JD Cymru Premier

The New Saints 2

Newtown 1

A NARROW victory over Newtown was enough to send The New Saints to the top of the JD Cymru Premier table on Tuesday evening.

The defending champions return to the top courtesy of two first half goals from Ryan Brobbel and Dean Ebbe.

Scott Ruscoe's men did not have it all their own way however, after Joe Kenton's goal for Newtown 15 minutes from time sparked a late comeback attempt for the Mid-Wales side.

An evenly-contested opening 15 minutes featured good chances for both teams, with Saints going close to scoring twice.

Keston Davies fired his effort narrowly over the crossbar, before Newtown stopper David Jones was called into action to deny a close-range effort from Brobbel.

The Robins could do nothing to stop Brobbel's next attempt on goal however – the Saints number eight fired a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner.

Saints had a penalty claim ignored shortly after the goal when Jon Routledge was brought down in the area.

That did not matter though as Ebbe doubled his side's lead moments later after the Irish striker latched onto a ball from Adrian Cieslewicz and slotted past Jones.

The second half saw Ruscoe's side on the hunt for a third goal which would give them some breathing space.

Brobbel worked well throughout the afternoon to find gaps in the Newtown back line, while Aeron Edwards nearly got on the scoresheet on the hour mark.

Failure to increase the margin on the scoreline to three goals still gave the Robins a chance to get themselves back in the game, and they did just that.

Kenton found space in the penalty area to meet a cross and strike hiss effort in off the post to make it 2-1.

The dying moments of the game saw Saints holding onto their one goal advantage with a late onrush of chances for their visitors.

Kenton came closest when he nearly doubled his tally for the afternoon, but his header was cleared off the goal-line by Chris Marriott.

Ruscoe's side held on to their lead to take three points from the game.

Next up for TNS is an away game at Cardiff Met on Saturday (kick off 2.30pm).