Liam Feeney's strike proved to be the difference as Newport County AFC were condemned to a 1-0 defeat against Tranmere Rovers.
The experienced winger latched on to Kaiyne Woolery's pass and fired the home side in front in the opening stages at Prenton Park.
County looked to respond to the early setback by carving out opportunities of their own, with Nicky Maynard among those going close to finding the equaliser.
But there was no way through for Michael Flynn's side as a resolute Tranmere side held firm to secured their third successive victory in Birkenhead.
Flynn made two changes from the Exiles' goalless draw against Stevenage on Saturday, as captain Joss Labadie and Padraig Amond replaced Anthony Hartigan and Dom Telford in the starting line-up.
County had earned back-to-back clean sheets in their previous two Sky Bet League Two fixtures against Walsall and Stevenage, but their hopes of keeping another faded away when the home side took the lead inside the opening six minutes.
After applying pressure to the Exiles' defence, Woolery brought the ball under control and sent Feeney through on goal. The winger took a touch before firing the ball beyond the outstretched Nick Townsend and into the bottom corner.
Down the opposite end, Matty Dolan fired wide of the target with an ambitious effort at goal which failed to trouble Tranmere goalkeeper Scott Davies.
County enjoyed another good opportunity to level when a stunning outside of the boot pass from Scot Bennett sent Maynard into space down the right-wing. The striker drove forward into the penalty area before firing towards goal, but the effort was blocked by Tranmere defender Peter Clarke, who felt the full force of the shot and was left on the deck.
Maynard was at the heart of another move minutes later when he latched on to a pass from Amond and broke through the home side's defensive line. The striker looked to take the ball back inside onto his preferred right foot before unleashing an effort that was blocked by the Rovers' defence.
Townsend then came to the away side's rescue to prevent Tranmere from doubling their just after the half-hour mark when he kept out Calum Macdonald's powerful free-kick from a threatening position.
Amond turned provider again with the final chance of the opening 45 minutes when he brought down a long ball forward and clipped it back across goal towards Maynard. But the faintest of touches from Lee O'Connor prevented the ball from finding the on-loan Mansfield man, who looked destined to score.
Woolery almost doubled Tranmere's advantage nine minutes into the second half when he found a pocket of space and struck marginally wide of the post, although referee Ben Toner deemed the goalkeeper had got a touch on the ball.
Flynn made a double change just after the hour-mark by sending on Jake Scrimshaw and Ryan Taylor, and the latter immediately used his aerial strength to carve out a chance for the visitors when he found Labadie, whose header was gathered by Davies.
County cranked up the pressure in the final quarter and were still in with a shout of rescuing something from the fixture as the home side began to drop deeper.
And Flynn's men were adamant they should have had a penalty in the dying stages when the ball appeared to hit the hand of a home defender, but the referee pointed the opposite direction and awarded the hosts a free-kick as County fell to defeat.
Newport County AFC: Nick Townsend, Ryan Haynes (Kevin Ellison 79'), Mickey Demetriou, Matty Dolan (Luke Gambin 86'), Priestley Farquharson, Liam Shephard, Scot Bennett (Dom Telford 79'), Josh Sheehan, Joss Labadie (C), Padraig Amond (Jake Scrimshaw 64'), Nicky Maynard (Ryan Taylor 64').
Substitutes not used: Tom King, Aaron Lewis.