Exiles put on a Jolley good show (From South Wales Argus)

Exiles put on a Jolley good show

8:40am Monday 4th March 2013 in Newport County By Andrew Penman

AFTER seeing off Hyde, Newport County AFC seek a fifth successive league win in front of more than a thousand travelling fans at local rivals Hereford United tomorrow.

Christian Jolley’s perfectly judged lob was enough to seal all three points on Saturday and move County to within three points of top spot in the Blue Square Bet Premier.

The Exiles haven’t won five in a row since their 2-0 home victory over the Bulls in August, and midfielder Lee Minshull is hoping history repeats itself tomorrow night.

“It’s a big game and I’m looking forward to it because I didn’t play in the home game and I’ve never played at Hereford,” said Minshull. “I was in the crowd at Rodney Parade in August and I felt like a fan that night.

“The two goals we scored were incredible and the atmosphere was amazing.

“With a lot of our fans heading to Edgar Street it’s going to be jumping again.

“We really travel well,” he added. “Sometimes it’s almost like a home game with the number of our fans coming away with us and the players really appreciate that.”

Minshull was pleased to have claimed another three points at Hyde, even if the game wasn’t pretty to watch.

“You need a few ugly 1-0 wins at this stage of the season and we haven’t had that so far so it was pleasing,” he said.

“It wasn’t a great game but the best thing about it was the result. I don’t think they really looked like hurting us that much and we’re pleased with another clean sheet.”

Manager Justin Edinburgh was also delighted with his team’s display.

“It was a scrappy game and it took a moment of magic from Christian Jolley to win it,” said the Exiles boss. “He and Danny Crow are striking up a good partnership up front.

“But what pleased me most was the clean sheet. We haven’t had too many wins like that this season and it’s great to be able to do that at a crucial part of the season.

“We haven’t won four in a row since the start of the season and the only time we won 1-0 was against Ebbsfleet (in October) so as a group we took great pride in the clean sheet.”

After tomorrow’s short trip to Hereford, County are at Ebbsfleet on Saturday before travelling to Hartlepool to take on Gateshead a week tonight.

“These next three games will be a crucial period for us,” said Edinburgh.

“It’s hectic but it’s about recovery in between games and I’ve said already that I feel I’ve got the squad to cope and get the results we want.

“What we want to look at is our own results.

“If we win all our games in hand no one can stop us going top of the league.”

Top scorer Aaron O’Connor joined in the warm-up on Saturday and is expected to be back in full training this morning. Tomorrow’s match comes too soon for him but he could play some part at Ebbsfleet.