HAVING lauded Newport Gwent Dragons it would be completely remiss of me not to do the same with Newport County, based in another part of the city on a glorious weekend for the area.

I happened to be at both occasions and Spytty Park on Saturday afternoon was a pretty special place – County taking on and comprehensively beating Dover, who were second in the table, to top the magic 100 points, becoming the most successful team the Blue Square South has ever seen and being presented with the league trophy in front of more than 3,000 fans.

And that was followed by a parade through the city on Sunday on an open-topped bus to celebrate their achievements en-route to a civic reception.

All well deserved after their exploits on the field and hard work off it, reflected in the number of cheques handed over to resplendent chairman Chris Blight before the game.

And after the players and management were handed mementoes they were greeted as conquering heroes until the crowd could be contained no more and mobbed the team who disappeared under a pile of bodies.

Clearly the players respond to manager Dean Holdsworth, an animated father figure looking more like a godfather prowling the touchline.

If there is one player for me who looks a class act, well capable of holding his own in the higher level of the Conference, it’s Danny Rose, a rasping good footballer with all the skills.

Can the team do likewise, or better? Only time will tell when there are a host of leading former Football League teams to face.

But one thing is for sure, the will is there, and so are the fans. In the past Newportonians have been known to fade away when the pressure is on and defeats start coming. Hopefully the spirit will remain strong and so will the fans. That’ll be half the battle.