Newbridge Town suffer defeat in first National League home game

Newbridge Town’s first home appearance in the FAI National League ended in defeat at Station Road on Saturday, but Martin Russell’s side had opportunities to make the afternoon a much closer affair than the eventual 5-1 scoreline suggests.

Alex Akinrintoyo got the Newbridge goal, while the home side produced some of their best football when attacking from wide areas and caused problems on a number of occasions.

Coming into the game following a narrow defeat to CK United in their opening fixture, Newbridge made a positive start in front of their home support in Kildare.

Ruairi Brown was prominent on the left in the early stages and, after seven minutes, sent a dangerous ball across the Villa penalty area.

Milton Benitez Lirio was waiting to meet it, but the chance was cut out before the Paraguayan could get a decisive touch. Akinrintoyo then went close to giving Newbridge the lead.

He broke beyond the defensive line in the 14th minute and appeared to have a clear route towards goal before being stopped by a recovering defender.

That missed opportunity was followed almost immediately by the opening goal at the other end. Sean Martin made the initial save for Newbridge, but the loose ball was converted to leave the hosts trailing after 16 minutes.

Newbridge did not allow the setback to knock them out of their stride and continued looking for a way through.

Isaiah Phillips became increasingly influential down the left and created another opening shortly after the half-hour mark, finding Akinrintoyo in a dangerous position. Again, Newbridge were unable to turn the opportunity into a goal. Within a minute the deficit had grown to two.

The home side’s reaction was one of the more encouraging aspects of the afternoon. Rather than allowing the game to drift away, Newbridge pushed forward and were rewarded in the 37th minute.

Phillips was involved once more, with his delivery helping create the opening. Benitez Lirio’s effort was kept out, but Akinrintoyo was quickest to the rebound and finished to reduce the gap to 2-1.

It gave the Station Road crowd reason to believe Newbridge could get themselves back on level terms.

The timing of the next goal was therefore particularly damaging.

With half-time approaching, Newbridge conceded from a set-piece in the 43rd minute and went into the interval 3-1 behind.Russell’s side still created opportunities after the restart.

Darragh Bolton was among those introduced from the bench and provided Akinrintoyo with one of Newbridge’s best chances of the second half. The striker got through and struck the post, coming within inches of scoring his second of the afternoon.

Akinrintoyo was denied again by the goalkeeper as Newbridge continued to search for the goal that could have changed the complexion of the closing stages.

Russell used his bench as the second half progressed, with Darragh Oduntan, Sean O’Keeffe, Bolton and Mubarak Alabi all seeing action as Newbridge attempted to maintain their attacking threat.

The home side were still two goals behind entering the final ten minutes, but their efforts to chase the game left them vulnerable late on.

A fourth goal arrived in the 83rd minute before another in the fourth minute of added time stretched the margin to 5-1.

The result leaves Newbridge without a point from their opening two fixtures in the, but the performance contained signs that they can create chances at National League level.

Akinrintoyo was at the centre of much of Newbridge’s best attacking work, while Phillips and Ruairi Brown gave the side an outlet on the flanks. The disappointment will be that several promising situations produced only one goal.

Nathan McAuley

How do you feel the game went?

“Yeah, obviously disappointed with the result, but I thought there were a lot of positives. We had good spells in the game, kept the ball well and showed that we can compete at this level. We’ll learn from the mistakes and move on.”

You’ve played the two favourites already. How would you assess the progress so far and what needs to improve?

“It’s been a tough start against two very good sides, but it’s given us a good idea of the standard. I think we’ve shown we belong at this level. Now it’s about being a bit more clinical, cutting out mistakes and turning good performances into results.”Over 700 people were at the game.

Could you feel the impact of crowd, and how important is it to have this level of football back in Kildare?

“Yeah, definitely. The atmosphere was brilliant and you could really feel the crowd behind us. To have over 700 people here supporting the team was massive. Hopefully we can keep giving people in Newbridge and Kildare a team they want to come out and support.