Coughlan criticises ‘terrible’ Newport after home defeat to Doncaster

Exiles boss Graham Coughlan did not hold back after Doncaster Rovers halted his sides recent improved run of form with a deserved victory.

After recent defeats to Colchester and Walsall, Rovers bounced back at Rodney Parade thanks to a superb solo strike from defender Kyle Knoyle just before the hour mark.

Newport goalkeeper Joe Day denied Harrison Biggins, and George Miller twice either side of half-time, while Tommy Rowe also headed against the bar in the first half.

But once Knoyle lashed the ball high into the net from a tight angle to break the deadlock in the 58th minute, there was only one winner.

“We were terrible,” Coughlan said after the final whistle.

“We are all angry. That performance was not like us, it’s not us and what we have been serving up over recent weeks.

“We had an off day; from the start we gave the ball away and couldn’t get any aspect of our game going.

“You’ve got to give Doncaster credit, they were the better team and probably deserved the victory, but it just looked as if they wanted it more, which is not something that I would expect from our group.”

Desire

Doncaster manager Danny Schofield was delighted with the desire his side showed and believes the win should have been more comfortable.

“It was disappointing to go in at 0-0 – we had three big chances in the first half and then a couple in the second half as well, so I think, overall, the performance deserved the win,” he said.

“When you have back-to-back defeats… it was imperative to put a performance in and go for the victory and thankfully we’ve ended that little losing run.

“The lads have been superb in training. We reflected on what we could improve after the last two games and they took that on board and implemented it, so credit to them.”

“It’s really pleasing to come away from home and restrict them to so few chances,” added Schofield.

“I said to the lads at half-time, ‘what’s going to win us this game is how physical you want to be in the duels; whatever your size, just be really competitive, attack with aggression and then our quality moments will take care of themselves’.”

The hosts, who came into the match looking for a third successive league win after beating Gillingham at home and Crewe on the road, failed to get going on a frustrating afternoon for the home fans.

Aaron Lewis fired into the side netting in the first half and Will Evans headed over from a Mickey Demetriou long throw.

After the break, Evans was denied by Jonathan Mitchell at point-blank range, but Doncaster were worthy winners