Newport County completed yet another FA Cup giant-killing on Tuesday, dumping Championship side Middlesbrough out of the competition in their fourth-round replay. As proud sponsors of the Welsh side, we at InterBet.com were thrilled to see Flynn’s boys reign supreme.
Middlesbrough were brought back for a replay in South Wales having played out a 1-1 draw when the sides met at the Riverside Stadium. Newport were the better side when the two teams first clashed but were somewhat fortunate to claim a draw, having scored a dramatic equaliser in injury time.
Men against boys
In Tuesday’s replay, Newport County outplayed their opponents pretty much from start to finish, making a mockery of their inferior league position. Middlesbrough boss, Tony Pulis, described the game as “men against boys” after his side were sent crashing out. The home side, fourteenth in League Two, are a massive 57 league positions below promotion-chasing Championship side, Middlesbrough. With a crucial game at home to Leeds United to come on Saturday, Middlesbrough seemed to have more than one eye on that league fixture.
The game was finely poised and goalless at the break but a fine solo goal from Robbie Willmott sent the home side delirious just two minutes into the second half. Things got even better for the home side at 67 minutes as top scorer, Padraig Amond, finished smartly at the near post. With barely a threat on their goal, League Two Newport held on for a famous 2-0 win to reach the fifth round for the first time since 1949.
Manager, Mike Flynn, was full of praise for his side afterwards but has challenged them to replicate their superb FA Cup performances in the league. Flynn explained, “It’s nothing more than we deserved, tonight we were absolutely outstanding. We should have had a penalty and should have scored more than twice too.
“At half-time I told them, ‘you are going to get another opportunity’. We had created too much not to get another one. We stuck to our game-plan. ‘Boro changed their shape a few times, which shows how well we did.
“Robbie Willmott was outstanding. An old-fashioned winger, he is very versatile, he’s an outstanding talent and he should have played higher in his career.
“They can match Championship players. I don’t know what it is with them. We can play like that but not every week in League Two.
Long road back
Incredibly, Newport County went out of business thirty years ago this month. Years of financial mis-management saw the Welsh club suffer back-to-back relegations between 1987 and 1989, ending a 60-year stay in the Football League as they dropped from the third to fifth tier. Newport were finally wound up on February 29th 1989, little over half way through the 1988/89 season.
The club were reformed in June 1989 by a group of 400 supporters but due to debts owed on their previous Somerton Park ground, the newly-formed club were forced to play 75 miles away in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. The relocation saw them adopt The Exiles nickname still proudly used today.
As they slowly climbed the Football League pyramid, Newport played in the FA Cup first round proper for the first time since their reformation in 2001. Although they claimed a credible draw away to Blackpool (then in the third tier), they lost the replay 4-1 after extra time.
After a 24-year absence The Exiles finally returned to the Football League in 2013. Current manager and former County player, Flynn, has since helped consolidate Newport County’s status as a Football League club and enhance their reputation through some fine FA Cup performances.
FA Cup success
Newport defeated Leeds United in last year’s competition and took Tottenham Hotspur to a replay, finally succumbing to a 2-0 loss in their replay at Wembley Stadium. Proving that cup run was no fluke, Newport County had already defeated 2014 Premier League champions, Leicester City, in round three before adding the scalp of Middlesbrough to that ever-growing list of recent giant-killings.
Newport’s reward for dumping Middlesbrough out of the FA Cup, is a mouth-watering fifth round meeting with Premier League giants, Manchester City at Rodney Parade. Pep Guardiola’s star-studded City squad are the bookies’ favourites to win both the Premier League and FA Cup this season but will not relish a trip to Rodney Parade.
The fifth-round tie is set to take place on Saturday 16th February. With the continued demands facing Manchester City in competing in four competitions that FA Cup fixture is sandwiched in between the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley and the away leg of their Champions League last-16 meeting with German side, Schalke. City could therefore be tempted to rotate their squad for the trip to South Wales.
Manchester City faced an equally congested fixture pile-up last February and the result was a shock 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic, then of League One. With respect to the City fringe players, facing a weakened team is a far less daunting proposition than lining up against Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. Could squad rotation hold the key to Newport pulling off arguably the greatest giant-killing of all time?
Of course, Newport County will start the game as massive underdogs but this week has proven without doubt that the magic of the FA Cup lives on!
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