NEWPORT County AFC kept alive their survival hopes with a vital point at relegation rivals Cheltenham Town thanks to substitute Jaanai Gordon’s stoppage time leveller.

Graham Westley’s men looked to be heading for a crushing defeat after Kyle Wootton opened the scoring against the run of play on 62 minutes.

But Gordon slotted into the bottom corner in the third minute of time added on to send the 841 travelling fans wild behind the goal.

Westley named an unchanged starting XI following last week’s 3-1 home win over Hartlepool United.

And with the Whaddon Road pitch almost as bad as that at Rodney Parade it was the same again in terms of route one football from the Exiles.

It didn’t make for a great spectacle in an almost entirely forgettable first 45 minutes but County at least tested goalkeeper Scott Brown once.

Centre-back Sid Nelson was the man with the only shot on target in the first half and his fierce drive from distance warmed Brown’s hands but the save was comfortable enough.

Craig Reid, who knows the pitch well having played for the Robins back in the 2007/2008 season and for their tenants Gloucester City earlier in this campaign.

And the County striker had the only other chance of note in the first period, volleying well over the bar from the edge of the box.

At the other end Joe Day had very little to do other than claim a few set-pieces as the hosts failed to replicate the performance that saw them win 3-2 at Luton in midweek.

The second half continued in a similar vein but County went close to breaking the deadlock on 52 minutes when Brown dropped a free-kick into the box by Darren Jones.

That led to a major scramble with legs flailing furiously like a game of table football before the ball was cleared behind for a corner.

There was another battle in the box but Cheltenham eventually cleared the danger.

The hosts had their best effort just before the hour mark when William Boyle flicked a shot just wide of Day’s far post.

But it was still something of a shock when they took the lead a few minutes later.

Dan Holman beat Day with a curler that hit the angle of post and bar and, though he got a hand to it, the Exiles goalkeeper could not prevent Kyle Wootton’s shot from the rebound trickling into the corner of his net.

Westley threw on Sean Rigg for the injured Scot Bennett and Jaanai Gordon for Aaron Williams as his side faced up to the fact that they were now chasing a way back into a game they had controlled for long stretches.

Josh Sheehan, who is nursing an ankle injury, replaced Reid for the final 15 minutes and his corner was met by Jones’ head nine minutes from time but the defender’s close-range effort was cleared off the line by Tin Plavotic.

Pipe also had a great opportunity to level three minutes from the end with a far post header from Dan Butler’s cross but Brown was in the right place to keep it out.

South Wales Argus:

But there was to be late drama and Gordon’s goal (above) extends County's unbeaten run to four matches and keeps them just three points from safety with a game in hand.

County: Day, O’Brien, Jones, Neslon, Pipe, Bennett (Rigg, 64), Rose, Butler, Reid (Sheehan, 76), Bird, Williams (Gordon, 68)

Subs not used: Bittner, Demetriou, Owen-Evans, Samuel

Referee: Chris Sarginson

Attendance: 3,763 (841 County)

Argus star man: Rose