County head coach Christian Fuchs pledged to celebrate his team’s critical 3-2 victory over Oldham at partying Rodney Parade which has moved to within sight of Football League safety.
Bobby Kamwa bagged the winner with virtually the last kick of the game in a topsy-turvy encounter that saw the winger miss a penalty late on, and fire an early opener.
County had trailed at half-time, as Will Sutton and Dynel Simeu struck first-half goals for The Latics, who were reduced to ten men from the 39th-minute when Mike Fodop-Talom was sent off for an ugly collision with Exiles defender Lee Jenkins.
This maximum means Newport go to seemingly relegated Barrow next Saturday knowing a win will preserve their League Two status, which would then potentially relegate, Harrogate, Crawley or Tranmere.
A drained Fuchs insists there is still work to be done up on the Cumbrian coast next weekend, and reflected, "I have been involved in several traumatic games, but that is right at the top of the list.
"It’s a very proud moment. We missed that penalty late on but we kept going still believing that something could happen.
"To still put away that chance he [Bobby] had probably despised himself for missing the penalty says a lot. He kept so cool in that moment to slot it in. But it was a big complement to my players that they pushed forward relentlessly.
"It was a complete roller coaster, lots of ups and downs. But at the end of the day, we walked away with the points. Today was a big fight, it didn’t really make it any easier when we went a man up. I was disappointed with the two set piece goals we conceded, then we had chance after chance and was not putting the ball away.
"The last minutes were manic. But I am proud because we were mentally up for it. We got the result we deserved."
Fuchs relished celebrating with a crowd approaching 6,000 after the final whistle saying, “For us it means the world. I really enjoyed walking on the pitch. Seeing the fans makes me see what is possible here [at Newport]. They stayed on after the game and it showed everybody is together. It was an incredible moment."
The County boss will now prepare for the game at Barrow’s Holker Street, saying: "Nobody is still safe, so we’ll need to go up there and put the work in.
"It’ll be a tough game. We want to be good sports people and put points on the board. We’ll go there to perform. that’s the bottom line. Things are still in our own hands – they have been for some time."
Fuchs admits to being full of emotion. He said, “I am definitely a bit tired now. I’ll celebrate tonight, maybe into the early hours, there is so much emotion. It’s important for people to enjoy the moment, but we’ll be preparing for the next match from next Tuesday – having Sunday and Monday off.
“It’s not the physical side now, it’s more mental now.”