AT LAST the sun shone on Rodney Parade and at last Newport County AFC earned a home win to lift some of the doom and gloom around the club.

It’s been a tough few months for Michael Flynn and his players since the extraordinary high of their FA Cup clashes with Tottenham Hotspur.

Points have been squandered and play-off hopes have faded away and there has been plenty of frustration for the County management, players and fans.

One win won’t change everything but there was a real sense of relief and a lift in the mood around the ground as the final whistle sounded on Saturday.

South Wales Argus:

Nobody could question the effort that the Exiles players put in and they fully deserved the victory against promotion hopefuls Swindon Town.

First-half goals from Padraig Amond – breaking his 11-game scoring drought with a sublime touch and volley over the goalkeeper – and Ben Tozer put Flynn’s men in charge.

There was a slight wobble after the break as Swindon subs Dolan McDermott and Phil Mullin made a difference.

The former hit the bar before creating a goal for the latter and the fightback was briefly on before they were reduced to 10 men.

Former St Joseph’s High School pupil Rollin Menayese (below) endured a miserable return to Newport as he picked up two bookings within the first 20 minutes of the second half and with him went the Robins’ hopes.

South Wales Argus:

The visitors still threatened Joe Day’s goal but County could and should have made things a lot more comfortable as substitute Frank Nouble wasted a good opportunity and Tozer hit the post from 50 yards with the goal gaping.

For the most part, County made Swindon look very ordinary and manager Phil Brown was far from happy with his side.

“I was disgusted with our performance in the first half and I went over to our fans at the end of the game to apologise to every single one of them,” said the former Premier League boss, who was confronted by visiting fans after the match.

“We seem to have a problem against physical sides, as soon as we come up against them we show no strength of character as a collective.

“Ability can get you a long way in football, but attitude and desire takes you further and I’ve had the players in the changing room for 45 minutes to tell them that. It could have been three hours.”

South Wales Argus:

County showed plenty of ability and desire and Flynn revealed afterwards that he has set his team the target of beating the club’s best finish since returning to the Football League in 2013.

“On the whole it was a very good performance and it was a very important win for a great group of players who have given their all this season for this football club,” he said.

“But I’m not getting carried away. We’ve got a tough game now at Barnet and then Accrington at home so they’re coming thick and fast.

“I can’t wait for this season to be out of the way but I want us to finish with the record points since we came back into the league – that’s what I’m hoping for.”

The target to beat is the 65 points achieved under Justin Edinburgh and Jimmy Dack in 2014-2015 – Flynn’s last full season as a player for the club.

To top that it would require three wins from their final five games and if they perform as they did on Saturday that is certainly achievable.

County: Day; White, Bennett, Demetriou; Pipe (Reid, 82), Dolan, Tozer, Butler; Willmott; Amond, Collins (Nouble, 64)

Subs not used: Bittner, Foulston, Jahraldo-Martin, Sheehan, Touray

Referee: Charles Breakspear

Attendance: 3,911