Newport County sent out a huge message in the League Two relegation battle with a stunning 3-1 victory over Salford City.
Goals from Ryan Delaney, Ben Lloyd and Nathaniel Opoku gave The Exiles a pivotal win, pulling them to within three points of safety.
They also dealt an enormous blow to Salford’s automatic promotion hopes in the process.
Newport had never won at the Peninsula Stadium in their previous five attempts, and visited Manchester looking for a first away victory since October.
Salford began the evening in fifth place, looking to make up ground on the sides above them, with Newport attempting to reel in their rivals at the bottom of the league.
Wholesale replacements were made by Christian Fuchs after County’s weekend defeat in Milton Keynes, with eight changes in total.
That included the return of Courtney Baker-Richardson and, playing against his former team, Liam Shephard.
There were also re-introductions for Cameron Evans, Ryan Delaney, Tom Davies, Harrison Biggins and Ben Lloyd.
The first chance fell for the hosts, with Haji Mnoga finding some room outside the penalty area and firing a shot over the bar.
But County looked up for this one too, with Sven Sprangler driving a cross towards Courtney Baker-Richardson, only for his effort to be deflected wide.
It was that corner from which County produced the opener from: an outswinger from Tom Davies that found the head of Ryan Delaney, scoring his first goal back at the club on loan from Swindon.
It was Newport’s first goal in five games, and sent the travelling Amber Army into jubilation.
Still, Salford showed their attacking potential in the following minutes, with Mnoga’s cross across the box tantalisingly missed by the red shirts in proximity.
Cameron Evans garnered a yellow card shortly before the half-hour mark, snapping into a tackle on Ryan Graydon a second or two too late.
The Ammies were capable of getting balls into the box, but Jordan Wright put in a commanding performance to shut down their attacking impetus throughout the first-half.
A prime example came when Matt Butcher let fly from the edge of the area, Wright getting down low to prevent the attempt from creeping in.
They also had a big opportunity from a corner, with Dan Udoh unable to force a ball sliding low into the six-yard box past the goalkeeper.
Kelly N’Mai was equally unsuccessful, dragging a shot well wide from the same area as Butcher’s try, and the half ended with Newport having the lead.
Liam Shephard was replaced by Joe Thomas as the sides resumed battle, and Salford immediately peppered the Newport goal, with Ossama Ashley firing over the bar within the first five minutes.
Upon winning a corner, Matt Butcher’s cross was venomously swung at by Graydon, but his volley only managed to find the fans behind the goalmouth.
There was some hope that Salford would still be recovering from their FA Cup exploits last weekend, holding Manchester City for large spells of the game, but their much-changed side kept beating down the County door.
The game swung to Christian Fuchs’ outfit in the space of three minutes.
Firstly, a long clearance from Wright was headed on towards Ben Lloyd, whose control and poise saw him get one-on-one with Matty Young – he sat the goalkeeper down, ran through, and poked in a second to more joyous celebrations.
By now, the 178 away fans were in raptures, and even more delight was to follow.
Hitherto the league’s basement dwellers, County flipped the script when a long forward diagonal reached Nathaniel Opoku, who took some time to pull the trigger but found the bottom corner
Wright once again pulled off some heroics to deny a goalbound Salford cross from going in late on, and the hosts huffed and puffed for any sight of goal.
Eventually, they found the net through former Welsh international Ben Woodburn, who bagged a fizzing strike from distance in added time.
Despite renewed belief for the hosts, Graydon skied an effort after being through on goal via a deflection, and the Salford fire had been doused.
It was Newport’s first away win in 115 days, and gives them enormous hope going forward of avoiding relegation to non-league for the first time in 13 years.
Newport will now prepare for their second home game of the month, welcoming Cambridge United to Rodney Parade on Saturday.
Newport County: Wright, Evans, Baker (c), Sprangler, Baker-Richardson (Opoku 58’), Biggins (Jarvis 66’), Crole (Jamieson 66’), Davies, Shephard (Thomas 46’), Lloyd (Spellman 80’), Delaney
Unused Substitutes: MacDonald, Warner
Salford City: Young, Ashley (Ehibhatiomhan 65’), Turton (Longelo 65’), N’Mai, Harris (Woodburn 65’), Cooper, Butcher (Grant 65’), Mnoga, Udoh, Graydon, Garbutt (c)
Unused Substitutes: Howard, Dorrington, Awe
Officials: David Rock (Referee), Martin Parker, Mark Ryder (Assistant Referees), Niall Felton (Fourth Official)
Attendance: 2,236 (178 away)
