On Saturday we play the second of our special games to celebrate our 150th anniversary. It is very appropriate that our opponents are our old friends, Blackheath, a club with a history that goes back even further than ours. We first met in 1879 when a confident Newport came crashing down to earth with a bump. It was a very different scoring system back then but I can safely say that the Black and Ambers had a lot of points scored against them. Over the years we probably gained a sort of revenge but Saturday’s game is a celebration and not a time to worry about scores or statistics.
Blackheath play in the English National League One and a glance at their fixture list shows that they play Richmond, Rosslyn Park, Moseley and Plymouth. Some of our older supporters will remember happier days when we played these English clubs in very entertaining games and some of our former players will remember the away trips and the nights in London, Birmingham and Plymouth.
Last Saturday we played Usk in a one-sided game where the score wasn’t important and again the coaches will want to look at different players and combinations but Blackheath will be a sterner test . Remember, our jerseys will carry the old numbering system with fullback wearing number 1 etc.
Newport: Tom Workman, Wade Langley, Ollie Drake, Joe Peard, Rynard Landman, Josh Skinner, Kyle Tayler, Ben Roach, Capt. Luke Crane, Matt O’Brien, Elliot Frewen, Dai Richards, Chay Foster-Smith, Iwan Pyrs Jones, Ioan Davies.
Replacements: Archie Callaghan, Henry Palmer, Tyler Olding, Nathan Evans, Louie Pullen, Lewis David, Dafydd Buckland, Jac Lloyd, Tom Hughes. Jon Morris, Dray Jack Griffin.
Referee: Keith David
AR1: Aaron Parry
AR2: Carwyn Roberts
Kick-off: 3PM