Newport County threw away hopes of victory by conceding two goals in the last two minutes against Barnet.
Manager Michael Flynn’s Exiles collapsed in a 2-1 defeat against visitors who are second from bottom in League Two.
Ben White fired County ahead after 73 minutes, but John Akinde headed an equaliser and then, in added time, Shaquile Coulthirst fired the winner.
Both goals came from crosses by Jamal Campbell-Ryce and ended Barnet’s run of 14 games without a win in all competitions.
“When players start not listening to what you ask them to do in certain situations you get punished and that’s what happened,” said Flynn.
“Their goals came from free headers in the box and it was terrible.
“It wasn’t good enough in the last 10 minutes.
“In my team talk before the game, two points I highlighted were game management and stopping crosses. We didn’t do either.
“We’ve had a good run and need to raise it again now because we don’t want to go back to type and start struggling,” added the Exiles boss.
“I’m just hoping it’s a blip and we bounce back on Saturday.”
Newport, who haven’t won in six League fixtures, travel to play promotion-chasing Swindon Town on Saturday before turning to their FA Cup tie at home against Cambridge United.
Their last win was against Forest Green Rovers in mid-October and they have developed a worrying tendency to concede late goals.
That was the case against Port Vale (1-1) and Accrington (1-1) before the disastrous lapses against Barnet.
Matty Dolan returned from suspension, replacing Dan Butler, and that was the only change to the line-up from the Accrington match.
Robbie Willmott played just behind strikers Frank Nouble and Padraig Amond, while Joss Labadie returned to action from the substitutes bench.
Newport later switched from their back four to a three-man central defensive unit.
But defensive lapses in the closing minutes left the home team down and out. The defeat is a body blow for Flynn’s men and they will focus on bouncing back at Swindon this weekend.
County: Day; White, O’Brien (McCoulsky 90), Demetriou, Pipe (Butler,43); Bennett, Tozer, Dolan; Willmott (Labadie 59); Nouble, Amond. Subs not used: Bittner (gk), Rigg, Reynolds, Jackson,
Referee: Michael Salisbury
Attendance: 2,275
