LONDON, CMC – Guyana international Nathan Moriah-Welsh netted as Newport County claimed their first English League Two victory of the season, while Antigua and Barbuda forward Rhys Browne’s third goal of the season secured a narrow win for fifth-tier Wealdstone.
Newport had to battle back to beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1 to claim their first league win of the season and end a wretched run of seven straight defeats at Rodney Parade.
Tranmere took the lead when Paul Lewis’ cross was diverted into his own net by Newport’s Aaron Lewis.
Newport’s new loan signing Thierry Nevers made an immediate impact on debut, his shot too hot to handle, allowing fellow loanee Moriah-Welsh, a 20-year-old midfielder on loan from Premier League club Bournemouth, to score his first Newport goal.
Omar Bogle then put Newport ahead from the spot after James Clarke was fouled.
Newport manager James Rowberry picked out new boys Moriah-Welsh, who made his debut for Guyana Jaguars last year, and Nevers for special praise.
“Young Nathan has done smashing. I spoke to Carl Fletcher at Bournemouth about him and he said that he can definitely manage League Two,” he said.
“We’ve just got to manage the expectation with Nathan because he’s going to sometimes find it hard to do that every week, so we can’t expect too much too quickly.”
Wealdstone continued their impressive start to the National League season with a 1-0 home win over goal-shy Halifax, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table with one point from four games.
Browne, 26, who made his debut for Antigua and Barbuda in 2015, converted Max Kretzschmar’s pass five minutes before half-time as Wealdstone climbed to second in the table.
At The Hawthorns, meanwhile, a sumptuous long-range strike on 55 minutes by Darnell Furlong – a 26-year-old defender who is eligible to play for Montserrat – helped West Bromwich Albion coast to their first Championship win of the season as they ended Hull City’s unbeaten league start in fine style.
And at Shrewsbury Town, Arsenal loanee Tyreece John-Jules, who is of Dominican descent, marked his first league start for League One leaders Ipswich Town by opening the scoring in the 22nd minute as the visitors won 3-0.
The 21-year-old dispossessed Shrewsbury captain Luke Leahy 40 yards from goal before going on a mazy run through the heart of the home side’s defence and slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
At Torquay, a third-minute strike by Jamal Fyfield, a 33-year-old defender of St Vincent and the Grenadines descent, gave Boreham Wood a 1-0 National League victory at Torquay.
Dominic Poleon, a 28-year-old who is eligible to represent St Lucia, also netted in the 42nd minute to nab his third goal of the season, as leaders Ebbsfleet United went on to beat Farnborough 4-2 in the sixth-tier National League South.
