Michael Flynn admits Newport County AFC were ‘lacklustre’ against Crewe Alexandra but praised the squad’s mentality for battling through and grinding out a 1-0 victory at Rodney Parade.
In energy sapping conditions, neither side particularly had too many moments of note, Crewe bossed proceedings in terms of possession and territory but found a stubborn Exiles defence in their way.
Shot stopper Tom King twice had to repel efforts from Charlie Kirk but that was about it from the Railwaymen who became frustrated in their inability to break down County.
Ultimately, that frustration led to their downfall as they went searching for a winner in stoppage time. An overload in the County half from the visitors allowed the Exiles to break, George Nurse fed Abrahams and he squared for Padraig Amond to hit a priceless winner by passing home into the net.
Read the full match report.
Flynn affirmed: “It was a really lacklustre performance but what they did do was keep going and going. We didn’t turn up until the 88th minute. We were poor, I’m not going to dress it up. I’ll always be honest, and Crewe were a lot better than us.
“I’m not one of these managers who will go away from the truth – we were poor going forward, excellent defensively.
“What we did as a team was defend well, we limited their chances – I don’t think they had one clear cut chance.
“Crewe were the better team, but they didn’t create any clear-cut chances. But we’ve won the football match and that’s the positive – we were bad but still got the three points.
“It was a very unselfish pass from Tristan and that’s what we’re about as a team.”
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CARABAO CUP | County have been drawn at home to Premier League opposition West Ham United on 27th August – a match live on SKY Sports. Read the following press release regarding how to buy tickets for this fixture.
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