Newport County AFC have suffered their first home defeat of the League Two season as Yeovil Town ascended into the play-off positions with a 6-0 victory at Rodney Parade.
Ex-Exile Jordan Green controlled proceedings in the first-half, setting up Yohan Arquin’s opener on 20 minutes before getting the second himself with a neat finish past Joe Day.
The effervescent midfielder also played his part in the third goal on the stroke of half-time, setting up Arquin who saw a shot saved well by Day, before Diallang Jaiyesimi out-jumped Mickey Demetriou to head home into the empty net.
Green again got in the act when firing shot a shot under Day for the fourth, before in the final fifteen minutes substitute Olufela Olomola and left-back Carl Dickinson also found the net.
Despite the result, County only drop one place to third after matchday eight of the League Two season, three points off the early pace setters Lincoln City and with a point advantage to the teams chasing the automatic promotion places.
Mike Flynn elected to name just the one change from the side that secured a first ever victory at Oldham Athletic last time out in League Two.
Having missed the game in Lancashire due to international commitments with Wales U21s, Mark Harris was restored back into the starting side in place of Jamille Matt, who went to the bench.
The Exiles again implemented the ever so effective 3-4-1-2 formation at Rodney Parade and named three ex-Glovers in the matchday squad – Josh Sheehan, Keanu Marsh-Brown and Matty Dolan.
Yeovil Town manager Darren Way named an unchanged team that secured a narrow away success at Grimsby Town in their last League Two outing.
That side included a notable return for County legend Gary Warren, the centre-back returning to South Wales for the first time since leaving the club in 2012 having made over 100 appearances for the Exiles.
The Glovers again implemented a 4-4-2 formation that had seen them just outside the play-offs before kick-off and unbeaten since the opening day of the season.
Having not played in 11 days after their match last weekend was postponed due to international call-ups, it was Yeovil who looked fresher early-on as they controlled the opening stages of the contest.
Ex-Exile Jordan Green was the architect of their good play in the opening ten minutes, firing just wide on two occasions, with the second one in particular an awkward height for the midfielder to wrap his foot around.
County grew into the contest the longer it progressed but were unfortunate not to make anything of Alex Pattison’s wayward pass back to his goalkeeper, but Nathan Baxter did read the situation well to ensure he beat Padraig Amond to it and hold.
The Glovers continued to control proceedings despite the County resurgence and they made their advantage count when opening the scoring after 20 minutes.
Green was again instrumental from his right-wing position, latching onto the long ball from Bevis Mugabi, and when Scot Bennett slipped, he burst into the area and found Diallang Jaiyesimi then Yohan Arquin, who smashed home despite the best efforts of Joe Day in the County goal.
The Exiles responded in just the right manner when attempting to find an immediate response and how the ball stayed out on 24 minutes is anyone’s guess.
Bakinson turned Pattison inside-out with an unbelievable Cruyff turn on the edge of the area, found Padraig Amond in space but his shot hit Mark Harris on the way through and Bakinson’s follow-up rebound was cleared on the line by Gary Warren.
Yeovil’s greatest attacking threat was that looping cross-field pass into Green’s channel and it worked wonders again on 38 minutes when the visitors doubled their advantage.
This time Green found the net himself in a goal his performance deserved, shaking off the best attempts of Mickey Demetriou from another Dickinson pass to poke past Day from inside the area.
Two minutes of additional time were indicated at the end of first-half proceedings and Yeovil were at it again with another scintillating passage of play to treble their lead just seconds before half-time.
The Glovers were playing some great stuff between Dickinson and Arquin on the left-side throughout the first-half, this time the latter managed to squeeze through the defence and force a really smart save from Day, but Jaiyesimi was on hand to leap above Demetriou and give the Glovers a commanding lead.
County needed something to change quickly after the restart to try and at least spark some sort of comeback into proceedings and Flynn threw on Keanu Marsh-Brown and Robbie Willmott at half-time for Sheehan and Pipe.
But neither of those attacking players could do anything about Yeovil further extending their lead just three minutes after the restart.
Green was certainly coming back to haunt his former employers when returning to Rodney Parade, drilling a shot low and hard through the legs of Day from an acute angle having been allowed to ghost in past the County defence from his menacing position out-wide.
Matty Dolan tested the fingertips of Baxter with an audacious free-kick just before the hour as County tried to react from having the stuffing knocked out of them. The former Glover sent another set-piece just over the top shortly after as County were at least controlling things at that stage and Marsh-Brown saw a shot well saved from Baxter.
But just as it looked like County might make a game of it, Yeovil extended their lead ever more with 22 minutes remaining.
Glovers substitute Olufela Olomola was afforded far too much time and space in the area to pick his spot, squirming a shot under Day after more clever play by Dickinson, Green and frontman Alex Fisher.
The day got even worse for the Exiles with fifteen minutes remaining as the away side got their sixth goal, Dickinson getting a goal his performance deserved as Day spilt his 30-yard free-kick over the goal line.
Robbie Willmott’s afternoon then took a premature end with eight minutes remaining, the midfielder receiving a straight red card on his League Two return for an overzealous lunge on Olomola.
That was the final moment of note as referee Peter Wright called an end to proceedings.
Newport County AFC (3-4-1-2): Day, Pipe (Willmott 45’), Franks, Demetriou (C), Bennett, Butler, Bakinson, Dolan, Sheehan (Marsh-Brown 45’), Amond, Harris (O’Brien 83’)
Subs not used: Townsend, Matt, Pring, Semenyo
Yeovil Town (4-4-2): Baxter, Mugabi, Sowunmi (C), Warren (Donnellan 72’), Dickinson, Arquin, Pattison, D’Almeida, Green (Rogers 86’), Fisher, Jaiyesimi (Olomola 62’)
Subs not used: Phillips, Browne, Patrick, Gray
Referee: Peter Wright
Attendance: 4,167 (430 AWAY)
Next up for County: Tranmere Rovers (22nd August 2018) AWAY