Exiles boss frustrated as Sutton hold on for narrow League Two victory

The Exiles slipped the 10th after failing to get anything from their trip to London to take on playoff rivals Sutton United.

County had their chances to win the game and were frustrated by inspired Sutton goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis.

He pulled off a string of fine saves inside the opening 20 minutes to keep Newport at bay.

Mickey Demetrou, James Waite and Matt Dolan were all denied by the on-song stopper.

David Ajiboye was hauled down by Scot Bennett in the penalty box and Milsom made no mistake despite Joe Day going the right way.

Day almost got an assist later on as his long punt was sliced onto the post by a thankful Louis John.

Disappointed Newport boss James Rowberry said: “I thought we’d done enough to win the game, we created enough chances.

“It was just that one moment in the first half (the penalty), which was disappointing.

“They haven’t really threatened our goal – we had double the amount of shots, although we probably need to get more on target than we did.

“So we’ve got to go again, it’s a frustrating day… it was a penalty but I felt we should have had a penalty at the end as well.

“It’s a really frustrating day at the office for us but we can’t dwell on it.

“We have to dust ourselves down and go again.”

Relieved

Matt Gray was relieved after Sutton managed to hang on for a narrow 1-0 League Two victory over play-off rivals Newport.

The U’s returned to the play-off spots after Rob Milsom’s first-half penalty proved enough at Gander Green Lane.

Sutton did not blow away County, but the run-in is purely about getting results, no matter how they come.

After a pleasing third-straight win, Gray said: “I was worried at half-time because there were a lot of tired bodies. I wish I could have made five subs.

“We were hanging on in the second half, it was a struggle.

“We saw the clean sheet and a massive three points in the end.

“It was backs to the wall, but the most important thing was the result and we’ve managed to grind it out.

“I’ve never said we’d get to the play-offs with 75 points, but if we get to 75 we won’t be too far away.

“So that’s the challenge; to put 75 points on the board as quick as possible.

“We’re on 70 with four games to go. They are four tough games.”