Following back-to-back sell-out games against Wrexham and Manchester United, Newport County welcome Swindon Town to Rodney Parade on Saturday in what promises to be a thrilling local derby.
The clash has become one of the most anticipated of the league season in recent years, and for this week’s From the Archive, we are going to take a trip down memory lane and revisit our 1-0 league win in Swindon in November 2017, our first league victory away at the County Ground since 1955.
After securing back-to-back wins away at Swindon in 1955, we would fail to win away in Wiltshire on ten occasions leading up to our last league encounter with them in 1987 before we dropped out of the league.
Our return to the league in 2013 coincided with a spell in League One for the former Premier League side, so we would have to wait until the 2017/18 season to get a chance to set the record straight.
The Robins had struggled to shake the relegation cobwebs off during their first season back in the league, losing two of their opening five games, including back-to-back hammerings at the hands of Crawley and Barnet.
By the time we headed across the water to face them, they had stabilised a little but had still found home wins hard to come by, winning just three of their opening nine at The County Ground and losing four. Despite this, they were sitting in sixth place, just ahead of us in the league.
Michael Flynn, a man who would later go on to manage the hosts, was in the dugouts for us, and we went to Swindon in the belief we could finally break our league hoodoo at the ground and pick up three points.
It was an extremely cagey opening half, with neither team able to create a clear-cut chance and give themselves the lead. Joss Labadie had two of our best chances, putting both of them just over the bar.
The second half saw the tide turn in our favour, with Shawn McCouslky coming close to breaking the deadlock on the sixty-minute mark, firing an effort just wide, having beaten the outstretched hands of Reice Charles-Cook in the Swindon goal.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 76th minute, with Ben Tozer rising highest to head home a corner from Matt Dolan, grabbing his first goal in over 12 months.
The hosts were not going to go down without a fight, though, with Joe Day, Ben Tozer and Ben White helping to hold off a late onslaught from The Robins. They came within inches of breaking our hearts when they hit the bar in stoppage time, but we held on for what was a historic victory.
Pack The Parade this Saturday as we host the Robins at Rodney Parade, buy your tickets HERE! Supporters should be advised that the fixture will be all-ticket and reminded that it will be a 12:45pm kick-off.