Christian Fuchs ‘proud’ of Newport players after dramatic win over Oldham

Newport manager Christian Fuchs praised his players’ resilience after what he described as the most dramatic match of his career in beating 10-man Oldham 3-2.

Bobby Kamwa, who had put the hosts ahead with a sublime curler into the top corner in the ninth minute, stroked in the winner in the 18th minute of time added on – three minutes after missing from the spot.

It means their fight for League Two survival will go to the final day – when they travel to bottom side Barrow – and with fate in their own hands.

Fuchs said: “I’ve been at several dramatic games, but that’s probably all the way on top of the list just because of how the game finished.

“It was a rollercoaster with lots of ups and downs, but at the end of the day we walk away with three points and that is crucial.

“It was a big fight against 10 men with lots of setbacks, but I’m very proud of the players.

“We kept believing, even after we missed the penalty, and to still get the chance and for Bobby to stay cool and slot it in was incredible.

“Big compliment to my players for relentlessly pushing forward and believing in us turning the game around.

“It’s an incredible moment, but we still have work to do, Nobody is still safe. Barrow can still stay up and we still need to go there and put the work in.”

Mid-table Oldham led 2-1 at the break as Will Sutton headed in from close range on 29 minutes and Dynel Simeu lashed in a second six minutes later.

Difficult

The visitors’ momentum was halted, however, by a straight red card shown to striker Mike Fondop for leaving Lee Jenkins with a bloody neck after a grappling session seven minutes before the break.

County levelled through Ben Lloyd just a minute into the second half, and kept pushing for the winner with Kamwa seemingly blowing their chance when his penalty was saved by Tom Donaghy before making amends in stunning fashion.

Oldham manager Micky Mellon felt Fondop’s red card was the turning point.

He said: “The sending off killed it. It made it very difficult for us with the amount of time we had to play with 10 men.

“I thought at best that Michael Fondop was clumsy. I thought he went for the ball. I don’t think he had any intention to hurt the lad.

“We still gave away poor goals, two really poor goals, but we’ll fix it. We’ve got one game to go now and then we’ve got a big summer ahead of us.”