NEWPORT County AFC made an official complaint to the Football League about Oldham Athletic’s conduct in luring John Sheridan back to the North West – but maybe they should be thanking the Latics.

Four weeks and six games into his reign at Rodney Parade and Warren Feeney has surely gone a long way to making County directors and fans forget their anger towards Oldham.

Sheridan brought the Exiles back from the brink after taking over from Terry Butcher and if they do indeed beat the drop this season then the part he played should not be forgotten.

But he didn’t stick around to finish the job and now finds himself in an equally precarious position at Boundary Park.

Looking back at Sheridan’s final four matches in charge – three defeats and a draw from 2-0 up – County were clearly stuttering and running the risk of being dragged right back into the mire.

Feeney has given the squad a fresh impetus at a crucial time and his record in the first six games is better than Sheridan’s start (two draws, two wins, two defeats).

Feeney’s two defeats came against a Championship side in the FA Cup and in desperately unlucky circumstances at Leyton Orient.

The single draw saw County recover from a shocking start to come back from 2-0 down and force 15 corners to take a point against Dagenham & Redbridge.

And the three wins – at York City and Morecambe and this hard-fought success over Carlisle United – have been hugely encouraging in terms of their survival prospects.

With the four sides below them and Stevenage directly above all refusing to go quietly, they are vital victories.

There’s still a long way to go but Feeney could hardly have made a better start since stepping up from assistant to the top job.

The astute signings of Conor Wilkinson and Darren Jones have made a big difference with the former adding a cutting edge up front and the latter transforming the defence.

The impact Wilkinson has had on Scott Boden and likewise Jones on Andrew Hughes can hardly be understated either.

But equally impressive is Feeney’s positive outlook that has helped banish the Morecambe bogey side theory and now hopefully put the home hoodoo to bed.

And his man-management is clearly a big factor as well.

The team spirit and togetherness has remained strong throughout the season – even in the darkest days of the brief Butcher era.

But the players look like they love playing for the former Northern Irish international, perhaps more so than for ex-Ireland World Cup star Sheridan or one-time England captain Butcher.

Scott Barrow’s nasty head injury and a late red card for Carlisle’s Brandon Comley aside, there were two big moments on Saturday.

On 27 minutes Boden was put clear on goal by a long ball over the top and, as visiting goalkeeper Mark Gillespie raced out to close the angle, the Exiles top scorer placed his shot two yards wide of the left-hand post.

It was a golden opportunity and one that Boden should have buried.

Feeney revealed after the final whistle that the man whose brace saw off Morecambe two weeks ago was feeling sorry for himself during the half-time break.

But a quick pep talk from the boss worked wonders.

Thankfully Feeney, who was watching the action from the TV gantry as he served a one-match touchline ban, was able to speak to his players during the break.

And he told his striker to forget about the miss and focus on getting the winner in the second half.

Boden did just that on 56 minutes, once again displaying his happy knack of being in the right place at the right time to bundle in Alex Rodman’s cross-shot from close range and seal another three points.

Feeney always looked set to take over from Sheridan in the summer but perhaps we should all raise a glass (or even a takeaway coffee cup) to Oldham for speeding up the process.

County: Day; Holmes, Jones, Davies, Barrow (Donacien, 54); Rodman, Byrne, Elito (Klukowski, 71), Ayina; Boden (Morgan, 90), Wilkinson

Subs not used: Beeney, Owen-Evans, Partridge, Dymond

Booked: Jones, Byrne

Referee: Lee Collins

Attendance: 2,106 (200 Carlisle)