Substitution, Newport County. Aaron Williams replaces Tom Owen-Evans.
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.
- Newport survive, Portsmouth champions as it happened
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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
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
Newport
Formation 3-5-2
- 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
Formation 4-4-2
- 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
- Possession
- Home46%
- Away54%
- Shots
- Home10
- Away10
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away2
- Corners
- Home0
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home13
- Away8
Live Text
Substitution
Post update
Match ends, Newport County 2, Notts County 1.
Full Time
Second Half ends, Newport County 2, Notts County 1.
Post update
Attempt missed. Josh Clackstone (Notts County) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Goal!
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.
Post update
Marc Bola (Notts County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Mickey Demetriou (Newport County).
Post update
Alan Smith (Notts County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Marlon Jackson (Newport County).
Post update
Attempt missed. Sean Rigg (Newport County) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Post update
Attempt missed. Jon Stead (Notts County) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Post update
Delay in match Elliott Hewitt (Notts County) because of an injury.
Booking
Alan Smith (Notts County) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Corner, Notts County. Conceded by Mark O'Brien.
Booking
Joss Labadie (Newport County) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Marc Bola (Notts County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Joss Labadie (Newport County).
Substitution
Substitution, Newport County. Sean Rigg replaces Mark Randall.
Substitution
Substitution, Newport County. Marlon Jackson replaces Lenell John-Lewis.
Post update
Marc Bola (Notts County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Comments
Join the conversation
Good luck to Hartlepool next season. Well done Newport, a tremendous effort to turn a seemingly impossible position around.
Barley (msg 12), do u remember the last Euro championships? How well Wales did under the current set up. If u put Swansea/Cardiff/Newport in2 the Welsh league (playing Rhyl & Llandudno) there will be no way they can improve. That only happens when you play better teams.Look at Scotland. Rangers/ Celtic & the rest. Wales deserves better
The Conference/Whatever is a graveyard of old league teams and you never know what can happen - just look at York City.
Hope Hartlepool can survive.
well done Newport, though
The squad needs a overhaul regardless.