The 2018/19 season will always be remembered as one where Newport came agonisingly close to securing a spot in League One. It was a season full of highs and lows, and we are going to revisit one of the former for this week’s From the Archive piece.
The opening 20 games of the 2018/19 season had been nothing short of fantastic. We hit the ground running, spending just three weeks of the opening 21 outside the top 6.
Unfortunately, our form started to derail around Christmas time, starting with a 2-1 loss away at Swindon. This would start a run of five losses in six, and we found ourselves sitting in the bottom half before a 1-0 win over Exeter.
We would draw and lose the following two games before causing a memorable upset in the FA Cup, defeating Middlesbrough 2-0 under the Rodney Parade lights.
Four days later, we would host promotion-chasing Mansfield Town. It was a bitterly cold afternoon in South Wales, and the visitors were in fine form. The Stags were sitting second in the league, having won four of their last five games, scoring 11 in the process.
However, we were rejuvenated thanks to our cup performance, and the two scorers from that game combined to hand us a key victory.
The visitors started strong, with a dangerous ball from the right finding Nicky Ajose in the box. The experienced striker was unable to keep his effort down, blazing it over the goal. We would come close ourselves a few minutes later, with Joss Labadie heading the ball over at the near post.
We continued to ramp up the pressure, breaking the deadlock to put ourselves a goal to the good in the 15th minute. A clever corner routine saw Padraig Amond tee up an oncoming Robbie Wilmott on the edge of the box, with the midfielder emphatically hammering the ball past a helpless Jordan Smith in the Mansfield goal.
The rest of the game was a tight affair, with both sides creating huge chances. However, we stood strong, and the Stags were unable to find a way through a resilient defence.
The game would start a run of three wins in six and help to get our season back on track. Little did we know back in February that we would charge up the table, sneaking into the play-offs on a dramatic last day. Mansfield would then go on to miss out on the automatic spots, and we would face each other in the play-off semi-finals.
You can relive that classic semi-final penalty shoot-out win in the From the Archive piece from earlier this season.