Newport County took all three points in an eight-goal thriller at Rodney Parade. A brace from Aaron Wildig and goals from Adam Lewis, Harry Charsley, and Seb Palmer-Houlden were enough to see off a spirited and aggressive Morecambe side.
Newport fans were treated to a back-and-forth eight-goal clash at Rodney Parade, with the home side securing an exhilarating 5-3 win. First-half goals from Aaron Wildig, Adam Lewis, and Morecambe's Gwion Edwards saw The Exiles take a 2-1 lead into the break. Aaron Wildig completed his brace early in the second half, only for quick-fire goals from Chris Stokes and Edwards to pull the visitors level. Harry Charsley and Seb Palmer-Houlden would secure the win with fine finishes late in the half.
Graham Coughlan made two changes from the team that started against Stockport. Luke Jephcott was handed his first full-start for the club, while Harry Charsley returned to the starting XI. Seb Palmer-Houlden and Offrande Zanzala were dropped to the bench.
The visitors also made two changes to their side following their 3-1 defeat against Wrexham at the weekend. Joel Senior and the suspended Max Melbourne were out of the side, with David Tutonda and Kayden Harrack taking their places.
It was former Newport loanee Tutonda who would get the game off to a lively start, firing an audacious volley over the bar from the edge of the box inside sixty seconds. The visitors would come close again a minute later, with Gerard Garner tapping just wide following a slip from Nick Townsend.
After soaking up a spell of pressure in the opening ten minutes, we found our way through the Morecambe backline in the 12th minute. Lewis Payne played a ball low into the six-yard box, serving it up nicely for Aaron Wildig to finish past his former club and give us the lead.
It wouldn't take us long to double our lead. In the 17th minute, Bryn Morris played a teasing cross into the area, which Adam Lewis was more than happy to meet. The defender fired a stunning volley low into the bottom past a helpless Archie Mair in the Morecambe goal.
Frustration would begin to get the better of the Shrimps as the game ticked towards the 25-minute mark. Totunda was shown a yellow for a dangerous challenge of Lewis Payne, with the tricky defender getting the better of him once again.
Gwion Edwards gave us a scare in the 26th minute. The former Ipswich and Swansea man fired a rocket of a strike off the underside of the bar, with Joe Adams unable to make any meaningful connection with the follow-up. Nick Townsend reacted quickly, gathering the ball and killing the visitor's momentum.
Edwards would pull one back for the visitors in the 30th minute. The visitors played a long ball up the field to Edwards, who ran through the defence before slotting it past Townsend.
We would come close to grabbing a third in the 38th minute. Some nice work on the edge of the box finished with Harry Charsley teeing up an effort, with Archie Mair pulling off a brilliant save to parry it out for a corner. Shortly after, Will Evans was given the third yellow of what was an increasingly contentious evening.
Half time
The second half got underway with the same intensity as the first. Tough tackles were flying in across the pitch, with Gerard Garner lucky not to receive a yellow card following a collision with Nick Townsend.
Our third of the evening in the 53rd minute. Some fantastic hold-up play from Will Evans on the edge of the area saw him find Adam Lewis in space down the left. The midfielder swung in a dangerous cross, with Aaron Wildig knocking the ball past Mair to grab his second of the evening.
Lewis continued to terrorise the Morecambe backline. A nice combination with Will Evans resulted in Kayden Harrack knocking it out for a corner. Matt Baker would meet the resulting set-piece at the near post but could not divert his effort into the back of the net.
We would come close to grabbing a spectacular fourth of the evening in the 65th minute. Some delightful play resulted in Lewis Payne firing a vicious volley, forcing Archie Mair to save brilliantly down to his left.
The gaffer went to his bench for the first time a minute later, with Seb Palmer-Houlden and Offrande Zanzala coming on to replace Will Evans and Luke Jephcott.
The visitors would pull one back in the 69th minute. Back-to-back corners resulted in a scramble in the box, with defender Chris Stokes able to find a way through and poke the ball into the net off the post to make it 3-2.
The visitors would complete their comeback three minutes later. Substitute Jordy Hiwula ran into the box, forcing a save from Nick Townsend, only for the ball to bounce into the path of Gwion Edwards who tapped it over the line to complete his brace and make it 3-3.
Edwards came within inches of completing his hat trick in the 76th minute. Hiwula would race clear once again, forcing an excellent save from Townsend. Fortunately, Edwards was unable to keep the follow-up effort down, blazing it over the bar with an open goal in front of him.
Rodney Parade was up on its feet a minute later. Lewis Payne played the ball into Offrande Zanzala, with the striker expertly controlling it, holding off a Morecambe defender, and teeing up Harry Charsley to smash it past Archie Mair and make it 4-3.
The action continued to come thick and fast as the clock approached the 90th minute. First, Zanzala did some excellent work in the box, finishing with him teeing up Lewis Payne on the edge of the box, with the defender forcing a great reflex save from Muir.
Zanzala would continue to cause the Morecambe defence problems. The striker broke free on the counter, racing through on goal, only to be denied by a fantastic challenge. He would then force another excellent save from Mair at the near-post following some great play from the resulting corner.
In the dying moments, after Charsely won possession on the counter-attack, he played through Palmer-Houlden who showed great composure to beat the advancing Mair and make it 5-3.
The final whistle was met with jubilant cheers around Rodney Parade, with the win taking us into the top-half of the table.
Next up, we make the trip to London on Saturday afternoon to take on AFC Wimbledon. As always, thank you for your continued support, Exiles.
Newport County: Townsend, Jameson, Bennett (C), Baker, Lewis, Payne, Wildig (Waite 89'), Morris, Jephcott (Zanzala 65'), Evans (Palmer-Houlden 65'), Charsley (Drysdale 81').
Substitutes: Maxted, Drysdale, Waite, Bright, Zanzala, Bondswell, Palmer-Houlden.
Morecambe: Mair, Tutonda, Bedeau (C), Songo ‘o, Adams, Garner, Slew (Hiwula 61'), Stokes, Edwards (Smith (92'), Harrack(Larrson 85') , Khumreni (Brown 85').
Substitutes: Larsson, Brown, Smith, Taylor, Hiwula, A. Smith, Fairclough.
Attendance: 3,508 (67 away supporters)
