Kai Whitmore and Liam Shephard earn Newport win at Crawley

Two second-half goals in the space of three minutes from Kai Whitmore and Liam Shephard gave Newport a 2-1 win at Crawley in League Two.

The hosts were guilty of missing some good opportunities before Whitmore struck and Shephard’s header sealed the Exiles’ first away league win since February.

Crawley’s Ade Adeyemo was thwarted by Newport goalkeeper Nick Tzanev twice in the first half.

And home keeper Harvey Davies, on a season loan from Liverpool, came to his side’s rescue shortly before the interval by parrying a goal-bound shot from Whitmore from the edge of the area.

Adeyemo forced keeper Tzanev to parry his header shortly after the break after Gavan Holohan had seen a deflected shot go wide.

Striker Kabongo Tshimanga should have put Crawley ahead but wastefully shot over the bar from close range from Holohan’s downward header.

And Newport went ahead ahead in the 68th minute when Whitmore ran on to a pass from Matt Smith and coolly rounded Davies.

Defender Shephard, back in his second spell with the club, doubled the advantage four minutes later with a close-range header.

Crawley substitute Max Anderson scored a consolation six minutes into added time.