NEWTOWNS POOR HOME FORM CONTINUES AS BANGOR PICK UP VITAL WIN

NEWTOWN 0 V BANGOR CITY 3
DAFABET WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE @ LATHAM PARK
24 OCTOBER 2015--2.30 PM

LATHAM PARK HOME OF NEWTOWN AFC

Bangor City lifted themselves out of the WPL relegation zone with a win in Powys against a Newtown side who were sadly out of sorts.  A goal as early as the first minute set the trend for the game as The Citizens added two more goal to secure all three points.
With some poor weather conditions forecast we decided to take the blog bandwagon back to the Principality, this being only the third visit of the season so far, and to a club alongside its town that I absolutely love.  As a visitor towns often look better than probably for the residents but the setting is lovely, the town is a small negotiable size, the football club has a lovely ground alongside some pleasant helpers on board and this would be the blogs third visit inside a year.

MICK FINDS FIRST CLASS

Todays start from base station was not too early at just after 9am the travel to Birmingham was as usual met by a full Cross Country train and we spent the hour to Birmingham standing and as Mick discovered he slotted into the cycle rack, not on the loo as the picture may look like!
Comfortable change in Birmingham, with the rain now falling sharply we passed through Shropshire and departed Shrewsbury on the way to the border and Wales.  After a brief stop in Welshpool we meandered past the neighbours of Welshpool FC and Waterloo Rangers in the town.
Upon arrival in Newtown at just after mid day the rain was quite sharp and the decision was made to retire to the 'spoons' for some luncheon and the obligatory non alcoholic beverage. 

NO LOOKING BACK, WELL ONLY INTO NEWTOWN

When we ventured out just before 1pm it was still throwing down the wet stuff but a quick look around the town centre tourist sites taking in Robert Owen statue and his memorial [first co-operator], WH Smith's one of the first original shops which is still trading under classic shop style with wooden shelving and displays from its road side entrance, the brand new refurbished indoor market and of course the town centre itself.  The blog has reviewed the town on its previous write ups but if you haven't been its well worth a look around although today on a damp afternoon it was harder to get the usual pictures.

SOME LOVELY PAINTBOX COLOURS ON THE WALK TO THE GROUND

As ever time was moving on to the 2.30pm kick off and the lovely little walk through Newtown's park was chosen for the ten minute walk to the ground.  What a pleasure it was today with the River Severn sailing by to our left and the autumnal glow of the trees making for a pleasant walk to Latham Park, named after George Latham former Wales international.
As on previous visits we received a warm welcome at the turnstiles from the stewards and as ever throughout the afternoon, this is something I have mentioned to the club before and is a credit to Newtown AFC to have these people as an asset.

A BEAUTIFULLY COLOURFUL LOOK AT NEWTOWN AFC 

Within a few minutes of arrival within the ground the rain subsided and the beauty that surrounds Latham Park was revealed with the gold leaf colouring and green hillsides offering up the most glorious of views.  The setting is one of the things that hopefully will keep me returning at frequent intervals as well of course as the football and the ground.  The newish 4g/3g pitch has been in place for just over a year and is looking good as is the tidiness of the ground and its multitude of stands.  Once again the ground as been described previously and hopefully you can see from the pictures my enthusiasm for it.
Of course we did the obligatory circuit before the game and took in the clubhouse with its large collection of memorabilia before starting to pay attention to the kick off which was around twenty minutes away.
Newtown would be a few players down today with a  couple of injuries including the fully cast right leg of Shane Sutton following his leg break a few weeks ago and a couple of suspensions after last weeks loss as Bala Town resulted in two red cards.
This would be the first time I had seen Bangor City in a WPL game even though I visited their smart new stadium last season for The Mawwdach Cup Final which was staged at Nantporth.  The club has struggled last season and are having a hard time so far this season.

BANGOR CITY FANS ENJOYING THE AFTERNOON

However one thing that always resonates around any Bangor game is their enthusiastic supporters who were again here in numbers and their manager Nev Powell who got them to safety last season.  The club stuck with Mr Powell last season when many clubs would have changed the top man and that is a credit to them, hopefully something that will benefit the club.

NEV POWELL BANGOR CITY, PLAYER AND MANAGER

This week, indeed the Friday before the game was the celebration of the 20 year anniversary of Bangor City playing a home European Cup Winners Cup game against Athletic Madrid at the former home Farrar Rd.  The ground was superbly placed right in the centre of Bangor City and although I did not see a game their thankfully I did visit it in the early 90's and is reputed to have had an excellent atmosphere.  I mentioned in my visit their at the end of last season that I found it a real shame that the local council had placed no reference to the club, that I could see, on the now supermarket car park.  Bangor City have some excellent memorabilia at their ground but this week they also featured a team picture from the European game which features Mark Palios now Tranmere Chairman and former FA top man and sat on the front row a curly haired Nev Powell of course current Bangor City manager.

KRIS HAMES WANTS THE WALL BACK A BIT FURTHER

So to the purpose of the visit and before we could all settle down into position and indeed the public address system could stop the audible music playing Bangor were in the lead.  It was the first minute and Damian Allen who drifted in a cross from the left hand edge of the box time seemed to stand still and the ball just fell in at the far post.
A surreal start but gradually Newtown got into the game without any major threat and all the time they were looking a little of the pace and shaky when defending.

A sweeping move from City saw them double their advantage after 37 minutes and it all ended with a neat little finish from Rio Amahdi.

LUKE BOUNDFORD PREPARES TO CROSS

The second half saw Newtown start encouragingly but the head of steam soon fell away and the Bangor City supporters and bench celebrated on 67 minutes when Alan Cummins placed his header well enough to make it 3-0.

THIRD GOAL FOR BANGOR AND CUMMINS

Newtown were looking well beaten now and with ten minutes of normal time to go Allen saw his shot well turned round by David Jones to deny City a fourth.
A vital win for Bangor as they look to rise up the table but don't doubt Chris Hughes and his Newtown side when back to strength will not have many 'bad days at the office like this'.

CHRIS HUGHES REACHES FOR THE WATER

The final whistle never leaves too long to enjoy the aftermath of the game at Newtown with a train departure just twenty minutes away, last season FAW Wales cup final did see me delay to enjoy the presentation of the cup but it is a two hour wait for the next train! 

CONNOR ROBERTS GATHERS THE BALL FOR BANGOR

So a steady ten minute walk saw us arrive at the pretty station and within a few minutes the Arriva train was with us and hooray it was a four carriage unit upon which we secured a seat all the way to Birmingham.  With a steady half an hour wait for our connection there was time for the usual sandwich collection and onward to base station for a return just after 8pm.
As ever an enjoyable day in Powys with both Newtown AFC and for the first time Bangor City.

FLYING HIGH OVER LATHAM PARK