Nelson Jardim, the head coach of Newport County, was relieved when his team made a significant move to guarantee their place in League Two.
At Rodney Parade, the County manager was happy with a tense 2-1 victory over Morecambe, who were in danger of relegation.
Joe Thomas had given Jardim’s team the lead early on, but with 11 minutes remaining, substitute Gwion Edwards’ goal cancelled it out.
However, three minutes later, David Ajiboye’s calm finish made sure the Exiles won the league twice in a row for the first time in four months.
Knowing how important the outcome may be, Jardim could not contain his joy at the last whistle.
Morecambe is still in 23rd place, three points above safety, while his team climbed ten points ahead of the bottom two.
“They were challenging to deal with, so we knew it would be challenging,” Jardim added.
“It was unfortunate not to score another goal or two after our outstanding first half performance.
“We tried to push in the second half, but you have to give the opposition credit for fighting for their lives.”
“They used long balls, corners, and throw-ins to push us, but we were prepared to handle this style of football.”We performed admirably, and we were fortunate to have a goalie who kept us in the game.
Nick Townsend was the goalie, and he produced a series of outstanding stops to keep Morecambe out, especially when the visitors increased their pressure in the second half.
When 22-year-old Thomas scored his first senior goal in just four league starts, Newport had already seized the lead.
Within the first minute, the former Swansea City youth player had already forced Harry Burgoyne to make a full-stretch save. On the eighth minute, he was the fastest to react to a rebound from Bobby Kamwa’s shot, giving his team the lead.
Desperate for points, Morecambe nearly produced a response before halftime when Hallam Hope’s header struck the underside of the woodwork and Yann Songo’o rocked the bar.
Following the break, the home crowd’s uneasiness was exposed as the visitors took control.
Despite Townsend’s numerous key saves to keep Marcus Dackers out, Morecambe’s perseverance paid off as Edwards bundled the ball home following a wild corner.
But the visitors’ happiness was short-lived as Ajiboye caught Anthony Glennon’s lofted pass and produced a calm finish ahead of Burgoyne to give Newport the lead again and win a valuable victory.
Derek Adams, manager of Morecambe, expressed frustration at his team’s failure to convert their dominance into points.
Adams remarked, “We had complete dominance by ourselves in the second half, but we lost a bad goal in the first half.”
We need to score more goals because I believe there were 25 efforts on goal. They won the game thanks to some incredible saves from their goalie.
“We were the team that deserved to win the match, and we’ve done that in the last two games against Newport,” the statement reads. “The defence was bad for their second goal.
“Neither game should have been lost by us. Despite the fact that we were superior to them in both games, we were unable to put the ball in the net.
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