This Saturday, we make the long journey north to Cleethorpes to take on Grimsby Town.
The Mariners have been regular sparring partners in League Two over the last decade, and to get fans in the mood for Saturday’s encounter, we’ve taken a look back at our 1-0 win over the club from August 2018.
HIGHLIGHTS| Newport County AFC vs Grimsby Town
The 2018/19 season was an excellent time to be a Newport County fan. We finished the season in seventh place after a topsy-turvy campaign that saw us sneak into the playoffs right at the death.
While those final few games were exciting, it was our red hot form at the start of the campaign that played a huge part in our success. After losing 3-0 to Mansfield on the opening day, we quickly bounced back, defeating Crewe at home before drawing away at Exeter and then beating Notts County at Rodney Parade.
This put us in a healthy eighth place after four games, and we looked to continue our excellent early-season form at home when we welcomed Michael Jolley’s Grimsby to South Wales.
Chances were at a premium in the early stages of what was a red-hot summer afternoon. Mickey Demetriou provided us with our first real chance, firing a volley just over the bar following a troublesome corner for Grimsby.
Dan Butler would then sting James McKeown’s efforts with a fantastic effort from distance, with Alex Whitmore throwing himself in the way of Tyler Hornby-Forbes’s follow-up attempt.
We would break the deadlock in the 40th minute, with Matt Dolan stepping up to deliver about as perfect a free-kick as you are ever likely to see at Rodney Parade. McKeown stood helpless as the ball dropped perfectly into the corner to give us the 1-0 lead before the break.
The second half was a scrappy affair, which culminated in Wes Thomas being shown a red for a dangerous tackle for the visitors.
The win took us up to fifth in the league and would turn out to be the second win and third-game unbeaten in a sequence that saw us lose just one in 12, a freak 6-0 home defeat to Yeovil Town three weeks later.