Manager Michael Flynn says he's delighted that Newport County AFC will sit at the Sky Bet League Two summit at Christmas, but was frustrated that his side failed to extend their advantage after a 4-2 defeat against Oldham Athletic.
Scott Twine's long range effort and a first league goal of the campaign from Scot Bennett, either side of Davis Keillor-Dunn's strike, ensured County twice took the lead in the first half against the Latics.
Conor McAleny responded for a second time for the visitors in the second half before Padraig Amond missed the opportunity to restore County's advantage from the penalty spot.
And Alfie McCalmont and Zach Dearnley both struck late goals to condemn Flynn's men to their first home league defeat of the campaign and cut their lead at the top of the table to just one point.
"If you told me at the start of the season that we’d be top at Christmas, I would’ve bitten your hand off," said Flynn.
"We are going to lose games but it’s just frustrating the way we los. It’s uncharacteristic of us and hopefully it never happens again.
"I’m not wondering how we lost it, we gave Oldham the three points. Every single one of their goals were awful and could have been prevented.
"It was one of those days. It’s a bad day and I’m not going to try and gloss over it."
County will have the opportunity to atone for their defeat against the Latics when they make the trip to Crawley Town on Boxing Day for their penultimate fixture of the year.
Flynn's men then return to Rodney Parade, which has proved to be a difficult place for teams to visit so far this term, for three consecutive home league fixtures against Exeter City, Southend United and Salford City.
"We will go in before Christmas and keep on top of it. It’s a busy period and there are a lot of games coming up," Flynn added.
"We’ve got to make sure we are on it because teams are breathing down our necks.”