The Newport County Courier
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Luca Williams-Barnett at 17 — 7.74
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luca Williams-Barnett did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Matty Jacob falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Newport County
Liam Shephard was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
The crowd has taken to Luca Williams-Barnett
At 17 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match5 Sep 2026
Jordan Graham sends Newport County past Harrogate Town
It finished 2‑0, and it was Jordan Graham’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Newport County.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Aaron Nemane runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Jordan Graham at his very best
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Newport County.
Squad7 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Matthew Baker
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matthew Baker, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Matty Jacob named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Matty Jacob is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
- Player ratings Off the bench and decisive: Jérôme Olivier
- Market Newport County pick up Callum Guy for nothing
- Market The window shut and Jordan Wright is still in the building