After last Saturday’s match fell victim to the weather, Newtown and Llanidloes re-acquaint themselves in the fourth round of the Swalec Bowl at Cae Hafren this weekend.
Newtown go into the match with a largely unchanged squad, Dylan Andrew being rewarded for some strong displays in the second team with a place in the squad, with Danny Price unavailable.
The same applies as last week, with Newtown needing to be at their best to progress at the expense of one of the stronger sides in the league. Coach Derek Murray struggled to contain his excitement at the prospect of progressing the cup run; “The chance of being in the hat for the last 16 draw is an exciting prospect, and we must make sure we take the chances when they are on offer in this match”.
The winner of this tie will be hoping that the regionalised draw will end in the next round, and will hope to be able to test themselves against a team from further afield. Murray was quick to reign in any thoughts of the next round, “We must concentrate on Llani and Llani alone, because if we are any way short of 100% focus, we can kiss any thoughts of a cup run goodbye”.
The match kicks off at 2:00pm
Newtown 2nds return to league action with a trip to league title favourites Aberystwyth Athletic. Despite Newtown being top of the pile at the moment, they have Athletic breathing down their necks in second place, and the winner of this match will see themselves on top of the league by Saturday teatime, and in a very strong position to go on and win the title.
However, Team Manager Bob Jones was keen to play down any thoughts of a league title, “We’ve only played half a season, there are still four sides in the hunt, us being one of them, and we play the other three in consecutive matches starting this weekend”,
He also added that this weekends opponents must still be considered favourites, “They have the higher league status and have been there and done it. We threw the game away at home, so hopefully we can make amends this time out”.
Newtown have a largely unchanged side from the one that travelled to Bridgnorth a fortnight ago, but have one noteable absentee in reliable boot Danny Hill. The ‘Green Army’ will be looking to veteran utility back Lee Davies to fill the void. However, Town are boosted by the return of powerful back row Andy Marriot, and Mark Horobin, pulling on his boots again after a five year absence.
