Newport complete turn around to move into the play off places.

It was quite an even first half as County looked to make it 3 wins from 3 competitive league games at Rodney Parade something not done since April 2021 under Michael Flynn. 

But it was Graham Coughlan's men who started off the better as captain Ryan Delaney had a very early header saved by Jack Rose

It was the aforementioned Sutton keeper who was living very dangerously in his own box as he tried to play out from the back but our forwards pressed him in his own area and lost the ball with Will Evans and SPH on the prowl the ball fortunately for Sutton ended up at the feet of one of their defenders.

This kicked off a few action packed minutes with Will Evans running onto a Ryan Delaney flick but he is deemed offside by the officials. Then only a few seconds later James Clarke headed wide of the Sutton goal. 

Adam Lewis had the best chance of the game so far after he got the ball on the left hand side of the penalty area only for him to fire a few yards over the bar. 

Craig Clay got the ball after nice play from Patrick but blazed very high over the bar. 

County felt like they should've had a penalty towards the end of the first half as the man in form Will Evans goes through on goal but the Sutton keeper ends up coming out quickly and looked to have fouled his but nothing was given by the referee. 

That was the last major chance in what was quite a dull first half. The way Sutton played nullified County's usual high energetic play style by going very direct in into the forward pair of Scott Kashket and Lee Angol and they also utilised play direct into channels with wide men Omari Patrick especially and Josh Coley and drew County into their way of playing.

What ever Sutton's vocal manager Matt Gray said at half time it had it's desired impact almost straight away as they came out with a lot of intent at the start of the second half. Robert Milsom had a shot which deflected behind for a corner. Then the man who impressed me in the first half Omari Patrick put the visitors ahead with a really neat finish. 

County were nearly level immediately. Seb Palmer-Houlden headed into the path of Will Evans who took a shot but found the shot saved on the line by Sutton keeper Jack Rose. 

Bryn Morris came close as he had a floating shot that floated just over the bar. 

It was then time for the introduction of last season's top scorer Omar Bogle who was making his first appearance of the campaign following an injury which has kept him out so far.  

Within 4 minutes of him coming on we were level! Adam Lewis put a great ball into the box which was turned in by Joe Kizzi the Sutton right back in a goal which reminded me of Robin Van Persie's diving header from the 2014 world cup for The Netherlands. 

The next chance of the game lead to the next goal and again it came from a cross this time from the other side of the pitch. Shane McLoughlin crossed into the box and midfielder Harry Charsley converted for his 2nd goal of the season and the turn around which looked all but impossible came true. 

Matt Gray responded to going behind by making a quadruple change and a change in formation which to me had very little impact on the rest of the game. Ex County man Ryan Jackson made a cameo at Rodney Parade and was amongst the quartet coming on and got a great reception from the Amber Army. 

The man in form got yet another! Will Evans got his 6th league goal of the season with a very good finish to secure all three points and the 3rd successive win at Rodney Parade at the start of the campaign. 

Omar nearly capped his return with a goal and he pounced on a mistake from the Sutton backline and sprinted all the way down to the other end of the pitch along side Adam Lewis but decided to shoot on goal rather than pass to Lewis but unfortunately he was denied by Jack Rose.

That was that for an afternoon with another turnaround similar to the one we seen against Charlton in the league cup. We move into the Brentford game on Tuesday in the league cup full of confidence and believe as we are on a run now of 3 home wins in a row which hasn't been seen for over a year.

For a more in depth review tune into Look Back In Amber tomorrow afternoon on Newport City Radio from 2pm with Myself, Ian Lamsdale and Stephen Howell.

 Newport County: Nick Townsend, Adam Lewis, Ryan Delaney, James Clarke, Will Evans, Bryn Morris, Scot Bennett (Omar Bogle), Shane McLoughlin, Harry Charsley, Aaron Wildig ( James Waite), Seb Palmer-Houlden (Josh Seberry)

Attendance: 3740

Newport County put Doncaster to the sword at Rodney Parade.

Newport County started as they mean to go on at Rodney Parade as they emphatically put 4 goals past Doncaster Rovers. 

Graham Coughlin made two changes to the team that beat Charlton on Tuesday night with both changes coming at full back with Adam Lewis and Shane McLoughlin came into the starting 11 in place of James Waite and Josh Seberry.

They carried on from where they left off against Charlton and made a very bright start with an early chance as Aaron Wildig floated a really good ball into the box which Ian Lawlor punched away. 

Within 6 minutes County were ahead as Seb Palmer-Houlden did ever so well to dispossess Joseph Olowu on the bar line and he tucked home to make it 3 goals in consecutive games at Rodney Parade. 

Seb nearly made it 4 in 3 at Rodney Parade as midfielder Scot Bennett dispossessed a Doncaster player and played him through but he fired wide of goal. 

It was 2-0 only a few minutes later however as Shane Mcloughlin has a shot which was saved but into the path of Will Evans who shows great instinct to score his first league goal of the season. 

It was soon 3 after a scramble in the Donny penalty area and veteran defender Richard Wood who Graham Coughlan yesterday said he tried to sign over the summer put the ball in his own net to put us 3-0 up within 25 minutes. 

The poor start for his side prompted Rovers manager Grant McCann into a double change only half an hour into the match which didn't really have that much impact on the game as wave after wave of attack from Newport County followed until half time as County looked the most dangerous that i've seen them in a long time. 6 shots on target in that first half with 3 goals (1 albeit an own goal.) We were very clinical in the first half. It could and almost should've been 5 or 6 at the break we had further chances through SPH, Bryn Morris and Shane McLoughlin. 

It only took Will Evans 5 second half minutes to get his second of the afternoon as he was played in by Shane McLoughlin and the forward slots it in the bottom left corner and matches his goal tally in the league already after just 2 games. 

This prompted Doncaster into 2 more changes and saw new boy Mo Faal who impressed me and Tommy Rowe come on in what looked like another formation change from Grant McCann. 

The game fizzled out in the half an hour of the game with Doncaster having the better of the play but they didn't really test keeper Nick Townsend that much. Most of the Doncaster play came around the center circle as they tried to get back the County defence. 

We seen a couple of debuts towards the end as new summer signings Nathan Wood and Lewis Payne entered the pitch for a small cameo at the end of the game. 

I feel like this was one of the best County performances in a long long while we looked like we would score everytime we went forward especially in the first half. Our pressing and counter pressing forced Donny into a number of errors and one even lead to the opener from SPH. It will be tough to repeat the same performance levels on Tuesday against Crewe after a lot of the players have played 3 games of football in 7 days but what today does is it lays down a marker for Graham Coughlan and his side who have been written of by a number of people before a single ball was kicked.

For further analysis on the game listen to Look Back In Amber tomorrow from 2pm on Newport city radio with myself and Stephen Howell.

Newport County: Nick Townsend, Adam Lewis, Ryan Delaney, Will Evans (Nathan Wood), Bryn Morris, Scot Bennett, Shane McLoughlin (Lewis Payne), Harry Charsley (Matty Bondswell), Kyle Jameson, Aaron Wildig (James Waite), Seb Palmer-Houlden (Kiban Rai)

Attendance: 3989 (358)

Personal MOTM: Seb Palmer-Houlden

Newport County add much needed depth at right back with the addition of Southampton loanee.

Graham Coughlan has finally added another option at right wing back in the form of Lewis Payne on a season long loan from Southampton. 

Lewis has come through the Southampton academy from a very young age and has played predominantly for the u21 side in the Premier League 2 competition. He played against County last season when Southampton visited Rodney Parade in the Papa John's Trophy. He started as captain that night as his side fell to a 2-1 loss thanks to goals from Omar Bogle and James Waite. He made his senior debut for the saints in last season's league cup when he started in their 3-0 win in the second round against Cambridge United. He even got the assist for the opening goal as he set up Che Adams to score. 

He has spent a short period of time at the start of the year at Eastleigh in the National League and helped the side to a 9th place finish 4 points behind Bromley and the playoffs. This will be his first full year in a senior football environment and it will be interesting to see how quickly he can adapt to senior football compared to the u21 system.

Lewis will add much required depth at right wing back and will go up against Shane McLoughlin for the shirt at right back. Shane has started the season in the position and has looked good in my opinion with a great engine to get up and down and has shown a bit of quality in the final third with crosses. This signing might also free up Shane to play in the center of midfield where he can also play and has had success in the past.

Graham Coughlan is delighted to strengthen at right wing back “Lewis is a great utility player, he’s adventurous and will open up that (Right) side of the pitch.” he said. “He’ll give us some great options through his versatility and looking at him, he can play three or four positions. “We of course are still searching and seeking that key striker, but if I can pick up and decorate the rest of the team along the way, that’s what I’ll do. I’m looking forward to working with Lewis in the upcoming campaign.”

Lewis can't wait to play at Newport “I played against Newport last year, playing in front of the fans, on the pitch was a great experience.” Explained Payne. I’m really excited to get going and get amongst the lads.”

Welcome Lewis!

Graham Coughlan reflects on a "difficult" first pre season as County boss

Newport County manager Graham Coughlan has just overseen his first pre season as manager of the club.

Boss Coughlan admits it's not been all plain sailing in the build up to the new campaign "It's been difficult, It's been really difficult if im quite honest and i'm not sure if it will get any easier for me"

"It's been trying its been testing, it's probably the biggest challenge i've ever taken on in my life, It's a mammoth task," he added. 

County have had a mixed bag of results in pre season starting of with wins against Welsh league opposition Undy and Pontypridd. Then followed 4 consecutive defeates to Sheffield fc, Swansea City, Bristol City and Yeovil conseeding 15 goals in those games without reply. We finished off with our first pre season game at our home of Rodney Parade for the first time in just over 5 years with a 1-1 draw against Cheltenham Town.

Graham Coughlan admits the pre season friendlies were planned deliberately "The fixtures we're put together where we had our first 3 games against Pontypridd, Undy and Sheffield were put together so we could get that bulk of work into us the day of the game, the day before the game and we could go into those games fatigued. When you go into those games fatigued you actually have to concentrate more, you have to organise more."

"We then went into the Bristol City's and the Swansea games they we're games where we didn't see much of the ball and they were deliberate. They we're defensive organisation, defensive structure, it was trying to press, it was trying to get after players, top quality players who don't give the ball away with not alot of turn overs we were up against quality," he continued.

"Then we come away from that with the Yeovil which was system for system, man to man and today was the same, so yeah it was structured it was organised." 

"They are at a level now where their fitness is good, the preseason has been really hard for them. If anything we will be one of the more fitter teams in the league and I think we will have to be."

Coughlan and County kick off their 2023/24 campaign this coming saturday away to Accrington Stanley and welcome the lancashire side back to the forth tier for the first time since the 2017/18 season when they won the league.