Newport County boss Christian Fuchs was “delighted” and “proud” of his players following their crucial 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Tranmere Rovers
It was a spirited win from the home side, as they were tasked to fight back from virtually the word go.
It looked bleak for Newport when Tranmere took the lead just under two minutes through skipper Sam Finley.
But Finley quickly turned from hero to zero in that first half, as he saw red for a late challenge on Sven Sprangler just minutes before the interval.
Two goals for Newport from Michael Spellman and an unlikely goalscorer in Cameron Evans with the clincher sealed some vital points in the battle for survival.
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The win hauled the Exiles out of the relegation zone following a 151 day stay towards the bottom of the league.
The gap is now a point from Barrow in 23rd, who have two games in hand, with 11 matches to go for County.
"It was a very big result," said Fuchs.
"I'm very proud of the players because it's not easy to play against a team with one man down.
"What they did, is they stayed very patient, stuck to the plan that we set at the break, and got what they deserved.
“The boys showed a lot of resilience, like they did already in the last couple of weeks.
"They showed still that they were hard to beat even when we were still 11 v 11, but created chances.
"I'm very happy for Spells (Spellman) because of how much work he does. He didn't play too many minutes lately, but he used his chance, comes in and scores two goals. I'm very proud of the performance of the team.
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“We need to be a little bit better with our decision-making, slow down the game.
"When you're 2-1 up just before the end, one man up, just slow it down. Don't change the way you play.
"Again, a big compliment to the team, because what they did in the second half, they got tested in being patient.
“For me it's more about, can we keep the ball? Can we keep it on the floor? Can we get our wingers isolated against their full-backs on one-on-ones.
"Once we addressed that, I think it was just a matter of time when the goal will happen, and it happened at the right time”.
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Formner Premier League title winner Fuchs was even able to joke about the tension involved in managing a club at the bottom of the entire Football League.
“I don't want to lose two years of my time every single game, but at the end of the day, it's a big relief. It's a well-deserved three points, away from the bottom two.
“It's very important when you're down out of the bottom two after such a long time. Obviously, it lifts the group and lifts the spirits and it's very good for the boys”.
However, the Newport boss stressed the importance of his players not getting carried away and that there is still work to be done.
“It's definitely a great feeling, but it's just the first step. We know that Barrow have two games in hand, so we're aware of that.
"But it's now seven points in the last four games. A lot of positives to build on, but we also need to learn a couple of things where we need to be better.
“Like we said a couple of weeks ago, every game is a cup final now for us. That's how we're going to approach it.
"Not a single game is easy, but we want to build momentum, and I think we're in a good way”.
The Austrian lauded the home support and their impact on their team.
“It was top, it was a great atmosphere”.
He also joked about shouts of ‘shoot’ to his players.
Tthe one thing I would ask them is, don't influence my players by (encouraging them to) shoot from 30 yards. We don't have the ball-strikers in our team and there were lots of bodies in the way!
“But overall, the Amber Army was great, and I think what everybody saw was that the boys they fought hard for the badge and have been incredible”.
Fuchs was clear in his message to his players for the rest of the season:
“Just keep pushing forward. Again, they showed in the last couple of games everything that it takes to stay up, today as well as in the games before.
“For us, it's momentum. We have a lot of big games ahead of us, every single one of the remaining 11, I think it is.
"So, we've got to analyse the game, there’s a couple of things especially in the first half where we need to be better, but keep pushing forward, creating momentum”.
Next up for his side is another game at Rodney Parade as they welcome Colchester United in League Two action on Saturday afternoon.
