Shaquille Gwengwe: A Rising Star in League Two
Hayden Mullins says Shaquille Gwengwe’s nomination for League Two player of the month is no fluke. It’s the payoff, he insists, for a forward who has torn into the professional game rather than tiptoeing into it.
Gwengwe arrived at Newport County from Poole Town in the Southern League Premier South with a frankly absurd tally of 47 goals last season. Non-league defenders knew all about him. Now the EFL does too. Four goals in August, five games, and suddenly the 25-year-old is on a shortlist alongside Barnet’s Charlie Larkin, Crewe’s Josh March and York City’s Harry Boyes – the man who ultimately took the award.
“Rightly deserved, with four goals in five games. He works incredibly hard,” the Newport boss said, stressing that this isn’t just a hot streak, but the result of a relentless attitude on the training ground.
From non-league to game changer
The step up from Poole Town to League Two is steep. Gwengwe has treated it like a sprint.
He has not walked into the dressing room and coasted, Mullins says. He has pushed. He has asked questions. He has searched for the rough edges in his game and tried to sand them down.
“He always wants to work on areas of his game which he feels might help him to develop,” Mullins explained. “He’s not come into the group and sat back; he’s come in, and he really wants to push.
“He’s got a lot to learn, but he’s really open and wants to improve. His product is the by-product of all his hard work.”
That “product” has come from an area of the pitch that is not, on paper, his favourite. Gwengwe has spoken about wanting to play through the middle, but all four of his August goals came from a wide role. He has embraced it, and Newport have benefited.
Midfielder Ciaran Brennan has seen the effect up close. For him, this isn’t just a nice story about a non-league gamble paying off. It’s a live weapon in the side.
“Shaq definitely knows where the goal is, so when he’s on the pitch there’s always half a chance that he might sniff something out,” Brennan said. A half chance is suddenly a real one when Gwengwe is lurking.
The number nine question
The intrigue now is where this story goes next.
Mullins is convinced that the winger-turned-forward can grow into the role he craves – the central striker, the nine, the man everything funnels into.
“The good thing is he is open-minded. Wherever he can get into the team, he’ll play and try and do a job,” Mullins said. “He could be equally effective through the middle, but maybe we have to change a few things to help that.”
That line matters. It hints at a manager willing to reshape the attack to unlock another version of a player who has already leapt “a lot of levels very quickly”.
With every game, Mullins argues, Gwengwe is picking up new tricks, new reference points, new ways to deal with League Two’s defenders.
“Once he figures out the different challenges at this level, there’s no reason why he couldn’t play as the nine,” he added.
For now, the nomination is a milestone. The real question is whether this is just the opening chapter of a season in which a former non-league marksman forces the division to redraw its scouting maps.
