Michael Spellman of Newport County is challenged by Farrend Rawson of Accrington StanleyImage source, Huw Evans Picture Agency
Image caption,

Newport County have won just three matches away from home in League Two this season

Accrington Stanley boosted their League Two survival hopes with a thumping 5-0 win over Newport County.

Joe O'Brien-Whitmarsh drilled beyond Nick Townsend in the fourth minute with his second goal in three matches.

Kelsey Mooney doubled the home side's lead in the 15th minute before Tyler Walton bagged Accrington's third before the half hour mark at the Wham Stadium.

O'Brien-Whitmarsh completed his brace early in the second half before Mooney achieved the same feat late on as John Doolan's side moved 10 points clear of the relegation zone with 10 matches remaining.

Newport sit 17th - 14 points above the bottom two and 13 points adrift of the play-off places - after suffering their heaviest defeat of the season while failing to register a single shot on target.

This was as one-sided a contest as the scoreline suggests.

Ben Woods drilled over from an acute angle in the opening stages, and it was a sign of things to come from Doolan's side who took the lead with just four minutes on the clock.

Woods threaded through to O'Brien-Whitmarsh who darted beyond Jaden Warner before firing into the net.

Exiles boss Nelson Jardim told his players they need to "grow up and toughen up" after their 2-1 defeat at Chesterfield on Saturday.

And he could have been forgiven for filling his notepad with more harsh words as he watched his side's passive start.

Farrend Rawson headed narrowly wide from a Woods corner before Michael Spellman headed wide from a corner shortly after Shane McLoughlin's deflected strike missed the target at the other end.

Stanley's strong start was rewarded with a second goal on 15 minutes as Walton's drilled cross was turned into the net by Mooney.

And the home side made it 3-0 as Walton diverted Woods' free-kick beyond County goalkeeper Townsend to leave Newport shell-shocked.

Mooney and Jake Batty had efforts in quick succession before Townsend dived low to keep out a Mooney diving header as the home side continued to dominate in Lancashire.

Newport finally showed signs of life in the latter stages of the opening half as Bobby Kamwa had a shot blocked before Courtney Baker-Richardson headed over from a corner - but they had left themselves with a mountain to climb in the second half after a wretched start.

Just eight minutes after the restart, Accrington went further ahead as O'Brien-Whitmarsh curled beyond Townsend from 25 yards out.

Jardim responded by making four substitutions, with Ciaran Brennan, Kieron Evans, David Ajiboye and Geoffroy Bony all being summoned from the bench.

The contest petered out after the raft of changes as Accrington looked more than comfortable when it came to keeping Newport at bay.

And they scored a fifth 15 minutes from time as Walton teed up Mooney who drilled home his second of the night.

Doolan's men saw out the latter stages to keep a 10th league clean sheet of the season while also claiming back-to-back home league wins for the first time since October.

Accrington Stanley boss John Doolan said:

"Five goals, your three forward lads scoring goals, 3-0 up at half time and a clean sheet.

"I couldn't ask for any more from the lads. They deserve it, they were outstanding from the first minute to the 94th minute.

"We know we've got that in us."

Newport County head coach Nelson Jardim told BBC Sport Wales:

"The two teams started with different levels of desire and aggression and that's the reason we were down 3-0 after 25 minutes.

"When it's like that it's very hard. When you lose 5-0 you don't need to talk too much, the result speaks for itself."