Flynn staying calm as Newport fly high

THERE were no wild celebrations from Newport County boss Michael Flynn after he saw his side return to the top of League 2 with a thumping 3-0 win at Valley Parade against one of his old clubs.

Even though he had a number of reasons to be cheerful, Flynn was keeping his feet firmly on the ground ahead of two more games this week.

Yes, his side had gone two points clear of Cambridge United.

Yes, they had picked up six points from two long away trips in the same week and kept two clean sheets.

Yes, it was the first time his side had scored three goals in a league game since 19 April 2019, and, yes, it is now officially the best start to any league season by a Newport County team – old or new!

Maybe it was the prospect of a five-hour bus trip home that put a dampener on his postmatch enthusiasm, or perhaps the latest hamstring injury sustained by striker Saikou Janneh, but he refuses to get carried away with what he sees as a fast start to a marathon.

“It’s a start, but there is still a long way to go – 38 games – I’m not getting carried away at all. What I’d rather is the best finish in the club’s history,” said Flynn.

“There isn’t much to enjoy on a five-hour bus journey home. We dust ourselves down, we’ll be back in on Monday and we’ve got a tough game at home against Colchester on Tuesday.”

From start to finish things couldn’t have gone much better for the Exiles. Mickey Demetriou gave his side the perfect opening with a volley from outside the area after a mere 43 seconds to notch his first goal since a win over Bury in 2019.

Then Matty Dolan stepped up to coolly stroke home a penalty awarded in injury time for a foul on the impressive Scott Twine.

In between, Padraig Amond poached yet another goal to ensure his team reacted to the manager’s call before the game to convert more of the chances they had been creating.