Ebbsfleet 1 County 1

6:44pm Saturday 9th March 2013 in Sport

GOAL HERO: Newport County AFC midfielder Lee Minshull GOAL HERO: Newport County AFC midfielder Lee Minshull

NEWPORT County AFC missed the chance to seal a sixth successive win in the Blue Square Bet Premier after Andy Sandell saw his stoppage-time penalty saved at Ebbsfleet United.

Goalkeeper Preston Edwards rescued a point for the relegation-threatened hosts after Robbie Willmott was sent tumbling in the area under Phil Walsh's challenge.

Lee Minshull had headed in Scott Donnelly's cross to put County ahead just before half-time but Liam Enver-Marum equalised for Ebbsfleet ten minutes after the break.

The draw leaves the Exiles two points off the top of the table with two games in hand over leaders Wrexham, who were beaten 2-1 at Dartford.

They are next in action against Gateshead in Hartlepool on Monday night (kick-off 7.45pm).

Manager Justin Edinburgh said: "Obviously we're disappointed with missing a penalty but probably on reflection of the game a draw was the right result.

"If you look at the bigger picture that's three away games on the spin, we've taken seven points and if you'd said beforehand would we have accepted that we probably would have.

"It was heavy out there, it was not conducive to play football on and I think a lot was taken out of us Tuesday night with the atmosphere and the emotion of the whole game."

Comments(11)

COUNTYVOICE says...
6:49pm Sat 9 Mar 13

good point county, GRRRR about missing the penalty, but thats football,

minshull a star man again and with WREXHAM losing the top 3 are on 68 points but county do have games in hand on them.

but be weary of GATESHEAD county they are starting to win at home and away again, so could be a threat.

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richie55 says...
9:26pm Sat 9 Mar 13

Sorry but this is NOT promotion form. Best get used to not being in the football league!

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richie55 says...
9:27pm Sat 9 Mar 13

Sorry but this is NOT promotion form. Best get used to not being in the football league!

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NakedDancer says...
9:46pm Sat 9 Mar 13

Aaaaaaarrgghhhh. Ok it was a dour game but County need to be more clinical to win the league. Got out of jail v Hereford after 3 gifted pens and missed a golden opportunity in this one to put pressure on the other top teams. Feel sorry for Sandell but points are all that counts now. Heads up for Gateshead - a win takes County top then the pressure will be on the other teams to keep up. Come on boys - you can do it !

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ncfcr says...
2:37am Sun 10 Mar 13

richie55 wrote:
Sorry but this is NOT promotion form. Best get used to not being in the football league!
5 wins out of 6 not promotion form? Before today, 5 consecutive away wins? I'm as pessimistic as they come, but if you don't think that's promotion form I give up!

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COUNTYVOICE says...
3:12am Sun 10 Mar 13

i agree. i know its frustrating to have a draw snatched from the jaws of victory but thats football, thats why we love the game so much.

forget it and move onto the next challenge......GATES
HEAD

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Adrian Williams says...
8:59am Sun 10 Mar 13

Win tomorrow night and we go top - that is all

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jetspotter says...
10:39am Sun 10 Mar 13

That missed penalty could prove costly come the end of season !! Oh well as C.V. says 'that's football'. I'd have settled for 5 from six at the beginning of the current run so no reason to complain especially with the leaders going down so conveniently. We've still got every chance from what I can see.

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COUNTYVOICE says...
12:14pm Sun 10 Mar 13

my main concern is what the effect of CROWE being out for another month may have.

he seems to be catalyst behind the play, in the two spells he has played (the first 17 games , and the last 6, county have kept on winning.)

who can now step into the breach?

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michaelgdn says...
1:07pm Sun 10 Mar 13

The County hav two massive problems (1) They have no reliable penalty takers and if in the playoffs any match relies upon penalties then County will ndoubtedly lose on present form.
Practice, practice and still more practice must be on the agenda.

(2)The goal differential betweenCounty and other promotion contenders seems at this moment like a mountain that cannot be overcome, so any points lost from now on, may well be regretted from missed penalties.

Otherwise, well done County, you are making my life worth living for days after each recent match

Michael G.

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exrisca says...
4:04pm Sun 10 Mar 13

I remember 1973 when we failed to go up on goal average as it was then. We missed several penalties that season which cost us dearly.

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