Cod Almighty | Match Stats

Saturday 26 September 2026

Division 4

Newport County 2 Doidge (57), Gwengwe (69)

Grimsby Town 1 Wright (82, og)

Attendance: 4,973

He just is the best player on every pitch Town play on. That's just a fact. Even when he's not on the pitch. Calm and totally unruffled, he rises to few baits but always stands his ground. And he's still only 20. Unbelievable, Jeff.

Dapper Dave is not really a flop man, but is a man of constant sorrow about the state of referreeing affairs:

"You have to assault a player in the box, they don't want to give penalties…we filled out the survey…they are horrific. That's the facts, not just me, it's all the managers…I'm hoping that as part of the new deal they'll be made professional …the chairmen all want it for themselves to put it into their football clubs rather than ringfencing £2m a year to make referees professional. Until owners accept they're part of football and an issue it'll carry on…we get left with plumbers and joiners."

So it was all the ref's fault was it? Ah, no, no, nooo, the man with two brains who is not one to dine out on single a grape, whines:

"The grass is ridiculously long…I think the length of the grass has probably made it quicker. The grass has sort of done him really…but he was there to miss, which is the pleasing thing."

But in the end, when push comes to shove, it's all about what you can control to eliminate the things you can't control:

"That should not have been a loss, not even a draw, we've got to look at ourselves, don't rely on the officials making their decision properly. We've got to take accountability for the chances we've created and missed 'cos ultimately that's what cost us today."

And finally we get to the rub and the nub.

More on this

Loads of things you'd expect him to say after scabbing a win. He sounds like a knock-off Paul Hurst: keep it tight, keep your shape, nick a goal on the break and hang on to what you've got.

His job is to keep them up, that's all, let's not be too sniffy.

"Jordan will be disappointed with the goal we conceded and he's held his hands up."

Well Hayds my good man, that was the problem, ask him to keep 'em down next time.

More on this

To miss one open goal may be regarded as a misfortune, but to miss two looks like carelessness.

Town lost because of what Town didn't do, not because of what the opposition did. This was one of those infuriating butterfly performances where there is the faint air of entitlement or at least expectation that our natural and obvious superiority will naturally and obviously result in a result at the end of the day, Brian. It was all too much like an extended training ground routine.

No-one really got to grips with the sticky wicket, the green, green grass of Newport's home, where the ball didn't roll. Even then Town were serenely strolling until the defenestration of Shelton ruptured our space time continuum, for Reynolds hasn't the consistency, the knowledge or physical heft.

You know the real problem? Town never, ever looked like scoring against occasionally lax Exiles. Without Shelton and Turi we're lightweight and unimaginative in midfield; without Cook there is absolutely nothing up front. We cannot expect or rely upon the new youngsters yet, they're still enthusiastic subs at the moment.

We got mugged, but it's our own fault. We could see it coming a mile off but didn't change direction and head off down a different road.

They want to avoid relegation, they play like a team that's in a relegation battle. Big blokes at the back, fast blokes on the flanks, no-nonsense-balling, keep it tight, keep your shape, launch it, chase after it and see what happens.

Sometimes they're lucky. They were lucky today.

They are intrinsically dire, but structurally sound in their direness. Their goal is not beauty, only avoiding relegation. They are built to last a season, not to please. They rode their luck and kept right on till the end of the road, their way be long, but their heart, and the heart of their defence is strong enough. Except the goalkeeper, of course. We told 'em, they wouldn't listen.

What can we say. They ain’t Crawley, so they’re only looking to be better than one other team and they’ll probably succeed in hitting their target. We’ve been there, we understand, it’s all about context and perspective.

Sometimes toilets can really seethe.

Mr D Drysdale

Blimey, what a palaver. Dazzling Daz had a semi-shocker, being Newport's most effective defensive midfield sweeper enforcer. Town literally couldn't get past him to get at the home defence.

Whenever he had options he chose to disadvantage Town, though he was also determined to ignore the one-eyed, tin-eared home fans' perpetual wailing at perceived calumnies performed by perfidious Albionites. He was all over the place and not in a good way: 5.009

Missing, messing, messing and missing.

In a word: reckless