City endured a frustrating afternoon in front of goal as 10-man Newport successfully defended the lead they took early in the second half before netting again at the death to extended an impressive unbeaten run away from Spytty Park.

Stuart Niven dropped to the bench making way for the player who replaced him during Tuesday night’s draw with Bath City, Rob Nightingale, in an otherwise unchanged City line up.

A favourable change in the weather over the last two days, coupled with the work of the Milton Road ground staff ensured that the pitch was playable despite the battering it took in midweek.

Danny Bloomfield battles his way past Jeff Eckhardt and Terry Evans

Both sides made a cautious opening, Duncan Roberts getting his first feel of the ball some six minutes in when he came to gather a Carl Williams cross from the right which narrowly eluded a stretching Danny Bloomfield.

Whilst the Exiles probed patiently the game was fifteen minutes old before they first broke through the City rearguard. Terry Evans moved forward down the right hand side playing the ball into the feet of Garry Shephard with his back to goal on the edge of the Lilywhites box. Turning sharply the former Merthyr striker fired across Martin Davies forcing the Swansea born ‘keeper to push the ball away at full stretch before reacting smartly to smother Allan Stevenson’s follow-up.

As Lewis Baillie ran purposefully down the left flank he was felled by Gareth Phillips, from the resultant free kick Rob Miller pierced a poorly formed wall but Roberts was behind his shot all the way. Baillie was involved again as City produced their best attacking moment of the half on 33 minutes. Reading an awkward bounce well the former Heybridge Swifts defender laid a short pass into the path of Louis Riddle who sped down the flank before delivering a probing far post centre which Carl Williams did well to reach but he was unable to get over the ball and headed narrowly off target.

Two minutes later came the flashpoint which shaped the remainder of the afternoon. As Williams advanced down the right he was floored by an untidy Gareth Phillips challenge. The incident flared up and several City players, notably Craig Pope, became involved. After lengthy consultation with his assistant Mr Stanton produced a straight red card. From the far side of the pitch the challenge itself did not appear worthy of a dismissal, however it was later alleged by supporters within earshot of the incident that a racist remark was made in the direction of Williams although whether this was instrumental in Phillips’ dismissal was unclear.

Tempers continued to flare and in the immediate aftermath of the incident Williams scythed down Scott Morgan and on another day might have seen red instead of yellow.

As City looked to capitalise on their man advantage Rob Miller cushioned a header into the path of Riddle who outpaced Terry Evans and fired across the face of goal. With the Exiles trying to reorganise Miller and Williams combined to free Riddle once more, this time his finish was more accurate and only an acrobatic leap from Wisbech born Roberts prevented his drive from arrowing into the top left hand corner of the net.

The half ended in more acrimony as first Rob Nightingale was cautioned for a challenge on Jeff Eckhardt which didn’t appear to be as harsh as some that had gone unpunished, soon to be followed into Mr Stanton’s notebook by Steven Williams who clumsily felled Baillie.

Louis Riddle does well to keep the ball in play

As Gary Roberts looked to exploit City’s numerical superiority he introduced Robbie Simpson for Darren Grieves at the start of the second half. It was Newport who drew first blood though when Shephard came deep to collect the ball in midfield before running directly at the City goal before firing narrowly high of the target.

The Exiles then forced a series of corners which saw them make the crucial breakthrough. On 53 minutes visiting skipper Gary Lloyd hit a place kick from the Newport right which forced Martin Davies to turn the ball over from underneath his crossbar. From the opposite side his outswinging delivery was met by John Phillips whose powerful downward header was deflected behind. The third and final corner of the sequence produced the goal, again from the Newport right Lloyd’s centre drifted into the near post where Garry Shephard appeared to get in ahead of Martin Davies and deflect the ball home.

The pattern for the remainder of the match was set. One goal up one man down Newport invited City on to them as they looked to preserve their lead. Using the space on the right hand side created by the absence of (Gareth) Phillips, Craig Pope pushed forward to good effect. He fed Williams who did well to create the space for a cross but Roberts got down well to cling to his whipped centre with Bloomfield in close attendance. Moments later Pope combined with Lee Pluck to set up Rob Miller but the industrious midfielder fired wide from the edge of the box.

As City conceded a free kick in Newport’s left back position Lloyd spotted the early run of John Phillips and floated the ball over Lee Pluck with the Lilywhites defence pushed high up the park. Phillips skated away from Pluck and angled the ball past Davies before realising that he had been flagged offside.

Craig Pope was again the provider on 65 minutes playing the ball into Danny Bloomfield’s feet but the turn produced by the 25 goal marksman to get away from Allan Stevenson was of better quality than his shot which failed to trouble Roberts unduly.

Newport conceded a succession of free kicks in the final third, as Lewis Baillie was felled on the left Rob Miller played the ball quickly to Riddle who fired in low to the feet of Robbie Simpson but from an acute angle to the left of goal the teenage striker’s shot on the turn was wide of the target.

As Peter Nicholas looked to break up City’s attacking momentum he made his first change with 25 minutes remaining, Ashley Williams replacing John Phillips.

The siege of the visitors’ goal was unrelenting however. Good build up play down the right saw Robbie Simpson’s intelligent angled header into the path of an advancing Riddle create one of the more clear cut openings, but with Danny Bloomfield racing into a good position the former Stevenage winger elected to shoot and flashed a fierce drive wide of the target.

With 20 minutes remaining Craig Pope was sacrificed at the expense of Jamie Godbold as City went three at the back in a further attempt to crank up the pressure. A Louis Riddle corner from the right was only partly cleared, falling to Matt Langston on the edge of the box who seemed certain to have levelled the scores before a combination of Roberts and the crossbar intervened.

In a further change for the visitors Gethyn Jones replaced Jamie Michaels. Within moments of the change goal scorer Shephard found his way into the book as he failed to retreat 10 yards from a Miller free kick.

Bloomfield gets up for an aerial ball

As the game entered the final 10 minutes City must have realised it wasn’t to be their day. A probing ball from Lee Pluck put Robbie Simpson in behind the Newport back line, Danny Bloomfield followed in his driven centre, stole the ball away from Roberts forcing it across the face of goal where Godbold was unable to apply the finishing touch but laid a pass back for Riddle who lashed a shot goalwards from some two yards out only to see his effort cannon off an outstretched leg and over the bar.

As City poured forward Carl Williams, operating very effectively wide on the right played the ball inside to Rob Nightingale who in turn freed Riddle with a crisp first time pass but coming inside Terry Evans onto his right foot he only succeeded in firing wide. Riddle was in the thick of the action as the game reached a climax, crossing from the left to Rob Miller who played a neat one-two with Rob Nightingale on the edge of the area before firing low to Roberts’ left forcing the former King’s Lynn ‘keeper into a scrambling save before he somehow forced away Bloomfield’s follow-up.

In a further attempt to eat up precious time Shephard was withdrawn and Sam O’Sullivan introduced.

To add insult to injury as Newport thwarted yet another City attack Terry Evans broke clear and was felled by Riddle who picked up a caution for his ill-timed tackle. The Exiles took a quick free kick working the ball from right to left where Stevenson took advantage of the Lilywhites over exposed rearguard to angle the ball back across Martin Davies and into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

In the seconds that remained Riddle raced clear once more and delivered a quality centre but the fast arriving Danny Bloomfield volleyed over from six yards out to sum up a miserable afternoon for the Lilywhites.

Whilst this was City’s first defeat in five home games this was arguably a better performance than in any of the three previous matches which were all drawn. Once Newport had scored the Llilywhites couldn’t be faulted in their efforts to get back on terms and on another day, one or more of the numerous chances they created might have found the back of the net.