Take a look at how the Exiles got on in April.
Saturday 2nd April 2016 – Yeovil Town (A) – Lost 1-0 – 21st position – 41 points
A penalty fifteen minutes into the game proved to be the only difference between the two sides after Danny Holmes fouled Tavhon Campbell and Jack Compton beat Joe Day to give the home side the lead. County didn’t look like scoring a goal to bring the game back level and so it proved to be as they failed to score, slipped to 21st in the table, and began to peer behind them at the bottom two once again.
Saturday 9th April 2016 – Cambridge United (H) – Lost 1-0 – 21st position – 41 points
Newport didn’t have a single shot on target when Cambridge United visited Rodney Parade and for the second game in a row they were defeated by a single goal to nil. This time it came from James Dunne a little over twenty minutes from time and Newport had yet another game with nothing to show for it. The gap now lay at eleven points with fifteen left to play for, and whilst it seemed as though the bottom two were pretty much decided, nobody wanted to say that for certain just yet.
Saturday 16th April 2016 – Stevenage (A) – Lost 2-1 – 22nd position – 41 points
County fell to 22nd in the league when Stevenage leapfrogged them after a 2-1 win at the Lamex Stadium. Jake Mulraney put the home side ahead within the first ten minutes of the game before former Newport striker Aaron O’Connor scored the second just after the half-hour mark. Alex Rodman was able to pull a goal back three minutes from time but the Exiles slipped to their sixth straight defeat, the first time they had done that since 2005. They knew though that with an eleven point gap and four games remaining, only a point was needed to all but guarantee safety.
Tuesday 19th April 2016 – Oxford United (H) – Drew 1-1 – 22nd position – 42 points
Newport County got the point they were looking for when Oxford United came to South Wales but after York City beat Portsmouth by three goals to one, they weren’t safe just yet. Jordan Bowery put Oxford ahead with a close-range effort thirteen minutes into the match but Medy Elito levelled for County a minute later from long range. The Exiles managed to keep Oxford out for the rest of the game to pick up the point they valuably needed, and one more would guarantee safety.
Saturday 23rd April 2016 – Luton Town (A) – Drew 1-1 – 22nd position – 43 points
County secured their League 2 status with a one all draw with Luton Town as Souleymane Coulibaly headed home Alex Rodman’s cross with two minutes of normal time to play to cancel out Jack Marriott’s headed effort just seven minutes earlier. Warren Feeney later told the press that when he first came in it was to ‘stay up at all costs, full credit to the players because people won’t realise how hard it is down at the bottom of that league.’ The Exiles could now relax a little more for their last two matches of the season.
Saturday 30th April 2016 – Notts County (H) – Lost 1-0 – 22nd position – 43 points
A single goal five minutes before half-time for Genaro Snijders was the only difference between the Exiles and the Magpies at the final home game of the season for Newport County. The away side dominated in shots on goal as County had long periods without decent time on the ball, Coulibaly, Boden and Elito all had efforts saved in the second half as Roy Carroll in the Notts County goal did well to keep everything out. Newport would now look forward to their final game of the season away at A.F.C Wimbledon.
Round Up
It was a disappointing month on the pitch for Newport County but the fans were happy that the club had secured their football league status for another year, Warren Feeney though wanted a win in the final game to give the Exiles a chance to avoid being the lowest-placed survivor in the league and maintained that there were still contracts to be played for.