By Alex Bywater
Newport County manager Michael Flynn praised his sides resilience as they maintained their position at the top of League Two with a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Colchester United.
Striker Padraig Amond netted a 91st minute winner for the Exiles as Flynn’s side continued their best ever start to a league campaign.
In a dramatic finish Colchester’s Jevani Brown cancelled out Scott Twine’s opener with just a minute left of normal time and it looked like it would earn the visitors a point.
But Flynn’s side went straight up the other end to grab a winner when Amond converted a goalmouth scramble following a corner.
Flynn said: “I thought we should have scored more goals and then in the last 20 minutes Colchester looked very dangerous.
“They are a side who can hurt you on the day and to be honest they are one of the sides I least like playing against. I have a lot of respect for them, but we should have been out of sight.
“We’ve had over 20 shots and I started to think it wasn’t to be, but it’s a sign of a good team when one player makes a mistake and his team-mate gets him out of it.
“It’s only a start and I’m not getting too carried away. I thought we would see it out at 1-0, but we kept going right till the very end and it was great to see Padraig get the winner.
“We will keep our feet firmly on the ground, but we have got another three points so I’m delighted.”
County went ahead in the 51st minute after dominating a goalless first half.
It was another outrageous strike from Twine, this time from 25 yards after he had struck the crossbar in the first half with a free-kick.
Screamers🤝@Scotttwine10 #OneClubOneCounty pic.twitter.com/6k2rZbnQ6O
— Newport County AFC (@NewportCounty) October 28, 2020
County had defended solidly until Colchester substitute Brown tapped home after Nick Townsend had spilled Kwame Poku’s effort.
But the Exiles weren’t to be beaten and Amond won it after Mickey Demetriou headed down a set-piece from Twine.
Amond had replaced Saikou Janneh who is out for four weeks with a hamstring injury.
Colchester United head coach Steve Ball said: “I’m frustrated to concede a goal like that right at the end of the game.
“We started very poorly but made some changes in the second half and I thought they really worked for us.
“For 20 minutes in the second half I thought we were the better side so it hurts a lot to lose in the 90th minute when you think the job is done and you’ve got a good point.
“We are a good team this year with exciting players and we showed that in the second half. We will pick the players up and I told them we have to do the basics better and pick up from set plays.”
Colchester’s scheduled clash with Scunthorpe on Friday has been postponed after the Iron confirmed they have had a number of positive Covid-19 test results.
“We have a week off now so we’ll have to work hard before our next game,” said Ball.