Two down, one to go – Newport Town added the second piece to their treble jigsaw by clinching the Shropshire County first division title with a game to spare.
Town finally got their hands on the trophy with a barnstorming 7-1 victory at Wellington Amateurs Reserves on Wednesday night.
The result means tomorrow’s final league game of the season against second place Ketley Bank United is purely academically rather than a winner-takes-all showdown.
Proud manager Richard Priest lauded his troops – but is still keeping one eye on their league cup final against Ludlow Town Reserves next Wednesday.
He said: ”There is a great hunger with these players to win things and every player in the squad has played their part this season.
“Hopefully we can put in a good performance tomorrow and then look forward to the final on Wednesday.
“To win two trophies is great, but to sign off our first season with the treble would be superb and give us good momentum for next season.”
Remarkably it was Wellington who took the lead midweek after just six minutes following a slip by George Hill.
But it took Town just three minutes to level the scores when towering centreback Steve Handley headed home Liam Bould’s corner.
Nathan Holloway made it 2-1 on 24 minutes, the midfielder finishing confidently from Carlos Ratcliffe’s through ball.
The early ball over the top was to terrorise Wellington all evening.
And a carbon copy move produced Newport’s third on 40 minutes, Ratcliffe this time with the one-on-one finish.
Christian Slade turned and fired in from a tight angle for 4-1 at the break, and it was five on 49 minutes when Callum Muir followed up his own shot to head in from close range.
Lightening fast Ratcliffe took advantage of a lucky break for his 28th of the campaign and Town’s sixth, and Lewis Ainsworth wrapped up the scoring on 67 minutes with a firm header from Bould’s corner.
Priest added: “It was well deserved. The team spirit just gets better and better.”
The success followed Newport’s 3-1 win over Brown Clee last Saturday, Holloway (two) and Ratcliffe the scorers.
By Sean Wozencroft
