Newport County fell to a 3-1 defeat to Accrington Stanley on Tuesday night
Goals from Alex Henderson, Tommy Leigh and Joe Pritchard overcame Bryn Morris' early strike to earn the visitors a 3-1 victory.
Manager Graham Coughlan made four changes to the side that faced Grimsby Town on Saturday, with Jonny Maxted, Omar Bogle, Seb Palmer-Houlden and Matt Bondswell replacing Nick Townsend, Will Evans, Offrande Zanzala and Luke Jephcott.
Jac Norris makes the bench oncemore alongside fellow County academy player Nelson Sanca.
The first chance of the contest went the visitors’ way, the ball dropped invitingly for Ben Woods on the area but his effort outside the box was easy for Jonny Maxted to hold.
County took the lead just before the quarter of an hour mark, Harry Charsley burst forward after finding space on the counter-attack. He teed up the onrushing Bryn Morris who smashed the ball into Radek Vitek’s near post, giving the Exiles the lead.
Accrington found their equaliser mid-way through the half however, Jack Nolan was allowed space down the right and his cross picked out Alex Henderson, who headed home from close range to even the score.
The visitors had a good chance to take the lead in a very end-to-end first half, Sean Whalley cut inside from the left and curled his shot narrowly past the post.
Tommy Leigh then had a glaring chance to put his side ahead, who were starting to get on top. He was found in the area and after sending Matt Baker to the floor, headed over the bar.
They then had yet another opportunity, this time from a corner. Brad Hills met the ball in the air and headed goalwards, but his effort was blocked on the line by Whalley who was trying to apply some pressure on Maxted.
Half Time
Accrington took the lead virtually from the kick-off of the second half, Tommy Leigh was allowed to bring the ball down in the area, and his acrobatic effort found the far corner.
The visitors took the lead virtually from the kick-off of the second half, Tommy Leigh was found with space in the box and allowed to bring the ball down, with his acrobatic effort found the far corner.
They should have had a third after Henderson found Nolan in acres of space inside the area but his first-time effort was blazed high over the bar.
Just minutes after coming onto the pitch, Joe Pritchard was on hand to stab home after meeting a cross, extending Stanley’s lead to two with just under half-an-hour to play.
As the game headed into added time, County thought they had one back. Luke Jephcott was in the right place at the right time after Offrande Zanzala’s effort was saved initially however after conversing with his assistant referee, referee Darren Drysdale disallowed the goal with Jephcott ajudged to have been offside.
Things went from bad to worse for the Exiles, with Adam Lewis shown a straight red card inside injury time.
Full Time
The Exiles return to League Two action on Saturday afternoon when they host Tranmere Rovers at Rodney Parade (3pm).
Newport County: Maxted, Lewis, Jameson, Bennett © (Jephcott 83’), Baker, Bright, Morris, Charsley (Norris 83’), Bondswell (Evans 45’), Bogle (Zanzala 46’), Palmer-Houlden.
Substitutes: Townsend, Evans, Zanzala, Rai, Jephcott, Norris, Sanca.
Accrington Stanley: Vitek, Shipley, Henderson (Pritchard 65’), Nolan, Hills, Conneely (Martin 65’), Whalley, Woods, Leigh (Lowe 65’), Gubbbins (Querk 88’), O'Brien.
Subs: Qurk, McIntyre, Patrick, Woods, Pritchard, Lowe, Martin.
