Westley angry at his Exiles offenders
PROPPING up the rest of the Football League at Christmas, Newport County boss Graham Westley believes his side only have their illdiscipline to blame.
In a game which saw referee Nick Kinseley show 13 yellow cards – nine of them to Exiles players – Newport slipped to a defeat which ensures they will be bottom of League Two come December 25.
James Collins’ tenth league goal of the campaign gave Crawley an early lead and although Joss Labadie equalised, two goals in two secondhalf minutes from Josh Yorwerth and Jimmy Smith were enough to end the Welsh side’s threat.
And Westley was disappointed to see the recent positives disappear at the Checkatrade.com Stadium.
“Over 90 minutes we were ill-disciplined and that came from a lack of work ethic,” said Westley. “It’s easy to flail a leg or pull a shirt but it’s more difficult to win a header or track a runner.
“When I walked in the door I knew it was going to be a difficult job. There was no winning habit. We’ve curbed that to some degree with five wins in 13 but there’s been six losses in there too.
“We need people to react in the right way. The job here is trying to encourage people to run harder than opponents and put their foot in. My team’s performance was not good enough here.”
Crawley took the lead after just four minutes as Collins rose highest to head home Jordan Roberts’ cross, but County found a deserved equaliser after 33 minutes as Labadie’s shot from outside the box was deflected past Glenn Morris.
Crawley retook the lead two minutes into the second half as another cross was powerfully headed home by the impressive Yorwerth before Crawley captain Smith volleyed into the bottom corner from just inside the box.
Newport’s misery was complete when Josh Sheehan missed an injury-time penalty but Dermot Drummy was ecstatic with Crawley’s second-half display.
“It was a very big win against a very good side,” said Drummy.
“The first half was very tense and we had to try and manage that.
“Our rhythm was disrupted even though we got the first goal. We kept playing under pressure and played some delightful football in the second half.
“They’ve drawn with Plymouth and beaten Carlisle so they are difficult opponents.
“The fans like to see good football but they also like to see a strong tackle – we did both.”