Manager Michael Flynn described Newport County’s defending during their 3-0 League Two defeat at Grimsby Town as ‘shocking, terrible’.
The Mariners even had a penalty saved during the first half, but still earned a convincing win at Blundell Park thanks to a Jordan Cook double plus a late Mickey Demetriou own goal.
It was a team performance well below standards set in the Emirates FA Cup this season and won’t help confidence going into Tuesday’s sell-out fourth round replay against Middlesbrough at Rodney Parade.
“We were excellent over the first 15 minutes,” said Flynn. “I was thinking ‘all right we’ve turned up here.’
“Then, unfortunately, it was weak and wasn’t good enough.
“It was shocking. Terrible defending, didn’t track runners. Lazy defending.
“We put loads of balls into their box and didn’t get on the end of them. The reason was that we were never on the front foot.
“It was the same in both boxes and wasn’t good enough.
“Conditions weren’t that difficult.”
The fixture in Lincolnshire was the second in a run of eight matches in 26 days and Flynn made five changes to his team for the trip to Cleethorpes.
Vashon Neufville came in for his Football League debut and Keanu Marsh-Brown started a first League fixture for the first time since the opening day of the season.
Matty Dolan and David Pipe also stepped up, while Ben Kennedy, one of three new signings on transfer deadline day, started.
The other new boys, Harry McKirdy and Ade Azeez, were not included in the matchday squad.
Padraig Amond, Dan Butler and Mark O’Brien were among the substitutes with Scot Bennett and Robbie Willmott given the afternoon off.
“We made a few changes because we wanted to get some minutes into people’s legs,” said Flynn. “What I put out there was good enough to win the football match.
🗣️ "The reaction was excellent because it would be easy to be disappointed and go negative!"
👏 Michael Jolley praises Town players' response to Wes Thomas' missed penalty in 3-0 @SkyBetLeagueTwo win over @NewportCounty at Blundell Park. #GTFChttps://t.co/mlHV5FErJS
— Grimsby Town F.C. (@officialgtfc) February 2, 2019
“Nick Townsend and Tyreeq Bakinson were excellent along with Regan Poole and Jamille Matt. They were the only four to come out of that with any credit.
“Joss Labadie worked his socks off, Ben Kennedy tried – it was hard for him coming in when we didn’t even train on Friday because the pitches were frozen. But Ben worked hard.
“Ade Azeez and Harry McKirdy needed a few days training with us and we’ll assess them for next weekend [Saturday, February 9, home v Mansfield Town]
“Scot Bennett had a bit of a virus, he should be fine, but I couldn’t risk it spreading throughout the camp, especially when we were travelling on the coach coming up on Friday.
“Robbie Willmott had a bit of a dead leg, so it is what it is.”
Newport went in 1-0 down to a Cook goal after 17 minutes when he dazzled his way past two challenges on the edge of the penalty area, turning inside and burying the ball into the bottom left corner.
Goalkeeper Townsend then saved smartly from a Wes Thomas penalty during first half injury time.
Cook added a second, helped by a big deflection, and then Demetriou turned Martyn Woolford’s cross-shot into his own net when trying to stop it reaching Kristian Dennis at the far post.
That condemned County to their heaviest defeat on the road since suffering defeat to the same scoreline against Mansfield Town on the opening day.
Newport County AFC (4-2-3-1): Townsend, Pipe (capt), Demetriou, Poole, Neufville, Bakinson (Crofts 80), Dolan, Labadie (Sheehan 61), Kennedy, Marsh-Brown (Amond 59), Matt
Subs not used: Day, Butler, Forbes, O’Brien
Grimsby Town (3-4-1-2): Russell, Hall-Johnson (Whitmore 75), Ohman, Collins, Hendrie, Hessenthaler, Embleton (Clifton 64), Woolford, Ring, Cook, Thomas (Dennis 79)
Subs not used: Welsh, Grayson, Cardwell, Vernam
Referee: Anthony Backhouse
Attendance: 3,712 (78 away)