NEWPORT COUNTY 2 WESTON-S-MARE 0 - WESTON were undone by two late second-half goals, one a controversial penalty, but they should have been ahead had they taken their first-half chances.

NEWPORT COUNTY 2

WESTON-S-MARE 0

WESTON were undone by two late second-half goals, one a controversial penalty, but they should have been ahead had they taken their first-half chances.

Fielding the same side that started against Weymouth, they took control from the start, forcing the first of five corners on five minutes and they opened the Newport defence for the first time on nine minutes when Tom Parrinello's superb crossfield-pass picked out Ashan Holgate who put Darren Mullings through, but was denied by an offside flag and a minute later home keeper Glyn Thompson was booked for bringing down Marvin Brown outside the penalty area.

Four minutes later Josh Llewellyn was off target from 15 yards. The Newport goal had another let-off on 22 minutes when Jack Compton's shot from Holgate's cross was knocked up and off the crossbar by Wayne Turk with Thompson beaten. Minutes later, Compton's low cross across the face of the goal was missed by inches by Brown and Josh Llewellyn.

Newport were rarely in the Weston half, and their only efforts on target were distance shots by Turk and Craig Reid.

Two minutes before the break, Weston had their best chance when Llewellyn put Brown in behind the defence, but he fired wide in front an empty goal.

Early in the second half, Scott Bartlett replaced Compton and on 65 minutes, Mullings looped an effort over the bar from Bartlett's pass.

Then came the penalty decision on 61 minutes. Parrinello was shepherding the ball out of play to the side of the Weston goal and got into a tangle with Newport's Danny Rose. The referee's assistant indicated a corner, but referee Derek Eaton from Tewkesbury, who was further away from the incident, awarded a spot kick and Reid sent Sawyer the wrong way. Following the incident, Weston's assistant manager Chris Smith was sent to the stands for talking to the assistant.

Weston tried to hit back as Bartlett's free kick was turned behind for a corner, Marc McGregor, who had replaced Holgate, forced a save from Thompson and he fired wide from another Bartlett corner.

Newport sewed up the game on 75 minutes when Sawyer, coming well off his line, blocked Reid's low effort but substitute Dave Gilroy scored from the rebound.

ON Saturday, Weston will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they entertain Braintree (3pm) at the Woodspring Stadium. Then on Tuesday, September 8, Worcester City provide the opposition at the Stadium (7.45pm).

The club has announced they have released Frenchman Eric Laborieux and that Josh Klein-Davies had signed for Weymouth. All at the club wish both players well.

WESTON-S-MARE 3

WEYMOUTH 0

ABLE to field their strongest line-up, Weston recorded their first Blue Square South win of the season against Weymouth, who were relegated from the National Conference at the end of last season.

Central defenders Craig Rand and Clayton Fortune dominated, allowing only one effort to get through to keeper Kevin Sawyer and that was a fairly tame effort that was easily saved.

Right from the start Weston took control with Jack Compton making several penetrating runs down the left and Marvin Brown going close with three headed efforts in as many minutes. Then Rand was off target from Compton's corner and Ashan Holgate forced a diving save from visiting keeper Ryan Harrison.

The almost continuous pressure paid off on 31 minutes when Harrison did well to turn another Brown effort over his crossbar, but from Compton's corner, Fortune rose above the Weymouth defence to head past Harrison. Minutes later, Brown and Josh Llewellyn broke throuth, but were denied when central defender David Obaze managed to clear.

With the wind at their backs for the second half, Weymouth had their best spell, with Chris Allen firing across goal and Sawyer palming Matt Townley's corner to safety, but on 59 minutes Weymouth were reduced to 10 men when Matt Groves was shown a straight red card for a two-footed tackle on Mike Green. It was after that when Andy Harris tested Sawyer with a header from a corner.

Weston made a double substitution up front, bringing on Marc McGregor for Brown and Josh Klein-Davis for Llewellyn and the extra man began to count.

On 76 minutes from another Compton corner, McGregor increased Weston's lead when unmarked on the far post and he struck again five minutes later, beating Harrison from Compton's cross. McGregor was denied by a point-blank save by the Weymouth keeper on the final whistle.