Beadle pays high price for County’s failings

Apr 28 2008 by Mark Bloom, South Wales Echo

NEWPORT County sacked manager Peter Beadle yesterday after failing to make the play-offs by losing to Fisher Athletic 2-1 in the final league fixture of the season.

Beadle paid the price for not reaching the Blue Square South play-offs for the second successive season.

The board, who were due to meet on Wednesday, acted quickly and begin the search with one requirement for the new man – promotion.

Chairman Chris Blight, who rang Beadle yesterday to inform him of the news, said: “Peter had a job to do and that was to get us at least into to a play-off spot.

“Unfortunately he failed and we have acted. There are no hard feelings

“We have been turned over by too many clubs that have had more energy and much more about them.

“We had a playing budget that should have got us at least in the play-offs.

“We do not have another manager in the waiting in the wings, we will now wait for inquires and go through the process of interviewing.

“We have a city of nearly 200,000 people, yet we are playing Conference South football. That is not good enough – we need to move on now.”

Assistant manager Scott Young’s future is not certain, but he’s been asked to apply for the vacant job.

County looked like a team exhausted of ideas and looked leggy, especially in midfield, but it was simply not their day.

County had left backs – Damon Searle and substitute Matt Smith – stretchered off, conceded a controversial penalty and had substitute goalkeeper Tony Pennock sent to the stands just before half-time.

After 15 minutes a rare attack on the County goal saw former Cardiff City defender Searle stop Athletic’s Shaun Batts making any progress, but his awkward challenge left him in pain and he was stretchered off and replaced by substitute Smith.

But the latter had only been on the pitch for eight minutes when twisted his ankle and while he was in agony on the side of the pitch, Newport conceded a 25th-minute penalty.

The ball was played into Kenny Beaney and Nathan Davies seemed to have taken the ball and the player, but referee Matt McLoughlin pointed straight to the spot and Andre McCollin’s shot went into the top right hand corner of the net.

And just before the home supporters thought it could not get any worse the referee sent Pennock to the stands, apparently for something he said to the linesman.

Seven minutes into the second half and Mark Dodds pulled down the lively McCollin and from the resulting free-kick, McCollin drove the ball around the wall and past the diving Glyn Thompson.

Athletic’s Batts, who was booked in the first half, was sent off for a second bookable offence following a late tackle on Jason Bowen..

County pressed forward, but Bowen was the guilty party as he raced through but failed to provide a simple ball square to his colleagues who would have been better positioned to score.

In the 73rd a mass brawl broke out involving more than 30 people after a Richard Evans challenge near the Fisher bench.

Excluding the ’keepers all remaining 19 outfield players were involved, while the substitutes and backroom staff all piled into the dugout, which, at one point, looked as if it was about to topple over.

At the end of all this the referee only issued yellow cards to Evans and Athletic’s Gavyn Dayes.

County’s Andy Gurney tapped home a 90th minute goal at the far post, but by then it was all far too late.

mark.bloom@mediawales.co.uk