Nelson Jardim relieved as Newport County manage to hold off Accrington

Nelson Jardim admitted his Newport County side rode their luck before easing to a 3-1 win after a strong second-half display against Accrington Stanley at Rodney Parade.

County led 1-0 in the 12th minute when Shane McLoughlin’s shot deflected in off defender Seb Quirk, but the visitors were deservedly level seven minutes before the break when Shaun Whalley fired past Nick Townsend in the Exiles goal.

Tyler Walton then hit the post and Townsend tipped over a fierce effort from Donald Love as the visitors ended the first half on top.

However, Courtney Baker-Richardson restored the hosts’ lead with a penalty in the 52nd minute after Love fouled Bobby Kamwa and captain Aaron Wildig hooked in the third after 63 minutes.

“I’m very pleased,” said Jardim, whose side now have two wins from two at home.

“Winning home games is important in this league and the performance was, I would say, enough for that.

“But, credit to Accrington, they are a good team. They made it very difficult for us and I think this is a win for the staff that I have got working with me, they’ve been brilliant. And for the players, they deserve the credit.”

Not that it was entirely comfortable viewing for the Portuguese head coach, particularly before half-time.

“They caused us a couple of problems that we were probably not expecting, due to their quality, but I think we improved in the second half. We had to dig in and work very hard to win,” said Jardim.

“We have to improve. We didn’t do as well as we wanted in the first half and they made it very difficult.

“Full credit to the opposition. I thought they created too many chances but we were ruthless. If we create five or six chances, we manage to score three. But we know not every game is going be like that.”

Jimmy Knowles hit the bar with a free-kick and Farrend Rawson headed inches wide for Stanley after the break.

Manager John Doolan felt his side were unfortunate.

“The players are a little bit down,” he said. “We didn’t have that little bit of luck but you make your own luck and that will come.

“We have got some really good players, the squad is getting stronger and what we’re seeing on the pitch and in training is encouraging, certainly going forward.

“The centre-back partnership will get better over time. It is growing and I thought we did really well in the first half.

“We dealt with the threats that they posed and we had chance after chance, but you have to take them and we didn’t. They did and that’s football, isn’t it?”