth in North Wales today for a 2.30pm KO in the Welsh Youth Cup, first round. Last year, the side had a tough job away at Rhyl where they lost in the first round. Most of the players are still at the U18 age group and are able to compete in the Mid-Wales Youth League which starts up next week with the Newtown side at home to TNS on Monday evening, 12th September at 7.30pm. 

The Youth League consists of Penryhncoch, Waterloo Rovers, Caersws, Llanidloes, Newtown and TNS this season. Newtown decided to support the local Youth League instead of taking the option to compete in the North Wales section of the Academies Youth League at Under 19 level, but will probably be compelled to play at that level next season as part of the Academy rules. It will be an excellent competition, but will involve a lot of travelling.

Also taking place today, is a friendly Academy fixture at U16s between a North Powys Development Academy side coached by Colin Love and Vince Savoia against a squad from West Bromwich Albion Academy. KO is at 1pm

McNally Busy As Window Closes

Newtown Manager, Bernie McNally has been busy scouring the available players in the run-up to tonight's end of the transfer window. Joining fellow Wrexham player, Max Penk is another Wrexham starlet, striker, Nick Rushton. 19yrs old Rushton (pictured) will hopefully bring some fire power to the Robins line-up and will gain some valuable playing time in the Welsh Premier League. 

Joining him in the squad is ex-TNS striker, Marcus Ashley who was released by the New Saints last season. He is prepared to come along and fight for a place in the starting line-up which is refreshing to see these days. Also arriving, is Connor Courtney from Wellington; he is a left sided mid-fielder and will give additional cover to that area of the field.

Leaving the Club are two of the three 18 yrs olds who came from Shrewsbury Town in the summer - Ashley Wells and Ben Evans, both of whom are returning to non-league football in England. Ben had the misfortune of writing off his car on the way home from training last night (Tuesday) and although uninjured has made him think about all the travelling from Worcester. The Club wishes both of them every success in their football careers.

Reserves Finding Life Tougher Than Expected

The young Robins Reserve side is finding it hard going in their first season in the Montgomery Amateur League with Manager Jim Sharman displeased with his side's performance against Kerry Reserves last night (Tues) when they lost 1-0. The squad are back in action this Saturday when they play their first league game at Latham Park, when they entertain Four Crosses Reserves.

Reserves Harvest First Point

Jim Sharman's Reserves collected their first point of their existence in a 1-1 draw away at Waterloo Colts. The fixture was arranged late to make up for Trefonen's lack of a pitch, but it worked out for the young Robins. Drew Hughes (pictured) was the goal scorer but the addition of Marc Salvati to the squad added some much needed experience and the Manager hopes things will go from strength to strength now.

Tomorrow night (Tuesday) sees the Reserves in action again, when they are away to Kerry Reserves in a 6.30pm KO. They will finally get their first match at Latham Park on Saturday 3rd Sept when they will play host to Four Crosses Reserves at 2.30pm.

Reserves Lose Opening Game 2-0 to Abermule

 Jim Sharman's Reserves lost their opening league match, 2-0 to fellow newcomers, Abermule Reserves although the Manager drew plenty of positives from the encounter and will be hoping to turn things around away at Trefonen on Saturday where there is a 2.30pm KO.

Reserves Match Cancelled After League Mistake

The Reserves' inaugural match in the Montgomery Amateur League Division Two was cancelled this afternoon after League Secretary, Bernie Jones thought that Newtown Firsts were playing at home tomorrow! He advised Morda the game was off and when Newtown officials learned about this at 5.30pm from local gossip, a check with Morda revealed that they had been told there would be no game for them. When Bernie was contacted by Club Secretary, Owen Durbridge he apologised and said he had seen on the Welsh Premier website that the Firsts were at home tomorrow and cancelled it immediately. When he phoned Morda to try to get the game back on again, they declined as their players had already made alternative arrangements.

Manager, Jim Sharman was absolutely devasted with the cancellation as a very long pre-season has led up to what should have been an exciting start for him and his young team, especially as they were playing at home on Latham Park, as there will be occasions over the season when bad weather will limit the number of games they can play on the main pitch. The Reserves will be playing away to Abermule Reserves on Tuesday night (23rd August) and then away to Trefonen next Saturday. 

Support Young Reserves Who Start At Home Tomorrow (Sat)

Jim Sharman leads his young Reserves side into the start of the Second Division of the Montgomery Amateur League tomorrow (Saturday) when he begins his campaign at home to Morda Reserves. He has has an excellent period of preparation, playing teams from a stronger league in all the pre-season friendlies, so high standards are expected. Come along and support the Robins at Latham Park where they kick off at 2.30pm.

Off to the Seaside for the Robins Tonight

There will be no buckets and spades, but plenty of expectation as the Robins travel to Aberystwyth tonight determined to break a 13 year record of failing to win away to the Seasiders. Newtown had the upper hand in last year's four encounters, drawing three and winning the final game. In the equivalent fixture last year, four goals were scored between the two sides and, whilst a draw would be a perfectly acceptable result, we now that Newtown are quite capable of a win to end that record. One of the games in which the Robins were deprived of three points in a totally one-sided 0-0 draw was at home to Aberystwyth and we will be trying hard to make sure that does not happen again.

Manager, Bernie McNally is still not content with is squad, despite an excellent start to the season and spent yesterday at a club looking at possible loan targets, with a deal expected to be sorted out for a player on Monday. A confident start last week for the Robins, sees them in high spirits whilst Aberystwyth came away from their Sunday outing to the Gnoll with no points against one of the pre-season favourites, Neath. They still have the experienced Ricky Evans as their talisman up front and the rear-guard of Hartshorn and Sutton will need to retain their best form to keep him quiet.

A decent amount of support is expected from the Latham Park faithful, with this fixture bringing the top attendance at Aberystwyth last season and a similar number is expected tonight. A reminder that the supporters coach leaves Newtown at 4.45pm this afternoon.

Lee Hartshorn Named As Club Captain

Popular Centre Half, Lee Hartshorn has been announced as the Newtown Club Captain for the season by Manager, Bernie McNally. Lee provided the new Management team with enormous support when they were newly appointed earlier in the summer and has been a strong presence in the dressing room during pre-season. Lee, along with Shane Sutton, are a dominant force in the Robins defence and he is very complimentary of what the Club has achieved in the period since the new Management have been in place.

Lee has already carried out one ambassadorial role for the Club when, together with Chairman Elwyn Preece and the Manager, he attended the press conference at the League launch in South Wales just ten days ago. He will also carry out other, similar roles over the course of the season. Lee has been awarded a twelve month contract in recognition of his importance to the team.

Taking control for his first game as Captain at Carmarthen at the weekend, Lee led the side impeccably and gained plaudits from the Newtown faithful who travelled to the match. The Carmarthen Officials were very complimentary of the standard of Newtown's players and were impressed with the squad assembled by the new Management team.

Arthurs Sponsorship Presentation

The Sponsorship package from Vauxhall/Arthurs was formally unveiled last night with Steve Hughes, representing Arthurs of Newtown pictured with the players in the new home and away strips. Also pictured are the Management team of Bernie McNally, Peter Carter and Physio, Wayne Peter. Newtown Chairman, Elwyn Preece and President, Richard Bonfield are also pictured.

For more on this story - click here

Reserves go down 6-1 against Four Crosses

The Reserves slipped to another defeat last night, but Manager Jim Sharman was very up-beat about the performance, deriving some positives from it as he prepares his young charges for their first season in the Amateur League. Four Crosses' First Team were a strong outfit and richly deserved their victory as Lewis Sim was once again the scorer for the Reserves. The Reserves are in action once again tomorrow night when they take on First Division side, Llanidloes Reserves away, KO at 7.30pm.

The Reserves fixtures are now on the website, with the first game on 20th August at home to Morda Res, kick off at 2.30pm. Make sure you come along to Mid-Wales Leisure Latham Park to support the young Robins.

Photograph of 2011 / 2012 Season Squad

The above picture, courtesy of Kevin Hughes, was taken on Saturday just before the Abertillery friendly. Click on the photograph for a full list of the squad and a larger photograph.

Stewards Get New Jackets From KJ Hughes Roofing

The ever reliable band of Stewards at Newtown Football Club received a set of new high-visibility jackets from Newtown Director, Kevin Hughes of KJ Hughes Roofing Contractors. Pictured are half a dozen of them before the start of yesterday's final friendly fixture against Abertillery. Left to right, back - John Lloyd, John Bowen and Gareth Jerman; front - Alfie Syers, Roy Francis and Head Steward, Keith Tanner. Not ony is Kevin a Director and Sponsor, but he is also in charge of club photography and the picture is courtesy of him - as is the cheeky caption included!

Our Stewards are far more than match-day stalwarts as they carry out duties at other local football clubs for big matches (they recently officiated at the TNS home European tie) and they carry out numerous duties in the town on behalf of Newtown Town Council. The local carnival only continues due to the excellent marshalling carried out by Keith's team, as does the Winter parade, the switching on of the Christmas lights, the Christmas Santa run, and other assistance is also given to road races from time to time. This year there were even more duties to perform with summer festivities and each time the Stewards represent the Club in an exceptionally professional manner.

They are probably the most experienced band of Stewards in the Welsh Premier League, and have certainly managed security at more high profile games than any other club's stewards. We are very proud of these people at the Club and recognise how vital they are to not only the routine league fixtures, but to the very many other matches that are held at our stadium.

Very Encouraging Performance from Firsts at Home to Abertillery 

There was an excellent performance from Newtown at home to Abertillery Bluebirds in their last friendly of the pre-season. The Welsh League Division Two side were very well organised and it took an excellent save from home keeper, Nick Thomas to keep them out early in the second half. The 2-0 result could have been more, with pretty much constant pressure on the visitors. Matthew Cook hit a screamer of a shot from outside the box to score the opener, and the other came via an own-goal following Newtown pressure in the 6 yard area.

Keiren Mills-Evans took the centre half position when he came on as a second half substitute and looked very comfortable, making a good impression. Kevin Davies was another impressive player on his first appearance at Latham Park and looks a very solid performer. There were other trialists staking a claim for a place in the squad, but the Newtown supporters only saw ten minutes of Anwar Ogubdol as he came on as a late substitute but in that time created a number of excellent opportunities and looks an exciting prospect for the season.

Manager, Bernie McNally was pleased with the performance and will now have to select his best 11 for the trip to Carmarthen in a weeks time. A bus will be leaving the Club at 10am on Saturday for away supporters - please put your name on the list in the clubhouse.

Get your season tickets purchased quickly and get free entry to the Aberystwyth ground following the recent arrangement to accept each other's season tickets between Aberystwyth, Newtown and The New Saints. You can email the club on office@newtownafc.co.uk

Vauxhall Arthurs Sponsorship Presentation

The Sponsorship package from Vauxhall/Arthurs was formally unveiled last night with Steve Hughes, representing Arthurs of Newtown pictured with the players in the new home and away strips. Also pictured are the Management team of Bernie McNally, Peter Carter and Physio, Wayne Peter. Newtown Chairman, Elwyn Preece and President, Richard Bonfield are also pictured.

The Newtown Board and Arthurs have also agreed a deal whereby any Vauxhall owner who arrives at the turnstyles on a home game will be allowed entry for a Fiver. Steve Hughes (pictured left) of Arthurs advised the Board that he would be a proactive sponsor and would be looking to put a vehicle display on at most of the home games this season and would be working with the Club and his PR team to assist in marketing the club and its fixtures.

Club Chairman, Elwyn Preece (pictured right) warmly welcomed Steve to the Club and said that he was delighted to have a successful business associated with the Club as its Sponsor and hoped it would be a long relationship. Elwyn said that he was used to an excellent rapport with the Car Sales staff, being a loyal Vauxhall buyer over the years and was particularly pleased to have brokered the deal with Arthurs.

Steve Hughes is no stranger to the Welsh Premier League as he arranged for Vauxhall to sponsor the League for a couple of years and was, himself, a Club Chairman during his ten year association with Welshpool Town, later Technogroup Welshpool FC. His understanding of the big demands on clubs will be most welcome, as will his experience and knowledge.

The Sponsorship presentation came just a day after the Welsh Premier League unveiled their new Sponsors for the next three years in Bookmakers, CorbettSports. The deal will ensure some sponsorship money comes into the Premier League Clubs after press speculation that no sponsor had been found for the new season. The League Cup is still something that has yet to be settled with no sponsor announced and no fixtures in place yet.

Steve Hughes is pictured, left, with Shane Sutton showing a full length view of the new home kit, and also Matthew Cook who has the new away kit.

There are three sponsors for the new kits, with Vauxhall/Arthurs as the main sponsor with their logo on the chests, whilst, Director, Noel Owen's NEO Fabrications company is the secondary sponsor with his company logo on the backs of players' shoulders and another Director, Kevin Hughes of KJ Hughes Roofing Contractors is the third sponsor with his logo on the back of the players' shorts. This is one aspect of fund raising that the board addressed this year as it attempts to increase the levels of income to ensure that we not only field a side that can compete at the required level, but also be responsible and keep our spending under control and make sensible provision for the repayment of loans. The Board is very grateful to the contributions from their Sponsors, both big and small and will be thanking them with a planned event in late October where a big name speaker will hopefully attend.