NEWPORT County AFC manager Justin Edinburgh admitted that both sides earned a replay after an entertaining FA Cup first round tie at Braintree Town.

The Exiles were poor in a disappointing first half after Chez Isaac opened the scoring for the hosts on nine minutes.

But they improved dramatically after the break and could easily have scored four or five after Tom Naylor's 50th minute header levelled the match.

"Sometimes you have to give the opposition credit and I thought they were very good first half," said Edinburgh.

"They’ve started the season well and they certainly forced us back in the first half.

"We didn’t cope with the conditions in the first half and we were playing in the wrong areas. We weren’t compact enough but we certainly addressed that after the break and the response my players showed second half is what I expect."

Dean Wells cleared off the line from Adam Chapman and Naylor, Zebroski hit the post and Mike Flynn hit the bar before being denied by a brilliant Nik Hamann save late on.

"They weren’t missed chances from us. They were all on target and were cleared off the line or saved brilliantly so credit to Braintree," said Edinburgh.

"It was a tremendous save from Mike Flynn’s header at the end there but if you hit the target you can’t criticize your players.

"We did that but the ‘keeper, the post and the crossbar denied us.

"Braintree will feel they could have been further ahead in the first half but we had the chances to win it as well. It was a very good cup tie and the draw was probably a fair result."