Exiles in late show

KEVIN Ellison may be 41, but he proved he can still deliver the goods with a late winner as Newport County stayed top of League Two with a 1-0 win over Port Vale.

Brought off the bench as Michael Flynn’s last throw of the dice with five minutes left, Ellison ended Vale’s hopes with his first goal for his new club from a corner.

Vale were reduced to 10 men when captain Leon Legge was shown a second yellow in the 69th minute. Even so, it looked like John Askey’s men would frustrate the table-toppers.

But Ellison had other ideas and prodded the ball in from close range six minutes into stoppage-time.

“It’s a great way to get off the mark, but I’m a team player and it’s more about the result and staying top of the league than me,” said Ellison.

“I only got five minutes at the end, so imagine what might happen if the manager gives me more time!”

It was the fourth time this season that County have snatched the points at the death after similar late shows against Harrogate Town, Mansfield Town and Colchester United.

“It’s the sign of a good team that they kept going,” said manager Flynn. “We knew they had 10 men and we knew that we would have another chance, and what a finish from Kev.

“We wanted to attack them and took off our two wing-backs late on and went for it with two wingers. We wanted to force the issue and go for the win.”

Scott Twine, Jamie Proctor and Liam Shephard had all gone close in the first half, the latter hitting the post. But it looked like the win would elude them when defender Brandon Cooper and substitute Padraig Amond both headed wide.

“He won’t shut up about it now,” joked Flynn, who brought in his friend from Morecambe in the summer.