Two outstanding goals from Dom Telford were not enough as nine-man Newport were held by Carlisle United at Rodney Parade.
Joe Riley put Carlisle into a first-minute lead but two wonderful goals from Dom Telford in the space of three minutes put us 2-1 up.
With 25 minutes left though, Ed Upson was sent off for a deliberate handball in the box and Zach Clough scored the resulting penalty to make it 2-2.
And, with five minutes to go, Ryan Haynes was also sent off for a second bookable offense.
Carlisle took the lead immediately as, within the first minute, Riley slotted home after a give-and-go with Clough to put Carlisle 1-0 up.
Telford almost responded quickly after for the hosts but his first-time left-footed shot from inside the box went narrowly over the bar as he was cleverly picked out by a low Matt Dolan corner.
Robbie Willmott then had a shot from range deflected over the bar for a corner but said set-piece could only result in James Clarke heading away from goal rather than toward it.
Before even the quarter-hour was up, Dolan hit the post with a free-kick as Newport kept pushing for a quick-fire equaliser.
Carlisle were keen on extending their lead though and Jordan Gibson had a shot tipped over by Joe Day from the edge of the box.
In the 27th minute though, Telford decided to make the game his own.
A wonderful Newport move that started with Courtney Baker-Richardson getting fouled on halfway continued with Haynes making the most of the advantage rule to perfection by bombarding down the left and crossing to Telford.
Telford picked his spot and, on the turn, rifled an effort from just inside the box to make it 1-1.
That was merely the warm-up act for his and Newport's second goal though.
On the half-hour mark, Telford collected the ball on the right-hand side, slalomed towards goal and slotted the ball into the bottom-right corner to complete a rapid turnaround from County and an outstanding brace for Telford.
It was almost 3-1 seven minutes later when Ollie Cooper jinked towards goal down the left. He saw his shot deflect off the post and, on the rebound, Dolan shot straight at Carlisle keeper Mark Howard from 12 yards.
County had to settle for the one-goal margin at the break though, with Dolan's free-kick in stoppage time going just wide of the post.
Willmott had the first shot of the second half, but his effort 12 minutes after the restart flew over the bar.
The game completely swung on its axis again though 25 minutes from time.
During a scramble in the box, Ed Upson was shown a straight red card for a handball in the box and Clough slotted in the resulting penalty for 2-2 in the 67th minute.
Despite being down to 10, County still pushed for the winner, and came close to it when Baker-Richardon's effort from range looped onto the bar and over.
Carlisle also had their chances though - most notably when Brennan Dickenson header over the bar from point-blank range after Clough's cross from the left.
And late on, Joe Day was needed to be at full stretch to superbly tip away a curling shot from inside the area by Clough.
Newport County: Joe Day, Cameron Norman, Ryan Haynes, Ed Upson, James Clarke, Robbie Willmott, Matt Dolan (C), Courtney Baker-Richardson (Aaron Lewis '87), Dom Telford (Alex Fisher '83), Mickey Demetriou, Oliver Cooper (Finn Azaz '70)
Subs not used: Nick Townsend, Kevin Ellison, Jake Cain, Timmy Abraham
Carlisle United: Mark Howard, Rod McDonald, Joe Riley, Callum Guy (C), Lewis Alessandra (Jack Armer '60), Zach Clough (Sam Fisburn '90), Brennan Dickenson, Jon Mellish (Brad Young '60), Taylor Charters, Morgan Feeney, Jordan Gibson
Subs not used: Lukas Jensen, Jon Dinzeyi, Corey Whelan, Manny Mampala