COWLEY UNHAPPY DESPITE IMPS WIN
INCOLN City’s victory over Newport County was tinged with frustration and disappointment for manager Danny Cowley.
LThe Imps moved four points clear at the top of the table with a hard-fought win over the Exiles.
City stormed into a 2-0 lead within the first seven minutes thanks to John Akinde and Harry Anderson.
The in-form Padraig Amond pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time, but Tom Pett restored the hosts’ two-goal lead midway through the second half.
Amond struck again with 13 minutes to go after a mistake by keeper Grant Smith, but the Imps held on.
“It was a crazy game,” said Cowley. “We’re disappointed and frustrated in equal measure because, for 30 minutes, it was probably the best we’ve played during my tenure.
“We had good control, passed the ball well and created good opportunities.
“We then came off it just before halftime. You’re never going to control a game for 90 minutes, especially against a good side like Newport.
“If you do make a chain of errors, which we did [for Newport’s first goal], you’ve to be really good without the ball, which we weren’t.
“As a consequence, a team like Newport will cause you problems. They did and you could see that goal coming before half-time. That made for a difficult second half.”
Disgruntled Newport manager Michael Flynn felt his side should have won the game and was left ruing a nightmare first quarter.
“I’m disappointed with the goals we conceded, it was a shocking start, but after the first 25 minutes I thought we were the better team by a mile,” said Flynn.
“We knew they were going to start brightly and throw things at us, but the plans went out of the window after the first 20 minutes.”
Asked if he was encouraged by the fact his side had pushed the league leaders all the way, Flynn replied: “Not really. I thought we should have won.”
The Imps’ first goal arrived in the third minute after Pett’s cross found Akinde, whose deflected effort completed wrong-footed keeper Joe Day.
Four minutes later, a slick passing move near halfway saw Lee Frecklington feed Anderson, who galloped into the box before firing into the corner.
Newport pulled a goal back in firsthalf added time. After the Imps failed to deal with a corner, Smith stopped the ball on the line, but Amond was on hand to hammer home the loose the ball.
The Imps restored their two-goal lead after 67 minutes when a knockdown by Akinde was latched on to by Pett.
Ten minutes later, City handed Newport a second goal when a mis-kick from Smith went straight to Jamille Matt and he set up Amond, who slotted over the stranded Imps keeper.
LINCOLN CITY: Smith 7, Eardley 6, Bostwick 6, Shackell 7, Toffolo 6, Anderson 7, Frecklington 7, O’Connor 6 (Wharton 81, 6), Pett 8, Akinde 7 (Rhead 74, 6), McCartan 6 (Andrade 61, 7). Subs not used: Gordon, Wilson, Mensah, Slocombe.
NEWPORT COUNTY: Day 6, Pipe 6 (Sheehan 89), Franks 6, O’Brien 6, Butler 7, Dolan 5 (Labadie 56, 6), Bennett 6, Willmott 6 (Harris 71, 6), Matt 6, Amond 8, Semenyo 7. Subs not used: Bakinson, Pring, Demetriou, Townsend.