COUNTY CLOSE IN ON THE PLAY-OFFS WITH IMPRESSIVE VICTORY
NEWPORT County moved back to within two points of the League Two play-off places with a vital victory at seventh-placed AFC Wimbledon. Goals from Bryn Morris and Kyle Jameson sealed the win for Graham Coughlan’s men, who climb to 11th in the table – two points behind their hosts with a game in hand.
A second success over fellow promotion hopefuls this week has put the Exiles right back in the mix after narrow defeats against the top two – Mansfield Town and Stockport County.
Coughlan made just one change from Tuesday’s chaotic 5-3 home win over Morecambe, with Offrande Zanzala replacing Luke Jephcott up front.
And Zanzala rewarded his manager’s faith as he used his strength to hold up the ball before teeing up Morris for the opening goal in the 10th minute.
The midfielder confidently fired into the bottom corner from outside the area for his seventh goal of the season.
Armani Little had missed with one effort for the hosts early on and Exiles goalkeeper Nick Townsend had comfortably saved a Jake Reeves shot.
But they were slow to respond to County breaking the deadlock.
Little again shot off target and Reeves saw two more attempts blocked before Kofi Balmer’s header was saved by Townsend.
Zanzala also forced Dons keeper Alex Bass into a smart stop with a shot from a tight angle after good work by Adam Lewis.
At the other end, Townsend got down well to his left to deny Ronan Curtis before Little ended the first half as he’d started it – by blasting a shot high and wide and into the stands at Plough Lane.
Far from sitting on their lead, County started the second half on the front foot with top scorer Will Evans seeing a shot blocked and Scot Bennett
heading wide inside the first minute.
And they got the crucial second goal 10 minutes after the restart as Lewis whipped in a free-kick and Jameson fired into the top corner – to the delight of the 469 travelling fans.
Wimbledon made a double change on the hour as they attempted to turn the tide, and Josh Kelly almost made an immediate impact as he rattled the bar with a long-range effort.
County sub Seb Palmer-Houlden, who scored after coming off the bench against Morecambe in midweek, had a chance to wrap up the points but he couldn’t find the target after being set up by Aaron Wildig.
Kelly fired wide and Evans did likewise for the Exiles before forcing Bass into a save as the game really opened up in the closing stages.
Curtis and Josh Neufville had half chances late on for the hosts, but County held firm for another impressive win on the road.
AFC WIMBLEDON: A Bass; K Balmer, J O’Toole, L Brown (A Sasu, 60); J Neufville, J Reeves, A Little (J Ball, 71), J Currie; R Curtis, J Gordon (J Kelly, 60); O Bugiel
SUBS NOT USED: N Tzanev, H Pell, J Davison, I Ogundere
NEWPORT COUNTY: N Townsend; M Baker, S Bennett, K Jameson; L Payne, H Charsley (J Waite, 83), A Wildig (L Jephcott, 83), B Morris, A Lewis; W Evans, O Zanzala (S PalmerHoulden, 65)
SUBS NOT USED: J Maxted, H Bright, M Bondswell, N Sanca REFEREE: T Parsons ATTENDANCE: 8,307