Monday 15 September 2025 13:15
Newport 22pts v Bromsgrove 17pts
Old rivalries were renewed when Bromsgrove visited The Old Showground for the first time since November 2021. Both clubs had secured an opening day win so one team’s unbeaten start was about to end abruptly. As always games between the two sides tend to be tight and Saturday’s affair was no exception.
Bromsgrove may well look back and wonder how they didn’t finish the job having fought back to within one score with over twenty minutes left on the clock. In truth it was probably a combination of robust Newport defence, difficult conditions and their own failure to execute at key moments.
Skipper Ricky Bailey remained absent with a calf injury whilst Tim Waqadau’s troublesome ankle flared up again last Saturday so he too missed out as did Tom Clarke and Charlie Gamble who were both unavailable this week.
Luke Kendall slotted in at loose-head, whilst Ellis Deans-Smith was selected on the wing and Matt Hubbart, having recovered from Covid, took a place on the bench amounting to just the three changes from last week’s squad.
Newport made the perfect start going down the slope and with the wind in their favour. Elliot Dolphin, just as he had done the week previously scythed through on the counter and fed Billy Dinning who crossed on the left almost before most had drawn breath. Benny Elliot missed the conversion but it wasn’t long before Newport were in again. Elliot put a penalty to within ten and after claiming the line-out Jake Goulson was on course to be driven over before Bromsgrove dragged down the advancing maul to concede the inevitable penalty try and so the hosts led 12 – 0 after just six minutes.
There were good carries from the Newport pack, particularly George Perkins, Uluaki Kale and John Tuia but Newport never really set up the necessary territorial positions to make their pressure tell. Bromsgrove then enjoyed an excursion into the Newport twenty-two and after dragging a penalty shot wide got over in the right-hand corner, perhaps a little fortuitously after a bit of pin-ball on the floor. With a conversion well nigh impossible in such conditions Newport’s lead had been reduced to 12 – 5 after twenty-one minutes.
Newport continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession but were successfully kept at distance by the visitors. Elliot added a late penalty to go into the break at 15 – 5.
The hosts started the second half just as they had begun the first, Elliot intercepting what might have been a scoring pass for the visitors in his own twenty-two and racing clear to score under the posts, also tacking on the extras to give Newport a 22 – 5 advantage after forty-one minutes, a score that ultimately proved to be decisive.
Bromsgrove too struggled to build momentum, the swirling wind making line-outs very difficult meaning play was very often scrappy. Charlie Pugh had an excellent game, particularly in defence, but he was forced off after fifty-one minutes when injured in the tackle after making a lovely break out of his own twenty-two. James Tideswell, Callum Bradbury and Deans-Smith carried the move on but Dolphin was then penalised for “crossing” and the position was lost. Chris Taylor replaced the unfortunate Pugh but with Kale stepping out of the back row to fill in at centre.
The visitors then battered their way over from close range to score by the posts, the conversion putting them very much back in the contest at 22 – 12 with around fifty-four minutes gone. Things worsened for Newport shortly after when Bromsgrove won the race to touch down following a clever chip through and whilst the conversion was missed Bromsgrove were closing in at 22 – 17 and with a quarter of the match still remaining there appeared to be only one winner. Matt Hubbart and Ollie Bird entered the fray for the final twenty minutes and rather remarkably Newport managed to hold out for the victory, the visitors spurning a couple of late chances.
A rather strange league table shows Newport as one of only two teams to have won both their opening games and thus topping the early standings thanks to a superior points difference over Stourbridge.
Next week sees Newport return to the Forest of Dean, visiting Newent who will become their 128th different club to be played in a league fixture. Kick-Off is at 3pm if you can find it!