Nelson Jardim praises Newport for ‘winning ugly’ in victory over Barrow

Newport head coach Nelson Jardim praised his side for “winning ugly” as they boosted their League Two survival hopes with a 1-0 home success over fellow strugglers Barrow.
Former County loanee Kyle Cameron headed into his own net in the 70th minute to gift Jardim’s men a vital victory – only their second in 14 league games.
The three points lifts the Exiles to 19th place in the table, seven points above the bottom two and only a point behind Barrow in 18th.
“It was definitely not our best performance, but sometimes you have to win ugly with fighting spirit,” said Jardim.
“It was a good win for everyone at the club, especially for the players after the effort they have been putting in.
“Some of them have been playing with niggles and problems.
“It was only this morning that we decided to give Kai (Whitmore) 45 to 60 minutes, that’s why he came off.
“Kieron Evans has been struggling as well so played 25 minutes and then came off injured.
“We had to deal with that, but the home win was important and is a massive boost to everyone.”
After an uneventful first hour, Jardim made a triple change and two of the substitutes combined as his side finally achieved the breakthrough in fortuitous fashion in the 70th minute.
Cameron Antwi curled a tempting ball into the box which Barrow defender Cameron felt compelled to intercept, but he could only head into his own net under pressure from Courtney Baker-Richardson, completely wrong footing goalkeeper Paul Farman.
Substitute Elliot Newby fired wide for the visitors late on and fellow replacement Connor Mahoney was denied by Nick Townsend in stoppage time as County held on.
“The fact that we didn’t concede was through having leadership in the side,” added Jardim.
“We played Shane (McLoughlin) in the middle and he was player of the match – we are utilising every resource we have.”
Barrow have now failed to win in 11 league games on the road and new manager Andy Whing felt his side threw away three points.
“It’s really frustrating and disappointing,” he said. “We had 15 shots to their three.
“That shows where we’re at. We had chances and we should have won the game, but we just seem a bit fragile at the minute, really soft, and we’re making mistakes.
“That can’t keep happening. We’ve been brutally honest in the changing room – we’re way too soft.
“We played the better football and we worked hard, but I don’t see that grit and desire that takes you to that next level that we want to get to. I’ve learned a lot from that game in terms of where we’re at.”
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