NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn praised his side’s fighting spirit after they fought back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 but he felt the Exiles deserved to win their League Two opener at Stevenage.

A defensive mix-up between Scot Bennett and goalkeeper Joe Day saw Tom Pett put the hosts ahead in the 11th minute.

Frank Nouble made it 1-1 levelled 10 minutes into the second half before Bennett brought down Luke Wilkinson in the box and Dale Gorman restored Stevenage’s lead from the spot just after the hour.

Danny Newton’s close range volley on 72 minutes made it 3-1 to Darren Sarll’s men and the Exiles appeared to be heading to defeat despite a positive performance.

But defender Mickey Demetriou kept up his remarkable goal scoring form as he picked out the top corner with a spectacular shot 13 minutes from time.

And substitute Shawn McCoulsky completed the comeback in the fourth minute of time added on as he stabbed home from close range on his Football League debut.

“I’m very disappointed we haven’t got all three points,” said Flynn after the match.

"That was two points dropped, if I'm honest.

“I thought we were by far the better team after a slow start.

“We gifted them two goals. I’m not pointing the finger because we’re all in it together but if you score three away from home and they only have three or four shots on target then you deserve to win the game.

“We were the most threatening team going forward,” he added.

“They played some good stuff in the early stages but they didn’t cause us many problems.

“We caused our own problems. Even their third goal was lucky – it was a fortunate ricochet – but to be fair to the lad he did finish well.”

But Flynn was pleased by the spirit his players showed and their refusal to be beaten.

“The boys showed their fighting spirit to nick a draw when it looked like we were going to lose the game,” he said.

“It’s a massive positive. We were 3-1 down with 15 minutes to go and we’ve drawn 3-3 so I’m proud of the players.

“They kept fighting and we scored some great goals.

“They always believed we’d get back into it. We’ve got a great group of lads and we were the better team by far today.”