Champions Newport sign off with second trophy of season

After powering their way to the Midlands Premier title and promotion to the National League, the Forton Road outfit clinched the North Midlands Cup at the weekend courtesy of a 24-7 success against Bromsgrove.

Newport took charge of the clash at Worcester with two tries in the opening seven minutes from Tom Cowell and Nems Rayabo.

League rivals Bromsgrove responded with a try of their own but that was quickly nullified by another score from Rayabo before the break.

Hendry Vaka then grabbed the only try of the second half to seal victory. Two conversions from Jake Leonard completed Newport’s tally.

And having spoken about the need to make a good start in the build up to the clash, director of rugby and head coach Bob Adams was delighted with his side’s efforts.

“We had said that we wanted to play at our own tempo because we felt they wouldn’t like that,” said Adams. “We came flying out of the blocks and scored two tries in the first seven minutes. We got control of the game straight away.

“They tried to slow the game down as much as they could and it was one of the longest games of rugby I can remember, I think it took over 100 minutes to play the game.

“We perhaps should have been further in front after 15 minutes.

“They scored a try but we responded quite quickly and then scored early in the second half.

“We managed to unload the bench as well and give all 23 players some game time and hand out a couple of debuts to some of the younger lads.

“It was a good all-round performance.”

Winning has become a habit for Newport this season and Adams admitted he sensed during the warm-up that his players were determined to sign off with another victory.

“The players were really fired up,” added Adams. “You could tell in the warm up they they were in the zone.

“It was important to finish on a winning note so that we can take that confidence with us into next season.

“It’s a great trophy to win, it’s a nice piece of silverware.

“There was a large crowd at Worcester and a good atmosphere, it was a good day out.

“I am very proud of the players for what they have achieved.”