Haverfordwest County tasted a league defeat at the Ogi Bridge Meadow for the first time since October 2022 on Saturday, as Newtown ran out 4-0 winners on a chastening afternoon.

Henry Cowans’ early free-kick caught the Bluebirds unawares, before Aaron Williams scored the first of a brace of goals nine minutes before the break.

With County chasing the game late on, Williams netted for a second time and substitute Zeli Ismail finished off a counter-attack to round off a desperately disappointing day for the Town.

The result sees the two teams swap places in the standings, with Haverfordwest County dropping down one place to ninth ahead of next Saturday’s meeting with champions The New Saints at Park Hall.

Team news

Manager Tony Pennock made one change to the team that defeated Colwyn Bay 2-1 a week prior, with striker Ben Fawcett returning to the starting line-up in place of Harri John, who started on the bench.

Haverfordwest County: Jones, Humphreys (H. John 45′), Jenkins, Tabone (C), Borg (Wilson 61′), Abbruzzese, Owen (D. John 79′), Whitmore, Hawkins, Fawcett, Taylor-Crossdale (Williams-Lowe 61′)

Substitutes not used: Knott, Davies, Woodhouse

First half

After a relatively quiet opening 15 minutes to the game, it was the visitors who took the lead with the first moment of note when Cowans spotted an opportunity to shoot on goal from a free-kick 30 yards out, and with the Bluebirds disorganised the ball found its way past Zac Jones and into the right corner for 1-0.

The Bluebirds could have fashioned an opportunity to draw themselves level just four minutes later when Oscar Borg was freed down the left side and delivered a cross into the area, but his inviting ball just evaded Martell Taylor-Crossdale.

With the temperatures in the mid 20’s in Pembrokeshire, the decision was taken to have two scheduled water breaks during the game, with the first coming on the 25-minute mark as the players took in some much-needed refreshment.

There was a delay of approximately five minutes shortly after the half-hour mark when goalkeeper Jones required treatment having been taken out late in the air by Williams, who then doubled the Robins’ lead four minutes later when he directed a high ball into the right-hand corner to give his team a 2-0 lead at the interval.

Second half

County came back out for the second half keen to find a way back into the contest, and Lee Jenkins came close to doing just that when he advanced to just outside the area before unleashing a powerful effort which flew just wide of the right post.

Jones had to be alert to keep the score at 2-0 on the hour mark when he tipped Shane Sutton’s header from a corner onto the crossbar. Jack Wilson and Kayden Williams-Lowe were introduced from the bench a minute later – the latter for his first league appearance at the Ogi Bridge Meadow – as Pennock looked to inject some energy into his team for the last half-hour.

However, with just under 20 minutes remaining, it was 3-0 when Williams directed a volley from close range past a group of bodies and into the right side of the net to all but end the contest.

Dan John was sent on with just over 10 minutes to go as he became the latest Bluebirds player to get a first taste of JD Cymru Premier action on home turf.

With seven minutes added on by the fourth official, the Bluebirds’ main goal was to see out the remainder of the game with no further damage. However, in the 95th minute, the visitors scored a fourth goal when a break upfield by Ismail gave him a clear run on goal, and he rolled the ball home to round off a forgettable afternoon for the Town.

Attendance: 401

Post-match reaction

Highlights