AFTER eight months Newport County AFC finally tasted victory at Rodney Parade and booked their place in round two of the FA Cup.

County had not won at home since a 1-0 triumph over Luton Town on March 17.

Two managers have departed since then but new boss John Sheridan put an end to the unwanted record in his fourth attempt as his side eventually proved too strong for Brackley Town.

A first-minute goal from Lenell John-Lewis and a Yan Klukowski free-kick gave the Exiles control early on and they survived a mid-game wobble to beat the Conference North outfit 4-1 and book a second-round trip to Barnet.

Sheridan’s men opened the scoring with their very first attack as Joe Day's punt held up in the strong wind and Brackley defender Luke Graham made a mess of a header back to his goalkeeper.

The visiting skipper had profited from Day’s error in wild conditions to score in the first game between these two sides nine days previously.

But this time fortune did not favour him as his header went beyond ‘keeper Sam Hornby and John-Lewis did superbly to latch onto the ball in a flash and guide it in from an acute angle on the right of the six-yard box.

That took the former Grimsby Town man ahead of own goals in the County scoring charts with four so far this season – one behind Scott Boden.

The hosts started as if determined to get the job done as quickly as possible, get back in the warm and batten down the hatches.

Boden, recalled in place of Zak Ansah, was buzzing about in menacing fashion and Alex Rodman showed some nice touches, even if one chipped cross stopped dead in mid-air and came back to him in the gale.

John-Lewis almost volleyed in at the far post and, after 17 minutes, it was 2-0 thanks to a beauty of a free-kick by Klukowski.

An injury to a Brackley player meant he had plenty of time to decide what he was going to do and he picked his spot perfectly, curling the ball into the top corner to give Hornby no chance.

Just like in the original tie at St James Park, County were in charge.

But once again they let complacency, or at the very least sloppiness, creep into their play at the back and handed Brackley a way back into the tie.

Scot Bennett did well to clear one cross from Aidan Hawtin after Medy Elito and Barnum-Bobb had been caught out on the left.

But the Exiles didn’t heed that warning and the goal came from the other side six minutes before the interval.

Former County man Curtis McDonald, who headed in the 95th-minute leveller in the first game, played in James Akintunde who beat Mark Byrne and picked out Hawtin in the middle.

The defender, on loan from Oxford United, was unmarked and drilled his shot low and hard past Day and a defender on the line to put the cup tie in the balance once again.

After a few choice words from the manager County set about restoring their two-goal cushion with Boden and John-Lewis linking well.

Rodman saw one shot blocked on its way to the bottom corner of the net and his second found the top corner of the temporary stand.

But he found his range with his third effort, stroing home from a Medy Elito pass with a classy finish on 63 minutes.

And home fans could finally relax when substitute Tom Owen-Evans whipped in a cross from the right and Hawtin diverted it into his own net to settle the tie on 71 minutes, taking own goals level with John-Lewis once again.

Other than savouring a rare home win and beginning plans for two trips to Barnet in December, the County faithful also got to welcome back Andrew Hughes.

The academy graduate played just over half an hour after 11 months on the sidelines to complete a most satisfactory evening for Sheridan and his team.

County: Day, Holmes, Bennett, Partridge, Barnum-Bobb (Hughes, 58), Rodman, Byrne, Klukowski (Owen-Evans, 68), Elito, John-Lewis (Collins, 69), Boden

Subs not used: Green, Taylor, Ralph, Parselle

Booked: Boden

Brackley: Hornby, Hawtin, McDonald, Clarke, Graham, Mills, Odhiambo, Walker, Akintunde (Moyo, 72), Diggin (Smith, 78), Batchelor (Winters, 75)

Subs not used: Austin, Morley, Whittall, Farrell

Booked: Hawtin, Clarke, Diggin

Referee: Stuart Attwell

Attendance: 1,511 (181 Brackley)

Argus star man: Rodman