Exiles 'suffered' once again but battling qualities shone throgh

Yahoo

2 days ago

NEWPORT County AFC started their League Two campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Notts County on Saturday on a day when the football was overshadowed by a concerning medical emergency before kick-off.
Once play did get under way an hour late, the visitors dominated the first half, but the Exiles held on and broke the deadlock against the run of play when Ged Garner headed in four minutes after the restart.
The Magpies earned a point thanks to Jodi Jones' superbly struck penalty on 65 minutes before Michael Reindorf rattled the post soon afterwards.
David Hughes' men now have a clear week to prepare for their trip to Crawley Town this coming Saturday and, despite being happy with the point, the manager knows there is still plenty to work on...
Under the cosh
Notts County hit the bar after 10 minutes and the visitors could easily have been out of sight by half-time, so it's easy to see why Hughes and most fans were reasonably satisfied with the end result after a much-improved second-half showing.
The Exiles have certainly shown their battling qualities in the first two competitive matches of the season - they have faced a worrying 35 shots combined against Barnet [in the Carabao Cup preliminary round last Tuesday] and Notts and they had just 31 per cent possession on Saturday, compared to 23 per cent at The Hive Stadium.
On the plus side, they have conceded just three times - thanks to some heroic defending from Lee Jenkins and James Clarke in particular, some poor finishing and the general excellence of new goalkeeper Nik Tzanev.
Hughes would argue that it has been a team effort and the two games so far have highlighted his players' willingness to dig in and work for each other when things are not going their way.
After Barnet, the manager admitted his side had "suffered" and that was something he prepared them for in pre-season with a trip to former Commonewealth super-bantamweight champion Jamie Arthur's gym in Rhydyfelin.
'It was almost like a mental toughness, conditioning session,' Hughes told The Guardian. 'It was just to try and take the group somewhere else...where you think about the skillset you need to be a boxer, they definitely suffer to win. And all we're trying to do is have a culture where we understand and appreciate that winning looks different at times. To win games of football, at times you've got to suffer.'
Speaking after Saturday's match, he praised the players' attitude: "We have provided a platform in these first two games to what needs to underpin our performances moving forward.
"The first pillar underpinning performance, for me, is a willingness to work tirelessly for your team and I think the reaction of the supporters afterwards tells you their feelings on the performance.
"They were really positive about the level of energy and intent the players showed. And that's the base level. What we have to do is add layers on top of that in key areas, but we're really pleased.
"There are areas we want to work on, but I think the lads should be immensely proud of themselves."
(Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)Strikers scoring
After suffering in the first half, Garner surprised most people inside Rodney Parade - possibly even himself and definitely the visiting defence - by ghosting into the area to nod in from Jenkins' long throw into the box from close range.
It was nowhere near as spectacular as Reindorf's rocket against Barnet, but it was just as welcome and it's a big positive that both new strikers have now found the net in their first competitive starts - especially after Garner's penalty miss in the shootout last week.
"From a confidence perspective, centre forwards will always judge themselves on goals and we're trying to get them into areas on the pitch [where they can threaten] and support them in key areas," explained Hughes.
"They come in different areas. I 'm sure Ged didn't think he'd be heading in a long throw from Lee, but they're really important.
To win games of football, you've got to find different ways of scoring a goal and we did that. We were a threat from set-plays."
(Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)Harsh penalty
It looked a questionable decision at the time and, looking at the replays of the penalty incident, it appears as if the Exiles were hard done by when referee Peter Wright pointed to the spot following an innocuous-looking tangle between Matt Baker and Matt Dennis that started well outside the area.
The referee could easily have given a free-kick the other way but, to his credit, Hughes didn't take the opportunity to moan about the officials as some of his predecessors loved to do with tiresome regularty.
"If it was given for you, would you be disappointed? Probably not," he reflected. "It's a coming together; Matt's backing away, the centre forward is backing in, one loses balance. Who knows? It's such a contentious decision and it's gone against us. But, let's focus on the positives. I thought, to a man, everybody was outstanding."
The manager instead chose to vent his anger at the EFL over the scheduling of last week's cup tie and he will be pleased to have no Tuesday fixture this week.
"It's a really good start, but it is only a start," he added. "Let's not get too high when we've had a good performance. We have to follow this up with a really good week's work and another good performance at Crawley next Saturday."