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Newton and Healing part of triple signing
Cefn Druids have made three more signings in the January transfer window ahead of Phase Two of the Dafabet Welsh Premier League starting.
Midfielder Rakim Newton has joined after being released by Rhyl earlier in the season, utility player Ellis Healing has returned to the country after a spell in Australia while striker Jonathon Taylor has signed from Welsh National League side Llay Miners Welfare.
Nineteen-year-old American-born Newton was a product of the Wrexham Academy, where he was released from at the end of last season. He joined Rhyl in the summer, but the move didn’t work out and he was released from his contract at the Corbett Sports Stadium.
Healing, meanwhile, has returned to the Welsh Premier League after having been with Airbus UK Broughton two seasons ago. He left the Hollingsworth Group Stadium in 2015 and went to Australia and played for Armadale in the National Premier Leagues Western Australia league.
The 22-year-old came through the Crewe Alexandra Academy before earning a scholarship at his hometown club, Tranmere Rovers. After leaving Prenton Park he spent a season at BK Sport in Sweden before returning to England to play for Hyde United. He moved to Conwy Borough in 2013/14 before signing for Airbus.
Taylor, 27, has been known to manager Druids’ boss Huw Griffiths for a long time and has been seen as a potential boost to the front line, despite past off the field difficulties, as The Ancients look to pull away from the relegation zone during Phase Two of the league season.
Griffiths said: “Johnny has had a bit of a bad boy tag, but I think we can manage him to make sure he makes the right choices.
“I’ve known him since he was a young age and he knows he is probably on his last chance. He is a fantastic talent.”
The Druids manager added: “As we’ve lost Matthew Cook, we’ve brought Rakim in to bolster our midfield options.
“He is mobile and gets around the pitch. He has work to do on learning on how we want him to play but he is a great prospect for the future.
“Ellis, on the other hand, gives us something different. He is a very good and versatile footballer and has matured a lot as a person and player.
“He has impressed a lot in training. What he can give us, as a winger, striker or midfielder, is great.”
