A STUNNING strike from Max Porter with eight minutes remaining earned Newport a shock point at promotion chasers Chesterfield.

The Exiles dominated the first half without reward and appeared to be heading for defeat after Jimmy Ryan's fine chip.

But Porter's splendid leveler earned Newport a share of the spoils and surely banishes any lingering fears of a relegation battle.

Reaction from manager Justin Edinburgh is below.

“It was a spirited display, we showed good character after they scored what looked like a fortunate first goal which I am not sure he meant,” Edinburgh said.

“But once we got through that spell, I felt we could get something out of the game.

“We were comfortable at times, started the game well and young Shaun Jeffers came into the side and caused them problems.

“We had opportunities and looked imposing, we’d been comfortable at the back and at half time I was very pleased with the efforts.

“But they came back at us and to concede as quickly as we did in the second half really put us on the back foot.

“Like I say, Chesterfield will kick themselves they didn’t take their chances when they were 1-0 up.

“The third time they went through, one of my coaches, Wayne Hatswell turned to me and said ‘that might cost them’ and it turned out exactly like that.

“I am thrilled for Max Porter scoring, he has worked tremendously hard despite a lot of setbacks throughout this and last season and he’s come up with a really crucial goal for us.

“It’s been a tough time for Max, a real complex injury and he’s been pushed from pillar to post. But he’s a good pro and it’s a good little present for him.

“We’ve come to a title chasing side and got a point, we’ve earned four points against Chesterfield this season and it shows what we are capable of.

“They’ve had a consistent second half to the season and we haven’t, but if we play like we did against Chesterfield I think we are looking at a good decent top half finish.

“Our last seven or eight performances have been better albeit without the results, but we’ve given ourselves a platform to build on.”