Harrogate Town 2-1 Newport County: Sulphurites hold off 10-man Exiles

Newport remain just in the play-off zone despite an eight-match winless league run

Harrogate Town put some distance between themselves and the League Two drop zone with victory over misfiring Newport County, who ended with 10 men.

Luke Gambin's deflected shot following a corner had given Newport a 17th-minute lead.

Josh March equalised on 34 minutes when he seized on Aaron Martin's flicked header to bury the ball in the corner.

Martin then headed in the 66th-minute winner from George Thomson's corner - his first goal in 14 games.

But midfielder Liam Shephard was then shown a straight red card for a poor challenge on Simon Power.

Newport drop to seventh after their eighth game without a win, while 20th-placed Harrogate are now nine points clear of safety,

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver:

"It was a vital performance from Aaron Martin. He's horrible to play against. He can be undermined for being a battering ram but he pops up in the right areas. Scoring will be great for his confidence."

"We were on it. There was a lot of energy on show. We deserved the three points. We had to work really hard for them against a top team at this level.

"I was disappointed to concede from a set-play but it shows character to come back the way we did and we did not just show battling qualities. It was a really good performance.

"We are entitled to feel proud not just of our 100 per cent effort, but of a lot of skill as well. There's a real freshness about the group now and we have deserved more points from our last four games."

Newport County manager Michael Flynn told BBC Sport Wales:

"We started quite well, then mistakes started creeping in. We got punished for another one and then we were very poor. They did the horrible side of the game a lot better than us.

"We didn't create anything of note until one off the line on 89 minutes, so not a very good performance. I won't single out individuals but there's mistakes creeping in and one or two are constantly involved, so they've been told.

"I will watch the red card again. Nobody appealed for it. He said it was a two-footed lunge but there was no contact so I will have a look.

"Grimsby won't be easy now, they'll be fighting for their lives, we've got to turn the corner quickly because we don't want to fall too far behind the other challengers at the top."