Newport County 2-1 Port Vale

Dom Telford back-heeled in his equaliser at Rodney Parade

Newport County fought back to beat fellow promotion challengers Port Vale as the Exiles rose to fourth in the League Two title chase.

After trailing to Ben Gerrity's 24th-minute goal, Newport ended the day just a point behind third-placed Vale.

Dom Telford marked his second successive player of the month award with the 69th-minute equaliser.

Finn Aziz then struck just six minutes later to win it before Vale had Dan Jones sent off late on.

The visitors, already missing Jamie Proctor, James Wilson, George Lloyd, David Amoo, Dave Worrall and Devante Rodney, ended the game with 10 men after defender Jones' 87th-minute dismissal for a bad tackle on Ollie Cooper.

Newport manager James Rowberry:

"Unbelievable. It was a travesty to go 1-0 behind off one shot at goal. It was disappointing, but I'm over the moon.

"I'm not thinking about positions in the league, just the next game, which is Rochdale.

"We'll enjoy it tonight, but we go back to work next week."

Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke:

"It was a very tough afternoon. We were nowhere near the standards we've set. We always seemed to be hanging on. We lacked a bit of juice in the legs and we lacked control in transition.

"There was a lot that was wrong with the performance but I don't want to be too critical of the boys because they're putting their bodies on the line in challenging times.

"Me and my staff are working very hard to try to get results in the situation that we're in. It is tough but we have to be a lot better."