IT was the end of the road for plucky underdogs Honey G and Ed Balls at the weekend but Newport County are by no means down and out despite a thumping defeat at Blackpool on Saturday.

The Graham Westley revolution has certainly stalled in the past week with the Blackpool battering following a smash and grab raid by Wycombe Wanderers at Rodney Parade last Tuesday.

The Exiles have lost the X Factor they showed to sparkling effect in a seven-match unbeaten run that culminated in a dazzling 3-0 win at Nott County.

And some of the footwork on display at Bloomfield Road was far from fab-u-lous – I’m looking at you Abdoulaye Meite!

But the Exiles were in the game for an hour and had Sean Rigg converted his penalty at 1-1 we may even have been talking about another awesome away win rather than a 4-1 stuffing.

Westley has now been in charge of County for 11 matches in all competitions – the same number as Warren Feeney oversaw this season before he was sacked.

And it’s clear from the statistics that the new manager is on course to preserve the club’s Football League status at the very least.

Feeney’s 11 matches this season produced just one win, three draws and seven defeats.

In League Two the side picked up just six points from nine matches under the Northern Irishman.

That is a meagre 0.66 points per game – a record that, if extrapolated over the 46 matches, would have seen County finish on only 30 points and made relegation a certainty. Westley has five wins, two draws and four defeats from his 11 matches in all competitions.

In the league his record now stands at three wins, one draw and four defeats and with 10 points from eight fixtures that works out as 1.25 points per game.

With that form over 46 games, Westley’s side would earn 57 points and be comfortable in mid-table.

With 28 matches still to play this season, County are on course to earn another 35 points based on their record so far under Westley.

Added to the six earned under Feeney and the one gained by caretaker boss Sean McCarthy at Colchester United that would give them a grand total of 52 come the end of the season in May.

And, looking back over the last five seasons in League Two, 52 points has been more than enough to stay up.

Last season 52 points would have earned a 16th-place finish, in 2015 it would have been 18th, 22nd in 2014 and 2013, and 18th in 2012.

So history tells us that, even though County are currently rock bottom, if they merely maintain the form they have shown so far under Westley they should stay up.

And there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the Exiles will do more than maintain what they’ve managed to achieve so far during Westley’s brief reign.

The two defeats they suffered before embarking on that seven-match unbeaten run were both a little unfortunate.

County lost 1-0 to a late Dan Butler own goal at Yeovil Town in Westley’s first game when perhaps they deserved a point.

And they fought back from 1-0 down with 10 men at home to leaguer leaders Plymouth Argyle before being overrun in the closing stages.

Those were very early days under the new boss and once his enhanced training regime and new methods began to take effect the Exiles really began to show what they are capable of with superb victories at Accrington Stanley and Notts County and a cracking 2-0 home win over high-flying Carlisle United.

That run of impressive results and excellent performances got everyone excited – me included – but it was probably inevitable that there would be a tailing off with up to nine players unavailable during a hectic schedule.

Even so, Westley’s men deserved at least a point against Wycombe and they played some good stuff at Blackpool before it all went wrong in the final 30 minutes.

With Scot Bennett, Jamie Turley, Joss Labadie, Jon Parkin, Reece Grego-Cox and, at some point, Lenell John-Lewis to come back from injury you don’t have to be an eternal optimist to believe that the team should improve over the coming months.

After promising starts new signings Jack Jebb and Josh O’Hanlon should also offer more once they reach full fitness and are fully integrated into the side.

And things can only get better for fellow new arrival Meite after a less than impressive debut off the bench on Saturday.

South Wales Argus:

Westley will undoubtedly look to move a few players on in January to make room for more new additions and if he can keep hold of loan stars Josh Sheehan and Rhys Healey (above) as well it’s hard to see this team being relegated.