THE way opposition players and managers speak about Newport County AFC you’d be forgiven for thinking they were a bunch of thugs and Neanderthals rather than a League Two football team.

Occasionally they may lean more towards the dark arts than the Beautiful Game but the criticism heaped upon them in the past week is both unfair and inaccurate.

After the bad-tempered clash at Kenilworth Road the Luton Town manager Nathan Jones and goalscorer Cameron McGeehan painted County as the natural heirs to Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris-era Chelsea or Don Revie’s ‘dirty’ Leeds United.

Vinnie Jones’ team of violent criminals, including Danny Dyer and Jason Statham, got more respect from the opposition in the cons v screws football movie Mean Machine.

Jones – Nathan, not Vinnie (who was never averse to roughhouse tactics) – slammed the 'antics' of the County players, while McGeehan branded them cheats, adding: "They elbow you off the ball, stamp on your foot – they're big, nasty and they're cheats.

“They're a rough team and they foul a lot. They’re the type of team that give League Two a bad reputation."

This provoked an angry reaction from Exiles boss Warren Feeney and his players who themselves felt justifiably hard done by following the controversial late penalty that handed Luton victory in that game.

The hot air coming out of the Luton camp after the match seemed designed to divert attention away from Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu’s dive that ultimately earned his side three points.

I’ve never played in League Two – and as I turn 35 in a few weeks the call is unlikely to come now – but I’ve watched a lot of matches in English football’s fourth tier.

And I find it hard to believe that Newport County are any more horrible to play against that three quarters of the teams in the division.

It’s a tough league and you need to battle hard just to keep your head above water, especially when you’re a smaller club like County, Morecambe or Mansfield Town competing against big budget clubs like Luton and Portsmouth.

But it seems that mud sticks and Crewe Alexandra manager Steve Davis was hardly full of praise for the Exiles after Saturday’s 1-1 draw.

"Newport didn't disappoint and we knew what to expect,” he said.

“I’m not going to make a fuss about it, it’s part of the game, but I thought there was a lot of diving around.

“It’s a game of football and it’s up to the referee to control that.

"We are notoriously poor over the years at playing against those types of teams who get it from back to front, jump in to you and pick the second balls up.

“It's effective football if you want to play that way.”

Davis even had a go at the pitch and the length of the grass, suggesting skulduggery on County’s part when the truth was that the heavy rain put paid to the usual pre-match trim.

“The pitch was difficult – it was really heavy,” he added. “It was too long for us – we like to zip it about – and maybe that was left like that for a reason.

“Maybe they wanted to slow us down a little bit and it was quite heavy – I was surprised how much surface water was actually underneath it.

“But it was probably the best time for us to come here because in a couple of months it probably won’t be very good.”

Even Crewe’s local paper The Sentinel got in on the act with their match report, which began: “Arriving at Rodney Parade on Saturday afternoon will have made many of the Alex players sit up and take note, a ‘Welcome to League Two’ if ever they needed it.”

Reporter Rich Sharpe continued: “Swirling winds and rain greeted them as they made their way out on to a pitch that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Crewe and District Sunday League.”

Then, stepping it up a gear, he added: “With the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and with a style that football purists would brand pre-historic, Newport went about their work.

“But much like a boxing match, the first half of the fight went the way of the slick, more precise fighter, only to see the closing stages go the way of the physical, more aggressive, awkward southpaw.

“It wasn't pretty, but it was mighty effective, much like striker Jon Parkin who ruffled a few feathers along the way.”

Unfair? I think so. Feeney’s men are no angels and, like 90 per cent of teams at this level, they can be aggressive if they need to be.

Parkin’s presence alone will upset people and, like a lot of their rivals, County do opt to go direct on occasions – probably more than most supporters would want.

But former Arsenal man Mark Randall's presence shows they can play a bit too.

And most of the time these grievances crop up when a fancied side has got less than they feel they deserve against ‘little Newport’ as Feeney said last week.

Being told “I couldn’t watch that rubbish every week” by the Portsmouth media pack after County claim another win at Fratton Park is always one of the highlights of the season.

It seems the Exiles players are counting down the days until Luton visit Rodney Parade in February and they're not th e only ones.

“They were just rubbing it in our faces a little bit but we’ll get the chance to put that right when they come back down here,” said Saturday’s goal hero Sean Rigg, who broke into a broad grin when asked for his reaction to the news that the Hatters had lost in the 96th minute at Stevenage.

“I’m absolutely delighted by that, I’m not going to lie,” he chuckled. “It was the first score I looked for when I came back in and I’m absolutely buzzing.

“I cannot wait for the return game.”

Those are sentiments that will be echoed by the majority of County fans.

Long may the whinging continue if it means the men in amber are punching above their weight.