Portsmouth 2, Cheltenham Town 1
Newport County manager Mike Flynn remains defiant about their hopes of staying in the Football League, saying: “We are in a difficult situation, but we fight on.”
The Exiles remain six points from safety with seven League Two fixtures to be played.
”We gave ourselves too much to do, we didn’t get going until 2-0 down,” said Flynn. “We should have had a clear cut penalty at 0-0 and at places like Portsmouth, you need that kind of luck.
“The effort was there. If the game had been 10 minutes longer we would have drawn.
“We missed three big chances at the end. We are in a difficult situation, but we are still fighting.”
Cheltenham Town, the team immediately above County, also lost and there is still some hope for Flynn’s men.
They were without suspended pair Mark O’Brien and Mitch Rose, while Sid Nelson was named among the substitutes.
Mickey Demetriou, Scot Bennett and Darren Jones formed the three-man central defensive unit, while Tom Owen-Evans operated in midfield alongside Joss Labadie through the middle.
It didn’t take long for Flynn to change that shape, pushing Bennett forward into midfield and changing to 4-4-2.
The moment County felt they should have been awarded a penalty came after 30 minutes when Alex Samuel went down inside the penalty area. It looked a foul, but the referee waved play on.
Portsmouth looked the more dangerous and Newport had to defend strongly.
The home team opened the scoring after 42 minutes when Newport striker Ryan Bird conceded possession with a poor pass and Portsmouth’s Carl Baker picked out Kyle Bennett’s run and he scored the first goal of the match.
Marlon Jackson and Jennison Myrie-Williams were sent on after half-time, but Pompey doubled their lead when Kai Naismith headed past goalkeeper Joe Day.
Former Cardiff City goalkeeper David Forde produced a spectacular save from Jackson, but he was beaten when Samuel headed Rigg’s cross into the net after 75 minutes.
Newport had chances to snatch a point, but Portsmouth held on to the three points and enhanced hopes of earning automatic promotion.
County: Day; Jones (Randall 71), Bennett, Demetriou; Pipe, Labadie, Owen-Evans (Myrie-Williams 46) Butler; Samuel, Bird (Jackson, 46) Rigg. Subs not used: Bittner, Barnum-Bobb, Nelson, Gordon
Referee: Tim Robinson
Attendance: 17, 364 (322 County)
Newport County’s remaining fixtures (7)
April
Saturday 1 v Crawley Town (away)
Saturday 8 v Exeter City (away)
Friday 14 v Yeovil Town (home)
Monday 17 v Plymouth Argyle (away)
Saturday 22 v Accrington Stanley (home)
Saturday 29 v Carlisle United (away)
May
Saturday 6 v Notts County (home)
