NEWPORT County AFC slipped to another defeat as Barnet boosted their slim survival hopes with a well-deserved victory at The Hive.

County were unchanged after an impressive performance against Swindon Town last week but they failed to reproduce that form in a desperately disappointing display.

Barnet were in dire need of three points as they battle to beat the drop and they tore into their visitors from the start.

Martin Allen’s men were ahead by the 10th minute when Shaquile Coulthirst fired in from close range after a throughball from Simeon Akinola.

There was almost an instant response from the Exiles as Matty Dolan headed against the bar from a corner but otherwise it was all Barnet before the break.

Dan Butler cleared a Richard Brindley effort off the line before testing Joe Day with a free-kick that was curling towards the bottom corner from 25 yards.

Brindley saw another free-kick deflected into Day’s hand and Coulthirst’s goal-bound effort was blocked and the Bees nearly doubled their advantage in stoppage time.

John Akinde took advantage of Day’s hesitation to head past the Exiles stopper but Ben White raced back to hook the ball to safety.

South Wales Argus:

Flynn felt his side should have had a penalty when Padraig Amond went down in the box but he was clearly unhappy with the first-half display, making a double change at the restart.

Paul Hayes and Frank Nouble replaced Ben Tozer and Aaron Collins as Scot Bennett moved into midfield.

Akinde forced another fine save from Day as the second half began in the same vein as the first.

Flynn’s team slowly began to work their way back into the match with Hayes and Nouble offering much more support to Amond, who had the ball in the net just before the hour mark only to be denied by the offside flag.

But they didn’t force home goalkeeper Craig Ross into a meaningful save and it was no surprise when Barnet wrapped up all three points eight minutes from time thanks to a towering header from defender Ricardo Santos.

County: Day; White, Bennett (Jahraldo-Martin, 78), Demetriou; Pipe, Dolan, Tozer (Nouble, 46), Butler; Willmott; Collins (Hayes, 46), Amond

Subs not used: Bittner, Reid, O’Brien, Sheehan

Referee: Robert Lewis

Attendance: 1,816 (240 County)

Argus star man: Day