Mansfield Town win at Newport County to extend lead at top of League Two
Mansfield Town eased clear of Stockport and Wrexham at the top of the League Two table thanks to a well-deserved victory at Newport.
George Maris bagged the all-important winning goal just after half-time, but it could, and probably should, have been a wider margin of victory for the impressive visitors.
The Stags created the first opportunity at Rodney Parade as Nigel Clough’s high-fliers went in search of a fifth win in six matches.
Davis Keillor-Dunn curled a decent cross into the Exiles’ box, only for Maris to head over the top.
At the other end Will Evans saw a header blocked following Adam Lewis’s cross into the box.
The Stags went mighty close just before the half-hour mark.
Hiram Boateng slid a measured pass perfectly into the path of Ollie Clarke, but his shot was expertly saved by agile ‘keeper Nick Townsend.
As the interval approached, both sides were cancelling one another out in a tight contest in South Wales.
The hosts missed the final chance of the first half when Bryn Morris’s firm strike was blocked.
The Stags got the second half off to a perfect start when Maris finally broke the deadlock in fine style.
A slick attacking move culminated with Maris drilling home low, first time at the near post, following a smart cross from Baily Cargill.
Incredibly, Maris almost doubled his and Mansfield’s tally barely a minute later when his curling effort was just off target.
With the Stags’ tails now up, Cargill went close when he headed powerful straight at grateful keeper Townsend.
Bang on the 70-minute mark, Keillor-Dunn was denied by another smart stop from Townsend.
Newport’s overworked stopper was then called upon to keep out another firm header from Cargill as the Stags sought to finally kill off their opponents.
Sub Jordan Bowery came closest to notching a late second goal when he poked inches wide at the end of another hugely satisfactory away-day for Clough’s men with keeper Christy Pym not having a shot to save all afternoon.
NEWPORT: Townsend, Baker, Jameson (Zanzala, 62), Clarke (Drysdale, 62), Payne (Bright, 74), Wildig (Jephcott, 74), Bennett, Morris, Lewis, Evans, Palmer-Houlden (Charsley, 62). SUBS NOT USED: Waite, Maxted.
STAGS: Pym, Williams, Flint, Brunt, Cargill, Clarke (Bowery, 61), Reed, Nichols (Akins, 61), Keillor-Dunn (McLaughlin, 84), Maris (Lewis, 71), Boateng (Quinn, 61). SUBS NOT USED: Flinders, Gale.
REFEREE: Adam Herczeg.