Newport target more home comforts

Newport will be aiming to make the most of home advantage again this weekend after bouncing back to winning ways.

A Syston side surprisingly sitting bottom of the Regional One Midlands table are the visitors to the Old Showground with the hosts chasing a second successive victory in front of their own fans.

They eased to a 38-12 success against Moseley Oak last weekend - a result that left them second in the standings, three points behind leaders Stourbridge.

Billy Dinning, Tom Clifford, Charlie Gamble, Tom Clark, Oliver Bird and Jacob Reynolds scored the tries with Elliot Dolphin adding four conversions.

"It was a really confident and dominant performance and a great reaction off the back of a defeat the week before," said director of rugby Steve Dolphin.

"The boys really worked hard in the week, as did the coaching team, and we got it right on the day.

"There were times when Moseley put some real pressure on us, but we came up with some really good defensive sets and stole some crucial lineouts.

"And when we had the ball, we looked very, very dangerous. So, yeah, we were really pleased.

"We now have another home game and we will be aiming for another five points.

"But we don't know what situation Syston are in at the moment with injuries. They might have a few lads coming back and they will still have a lot of lads there that played the level above last year, so it will be a tough match and we have to make sure we perform again."

Last Saturday was a memorable afternoon for second row forward Jake Goulson as he made his 250th first team appearance for the club.

"It was Jake's 250th first team team appearance and he led the team out, and also got man- of-the-match, voted by the opposition. It was a big day for him,” added Dolphin.

"The family have got great history at the club. His grandad has written two books about the club and his dad was a former captain.

"It’s great to see Jake, who's come through our youth pathway, play 250 times, it's a fantastic achievement."