It was a successful first weekend of the English Football League for the two Welsh clubs in action, as Swansea and Newport County both picked up wins.

With Cardiff City hosting Wrexham tonight, we have a slightly shorter round-up for the first of the season, so let’s get into it:

Subs help Swansea come from behind at Stoke

After an even first half saw the hosts Stoke take the lead through left-back Eric Bocat’s deflected effort before new Swansea winger Joseph Opoku marked an impressive league debut with a goal.

With the game in the balance, Swans boss Vitor Matos took the early initiative, making four substitutes, including swapping last season’s Championship golden boot winner Zan Vipotnik for Adam Idah.

The Ireland international wasted no time in making an impact, scoring with his first touch, turning the ball home from Josh Tymon’s driven cross.

The goal proved to be decisive, with Idah proving that he could be the ideal in-house replacement if Vipotnik does move away.

After a season of playing second fiddle to the Slovenian striker, Idah started the League Cup defeat to Birmingham City last weekend, but went back to his familiar super sub role on Saturday.

Stoke was Idah’s 20th league substitute appearance for Swansea, for whom he has made a mere six Championship starts.

With Swansea already turning down a £10 million bid from newly-promoted Premier League side Hull City, Matos may have his replacement ready.

Matos himself was animated at the final whistle, with the travel support appreciative of just a second win in 16 trips to the Bet365 Stadium.

“We are really pleased with the fans how they travelled here and supported the team,” the Swansea head coach said.

“That was unbelievable to see – they are a big part of what we are trying to do. You get emotional in that moment. We wanted to give them something to cheer and I think we did that today.

“I think it’s more about the players. They came into the game with the right mindset and mentality. I am proud of them because of that – it’s them understanding it will be a long season, we need everyone.

“If they can have an impact, if it’s for five minutes it’s five minutes, or if it’s for 30 it’s 30, that is nice to see.”

Newport produce perfect performance for Mullins

County head coach Hayden Mullins was full of praise for his side after they got off to a perfect start in League Two, dispatching Rochdale 3-0 in his first game in charge.

Newport dominated the game, denying the visitors a shot on target, and answering with three goals themselves through summer signings Kyle Cameron, Shaquille Gwengwe, and Yahya Bamba.

“I saw good moments against Roma and Wimbledon to give me confidence that we could put that performance in,” Mullins said.

“We know that we need to make our home ground and our home form really positive this season. The boys deserve massive credit because they went about their jobs really well today.”

Mullins also praised supporters, who were in full voice at Rodney Parade.

“The noise was fantastic, but I think we know, the players know that we’ve got to give them something to shout about,” he added.

“We know that and on the pitch we’ve got to be more aggressive in what we’re doing out of possession. We knew if we applied pressure in the right areas we’d get the ball back.

“The key thing is what we were doing with it. The noise in here was brilliant. We know we need to give the fans something to feed off, but today they were fantastic.”

With Newport going through a lot of off-pitch change over the summer, Mullins believes that the confidence gained for the likes of Gwengwe and Bamba will be key for the rest of the season.

“I’m so pleased for the lads who got their goals today. Shaquille and Yahya it will give them such a lift and help them believe in the work that they’re doing without the ball,” said Mullins.

“It’s vital that they do it for us, but it’s equally vital that they score as well.”

Merthyr taste defeat for first time in National League South

A dramatic late brace from Glen Taylor saw Spennymoor Town complete the comeback against 10-man Merthyr Town at The Brewery Field.

The visitors opened the scoring through Kane Simpson’s low effort which escaped Zac Hadi’s grasp, before two goals in five minutes from Taylor flipped the game on it’s head and secured all three points for Tommy Miller’s side.

With Jacob Maddox’s brace sealing an opening day win for the Welsh side, Merthyr find themselves in mid-table after two games.

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