Match Preview: Newport County

19 August 2022

It’s the second of back-to-back away trips with Micky Mellon’s men making the trip to Wales to face Newport County.

Rovers are unbeaten in three games after beating Accrington Stanley on penalties in the Carabao Cup before beating Gillingham at home and picking up an away point in midweek against Hartlepool United.

With a mouth-watering cup tie coming up next week against Premier League opposition, Micky will be keen to ensure his players focus on the matter at hand which is Sky Bet League Two action before attention turns to facing Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United side next Wednesday.

As for Newport, after a decent campaign last year, the Welsh side are still yet to register a league win this season, picking up one draw and three loses in their four league outings.

They did however pick up an impressive victory away at Championship side Luton Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup which set them up with a home tie against Portsmouth in round two.

With a 3-2 loss against Salford last time out, James Rowberry will be hoping to recapture some of last season’s form as soon as possible which saw them finish 11^th despite flirting with the automatic promotion places for several weeks before dropping out of the play-offs completely with five games to go.

Team News:

Micky Mellon confirmed that anybody who was unavailable on Tuesday is still out of action. Joel Mumbongo has also picked up a thigh strain and will likely miss this one.

One to Watch: Omar Bogle

Born in the Midlands, Bogle came through the ranks of West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City before spending a year at Celtic.

He then spent a number of years in non-league, featuring heavily for Solihull Moors before earning a move to Grimsby Town.

After impressing there, he earned moves higher up the football league with spells at the likes of Wigan, Cardiff and Birmingham City.

And more recently, Bogle has experience within the bottom two tiers of the football league, with spells with Doncaster Rovers and Hartlepool United before signing for Newport in the summer.

After scoring on his debut against Sutton United, Bogle will be hoping to continue to hit the ground running and inspire his team to their first league win of the season this weekend.

Manager: James Rowberry

One of the youngest managers within the EFL, Rowberry has a long connection with the Welsh side. His father featured as a player for County in the 1990’s and he grew up within a small distance of Rodney Parade.

After retiring at the age of just 21 to focus on his coaching career, Rowberry joined Newport in 2009, working with the first team and development team respectively.

He was then appointed manager of his hometown club in October last year, succeeding Michael Flynn who had spent a number of years in charge of County.

With his first managerial job, Rowberry very nearly saw his Newport side reach the League Two play offs last term, just drifting away towards the latter stages of the season. And despite a winless start, he will be confident that he can recapture some of the form from last campaign which would see Newport rise back into the top half of the fourth tier.

Match Coverage:

Supporters can listen to full match commentary for as little as £1 per game by getting an audio season pass here.

You can follow the action through our social media channels below, with full text coverage during the fixture, followed by a match report.

Twitter: @tranmererovers

Facebook: @trfcofficial

Instagram: @tranmererovers

Match reaction from Micky Mellon and a player will follow on our website and YouTube channel.

Match Previews

Match Reports

Newport County 2-1 Tranmere Rovers

20 August 2022

Tranmere Rovers fell to a narrow defeat at Rodney Parade on Saturday afternoon against Newport County.

An own goal from Aaron Lewis put Tranmere in the driving seat but a quick first half turnaround courtesy of goals from Moriah-Welsh and Bogle gave the hosts all three points.

Tranmere had the first chance of note in the first half when Josh Dacres-Cogley found space on the right and whipped a cross onto the head of Elliott Nevitt whose header landed a few yards over the bar.

A few minutes later, Rovers had another good chance. A long ball made it’s way though a sea of bodies to Kane Hemmings who was one on one with Townsend but his half volley was well saved by the Newport stopper.

The early pressure took its toll and Rovers took a deserved lead. Some patient build up play resulted in Paul Lewis finding space in the box and drilling a cross into the chest of Aaron Lewis who had to watch as the ball trickled into his own net.

That lead didn’t last long though as the home side responded almost immediately. Nevers beat Byrne down the left to get to the byline before cutting it back into a good area. The Tranmere defence had opportunity to clear before Moriah-Welsh took advantage and slotted into the bottom corner.

Just seven minutes later and County completed the turnaround. A one two in the box resulted in Jameson bringing his man down, forcing the referee to award a penalty to the home side. Omar Bogle stepped up and sent Doohan the wrong way from the spot.

In the last chance of the half, Hemmings latched onto Dacres-Cogley’s header inside the box but could only fire his left footed effort into the side netting.

It was a lacklustre second half from Rovers. Newport had a golden chance to make it three on the hour mark. Omar Bogle broke the offside trap and put it on a plate for Waite inside the box however he somehow missed the target.

There was nearly another own goal by the home side shortly after. Ethan Bristow put in a dangerous cross before the ball bounced off the thigh of Clarke and ended up inches past the far post.

With the game entering the closing stages, Doohan was keeping Rovers in it. A throw in dropped to Collins inside the box and Doohan spread himself well to keep Tranmere in the contest.

Tranmere didn’t put much pressure on the County goal in the last five minutes and Newport took all three points.

Tranmere team: Doohan, Dacres-Cogley, Byrne, Turnbull, Jameson, Bristow, Merrie (Nolan 45’), McAlear (Hawkes 73’), Lewis (O’Connor 45’), Nevitt, Hemmings

Unused subs: Hewelt, Fisher, Hockenhull, Hughes

Match Reports

Ticket News

Newport County ticket details

11 August 2022

Tickets for our away game against Newport County are now on sale.

Supporters can buy online or in store for the fixture on Saturday 20th August, 3pm kick off

Tickets will be sold first for the Bisley Stand (Covered) and then in the PureVans.com South Stand (uncovered) if needed.

Bisley Stand:

Adult £22

Senior: £18

Young Adult (16-21): £16

U16: £10

U12 £8

U6: Free of charge with paying adult

PureVans.com South Stand

Adult: £20

Senior: £18

Young Adult (16-21): £14

U16: £10

U12 £8

U6: Free of charge with paying adult

Tickets are on sale up until Friday 19^th August at 12pm and collections up until 5pm on the same day. Any uncollected tickets will be taken to Newport to collect at the ground.

Coach travel is available for £39 and will depart Prenton Park at 9:30am.

Both match and coach tickets can be bought online here or in TRFC Store