by Jack Cook
EFL League Two: Newport County v Salford City
Date: Saturday January 16, 2021
Kick Off: 15:00
Venue: Rodney Parade, Newport
TEN men Newport County fight for a point against Salford City in a 0-0 draw at Rodney Parade.
With both teams this season looking for promotion it was anticipated to be a thriller, but the only main talking point of the game was Josh Sheehan receiving a straight red card.
The first chance of the game came from Newport as a long range free kick from Josh Sheehan was comfortably caught by Salford goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
Not many other chances to note in the first half with the challenging surface at Rodney Parade not allowing the teams to play free flowing football.
In a scrappy game with not much separating the two teams, Josh Sheehan was shown a straight red card after a rash challenge from the midfielder which meant Newport played the last 30 minutes of the game with ten men.
Both teams were fired up after the sending off and Salford began to grow into the game with the extra player advantage as Ash Hunter had a chance on the edge of the box which was well over the bar.
It was end to end stuff in the final 10 minutes of the game. Newport had a late penalty shout in added time as Mickey Demetriou went down in the box but was waved away by the referee.
Newport stays second in the league but goes joint top with Carlisle with only goal difference separating the two. Salford City remains in the playoffs positions in fifth.
Star player:
Joss Labadie
Key incidents:
58’ Red card for Josh Sheehan (Newport)
77’ Yellow card for Scot Bennett (Newport)
Newport – Tom King, Ryan Haynes (Ashely Baker 16), Joss Labadie (c), Matty Dolan, Josh Sheehan, David Longe-King, Scot Bennett, Jake Scrimshaw (Kevin Ellison 70) (Padraig Amond 81), Mickey Demetriou, Ryan Taylor (Tristan Abrahams 70), Liam Shephard
Substitutes – Nick Townsend, Ashley Baker, Padraig Amond, Tristan Abrahams, Jamie Devitt, Kevin Ellison, Owen Windsor
Salford – Vaclav Hladky, Ibou Touray, Jason Lowe, Tom Clarke9 (c), Tom Elliott (James Wilson 65), Ash Hunter, Di’Shon Bernard, Jordan Turnbull, Oscar Threlkeld, Robbie Gotts (Brandon Thomas-Asante 78), Ian Henderson
Substitutes – William Evans, George Boyd, Luke Burgess, James Wilson, Alex Denny, Tylor Golden, Brandon Thomas-Asante