COUNTY 2 STEVENAGE 0

WHAT was Aaron O’Connor thinking?

You’re 2-0 up in stoppage time, you’ve scored your eighth goal of the season and then you get yourself sent-off for the most needless, petulant challenge imaginable.

Everything was going to plan for Newport County AFC until the striker’s moment of madness.

His wild swipe at Stevenage defender Dean Wells in the 92nd minute really put a dampener on a routine win against limited opposition.

Justin Edinburgh was rightly furious – but his anger was directed at the referee Brendan Malone rather than at his star striker.

The Exiles boss is determined to appeal the decision but it seems unlikely that it will be overturned and O’Connor looks set to miss out on the trip to his former club Luton Town next Saturday.

He’ll also be out of the Boxing Day clash with Plymouth Argyle and the match at Cheltenham Town on December 28.

All for a rash challenge that just didn’t need to be made with the clock ticking down and County comfortably seeing out the game.

It’s even more frustrating because O’Connor is in the middle of the kind of purple patch that put his side on course for promotion to League Two in the 2012/2013 season.

After last year’s injury nightmare O’Connor is on fire at the moment with six goals in his last five games and he’ll be sorely missed over the hectic festive fixture list.

Shaun Jeffers rightly received a standing ovation when he was replaced six minutes from time after an encouraging display up front but he doesn’t currently offer the goal threat of his strike partner on Saturday.

Chris Zebroski will be back from his suspension next week but the goals seem to have dried up a little for him as well and it is asking a bit much for Rene Howe to lead the line so soon after recovering from a serious injury.

Unless the red is downgraded to a yellow it could prove to be a very costly moment for a side that is on a great run.

The positive news, however, is that this set of players seem to thrive in adversity.

Jeffers, Zebroski, Howe and maybe Danny Crow and Christian Jolley will have to step up to the plate and provide the goals to keep the play-off push going over the next fortnight.

The three points picked up against Stevenage lifts Edinburgh’s men to sixth in the League Two table as they extended their unbeaten league run to nine games.

After opening the campaign with three straight defeats County have now lost just once in 17 league matches and they are visibly growing in confidence and belief with every 90 minutes right now.

This third win on the bounce means the automatic promotion spots are only three points away and you sense that this side is a whole lot more resilient than the one that let things slip in the second half of last season.

That was clear as they matched Graham Westley’s bruisers all over the park and refused to be bullied.

After young goalkeeper Jamie Stephens survived an early barrage of crosses, County settled well and quickly got on top.

O’Connor opened the scoring on 26 minutes after Lee Minshull had flicked on a long throw from Ryan Jackson and the striker got to it ahead of Wells to nod past Chris Day.

The crucial second arrived in the third minute of time added on at the end of the first half.

Central defender Darren Jones arrived late for a free-kick and when the ball broke kindly he slotted home like a 30-goal-a-season man while the visitors appealed in vain for offside.

And, a worrying injury to Andrew Hughes aside, that was that in terms of drama or excitement until the sting in the tail on a day of mixed emotions at Rodney Parade.

County: Stephens, Jackson, Yakubu, Jones, Hughes (Obeng, 61), Sandell; Porter, Minshull, Klukowski, O’Connor, Jeffers (Byrne, 84)

Subs not used: Pidgeley, Chapman, Howe, Poole, Crow

Red card: O’Connor

Stevenage: Day, Henry, Dembele, Wells, Okimo, Whelpdale (Adams, 79), Walton (Jebb, 70), McAllister, Lee, Beardsley (Brunt, 71), Barnard

Subs not used: Beasant, Bond, Pett, Parrett

Booked: Barnard

Referee: Brendan Malone

Attendance: 2,976