EXILES LOSE HOME FINALE
NEWPORT County suffered a seventh successive defeat as Salford City substitute Matt Smith slammed home a 92nd-minute winner. Smith, who had hit the post with a header moments before, was in the right place to fire the rebound through a host of bodies on the line after fellow Salford sub Junior Luamba had also hit the woodwork.
It was a miserable end to County’s final home game of the season, but the visitors were worthy winners on another frustrating afternoon at Rodney Parade.
It had begun well for Graham Coughlan’s men, who started brightly and created a number of half chances.
Will Evans couldn’t get enough power on an early header and Salford goalkeeper Alex Cairns gathered easily. And 17-year-old centre-back Nelson Sanca’s header at the far post from a Bryn Morris corner shortly afterwards was straight at Cairns.
Luke Jephcott then saw a shot deflected behind by Curtis Tilt before Omar Bogle failed to hit the target with a flicked header from a Harrison Bright cross.
Coughlan’s men lost their way after a promising start to the match, however, and it was the visitors who ended a pretty uneventful first half on top.
Callum Hendry headed well wide with one chance before Matthew Lund also missed the target with a close-range header after Nick Townsend failed to punch clear from a corner.
And, in first-half stoppage time, Salford’s Curtis Tilt and Adrian Mariappa both saw shots cleared off the line by Morris.
The second half began in similar fashion as Townsend denied Lund from close range and Salford substitute Junior Luamba clipped a cross onto the top of the bar, before Hendry blasted a shot high and wide from distance.
County’s best chance came just after the hour when Bogle’s dipping free-kick skimmed off the top of the bar with Cairns beaten.
Coughlan made a double change shortly after that near miss, with Seb Palmer-Houlden and Harry Charsley replacing Matty Bondswell and a tiring Scot Bennett.
The Rodney Parade crowd also tried to spark their team into life, and the players seemed to find some fresh impetus.
That was nearly halted when Matty Baker was robbed by Salford sub Kelly Nmai, but the County defender redeemed himself with an excellent recovery tackle to deny the visitors the breakthrough.
Youngster Kiban Rai also joined the fray in place of Jephcott, and Offrande Zanzala replaced a hobbling Bogle.
Townsend was forced into a flying save to deny Hendry a winner after a mistake by Sanca and it seemed as if a stalemate would end the Exiles’ losing run.
But Smith had other ideas as his late intervention ended Salford’s own run of four straight defeats.
County will hope for a similar end to their misery on the final day at Bradford City.