Newport County 2-1 Notts County

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Newport hero Mark O'Brien: 'We pushed to the end'

Newport County pulled off an astonishing League Two relegation escape as they beat Notts County.

Despite being 11 points adrift in March, the Exiles instead condemned Hartlepool to the drop to the National League.

A late winner from Mark O'Brien kept Newport up on a dramatic final day.

The home side opened the scoring on 32 minutes when Mickey Demetriou fired home a penalty after Haydn Hollis tripped Lenell John-Lewis in the box.

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The visitors levelled things when Jorge Grant prodded home on 61 minutes.

It was a tense, nervous encounter in front of a sell-out crowd at Rodney Parade, with Jon Stead shooting wide for the Magpies just five minutes in, before defender Demetriou, League Two's player of the month for April, made it four goals in his last seven outings from the spot.

Ryan Bird's long-range effort just missed its target and it proved costly as within a minute Grant found space in the box to level things.

But on 89 minutes O'Brien chested the ball down and fired home to spark scenes of wild celebration in south Wales.

Back from the brink

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It has been a season of ups and downs for Newport, who have languished towards the bottom of the League Two table for much of the campaign.

The Exiles were bottom of the EFLm with just one win from their first nine league matches when manager Warren Feeney was sacked in September and ex-Stevenage boss Graham Westley came in to replace him.

A initial upturn of form coincided with Westley's arrival as Newport went seven games unbeaten in all competitions, including three successive league wins, in October and November.

That unbeaten run ended, however, as they then went 12 games without a win from November into January.

Off the pitch, club secretary Graham Bean left in December after just three weeks, telling BBC Wales he "could not work" with Westley and days later the Newport boss was initially asked to leave an extraordinary post-match press conference before calling a journalist a "clown" in a heated interview.

The club eventually parted company with Westley on 9 March after their 4-0 defeat by Leyton Orient left them 11 points adrift of safety.

Club legend Mike Flynn, who had been brought back as a player by Westley, took over as manager, with Lennie Lawrence coming in as his assistant as the Exiles began their remarkable turnaround.

Flynn has won seven of his 12 games in charge and it proved enough to save the Welsh side in one of the most memorable survival fights ever in the EFL.

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Newport

• 1Day
• 17Bennett
• 25O'Brien
• 28Demetriou
• 18Pipe
• 6LabadieBooked at 73mins
• 8RandallSubstituted forRiggat 72'minutes
• 20Owen-EvansSubstituted forWilliamsat 83'minutes
• 3Butler
• 40Bird
• 10John-LewisSubstituted forJacksonat 72'minutes

Substitutes

• 2Barnum-Bobb
• 11Myrie-Williams
• 13Jackson
• 19Nelson
• 27Rigg
• 30Bittner
• 41Williams

Notts County

• 1Collin
• 23Clackstone
• 6Hollis
• 5Duffy
• 3DickinsonSubstituted forBolaat 58'minutes
• 47HowesSubstituted forSmithat 58'minutesBooked at 77mins
• 12Milsom
• 18Hewitt
• 17Grant
• 30Stead
• 9Ameobi

Substitutes

• 4Smith
• 14Campbell
• 15Thompson
• 16Bola
• 24Campbell
• 28Osborne
• 35Searson

Referee:

Nigel Miller

Attendance:

7,326

Match Stats

Home TeamNewportAway TeamNotts County

Possession

Home46%

Away54%

Shots

Home10

Away10

Shots on Target

Home5

Away2

Corners

Home0

Away2

Fouls

Home13

Away8

Live Text

Substitution

Posted at 1'

Substitution, Newport County. Aaron Williams replaces Tom Owen-Evans.

Posted at

Match ends, Newport County 2, Notts County 1.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+7'

Second Half ends, Newport County 2, Notts County 1.

Posted at 90'+2'

Attempt missed. Josh Clackstone (Notts County) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

Goal!

Posted at 89'

Goal! Newport County 2, Notts County 1. Mark O'Brien (Newport County) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.

Posted at 88'

Marc Bola (Notts County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 88'

Foul by Mickey Demetriou (Newport County).

Posted at 86'

Alan Smith (Notts County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 86'

Foul by Marlon Jackson (Newport County).

Posted at 85'

Attempt missed. Sean Rigg (Newport County) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.

Posted at 82'

Attempt missed. Jon Stead (Notts County) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.

Posted at 78'

Delay in match Elliott Hewitt (Notts County) because of an injury.

Booking

Posted at 77'

Alan Smith (Notts County) is shown the yellow card.

Posted at 76'

Corner, Notts County. Conceded by Mark O'Brien.

Booking

Posted at 73'

Joss Labadie (Newport County) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 73'

Marc Bola (Notts County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 73'

Foul by Joss Labadie (Newport County).

Substitution

Posted at 72'

Substitution, Newport County. Sean Rigg replaces Mark Randall.

Substitution

Posted at 72'

Substitution, Newport County. Marlon Jackson replaces Lenell John-Lewis.

Posted at 70'

Marc Bola (Notts County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 70'

Foul by Lenell John-Lewis (Newport County).

Posted at 70'

Attempt blocked. Jon Stead (Notts County) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.

Posted at 67'

Shola Ameobi (Notts County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 67'

Foul by Scot Bennett (Newport County).

Posted at 67'

Attempt saved. Lenell John-Lewis (Newport County) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.

Posted at 66'

Attempt saved. Jorge Grant (Notts County) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

Posted at 64'

Attempt missed. Elliott Hewitt (Notts County) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.

Goal!

Posted at 61'

Goal! Newport County 1, Notts County 1. Jorge Grant (Notts County) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.

Posted at 61'

Attempt missed. Ryan Bird (Newport County) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.

Posted at 59'

Marc Bola (Notts County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 59'

Foul by Mark Randall (Newport County).

Posted at 59'

Foul by Marc Bola (Notts County).

Posted at 59'

Mark Randall (Newport County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Substitution

Posted at 58'

Substitution, Notts County. Marc Bola replaces Carl Dickinson.

Substitution

Posted at 58'

Substitution, Notts County. Alan Smith replaces Alex Howes.

Posted at 57'

Attempt missed. Lenell John-Lewis (Newport County) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is just a bit too high.

Posted at 54'

Alex Howes (Notts County) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 54'

Foul by Mark Randall (Newport County).

Posted at 51'

Attempt blocked. Mark Randall (Newport County) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

Posted at 48'

Attempt missed. Jorge Grant (Notts County) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high from a direct free kick.

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