NEWPORT County AFC caretaker manager Michael Flynn was proud of the way his side pushed promotion-chasing Portsmouth all the way at Fratton Park.

Pompey led 2-0 through Kyle Bennett and Kal Naismith and looked to be heading for a comfortable win.

But Alex Samuel gave the Exiles hope with a close range header from Sean Rigg’s cross 15 minutes from time.

And the visitors almost forced a draw with Samuel and substitute Marlon Jackson going close to grabbing an equalizer.

Flynn also felt Samuel should have been awarded a penalty in the first half but, after giving away two sloppy goals, he was pleased with the way his players finished the match.

“Let’s be honest, we didn’t start playing until we went 2-0 down,” he said.

“We had a clear-cut penalty that we should have had in the first half.

“They boys were convinced it was a penalty and when you come to places like Fratton Park you need that bit of luck.

“I was disappointed with the goals we conceded but again the effort was there from the lads and we finished strong.

“I think if there was another five or 10 minutes in the game we would have got the draw.

“I thought we had three big chances at the end and we should have taken one of them but the boys kept going and they were outstanding in the end.”

Defeat leaves County still trailing 22nd-placed Cheltenham Town by six points with seven games to play but Flynn believes the way they tore into Paul Cook’s Portsmouth team in the closing stages shows they can still get out of trouble.

“This is a very good Portsmouth team and I’m certain they’ll go up this season,” he added.

“But Cookie was full of compliments. He thought we’d given them a right scare and he couldn’t wait for the final whistle at the end of the game.

“The boys did themselves proud, they kept going and that’s all I can ask of them.

“It’s a difficult position that we’re in but they are fighting and we’ll carry on fighting.”