SHAWN McCoulsky was the hero for Newport County AFC as he came off the bench to rescue a point against Mansfield Town on a wet and wild day at Rodney Parade.

After seven months without a home defeat in League Two, County looked to be heading for a second of the week as they trailed to Danny Rose’s first-half opener.

But McCoulsky, who had netted as a substitute in the win at Forest Green Rovers and Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat to Colchester United, volleyed in on 69 minutes to level the match.

The Exiles could have won it in a frantic final 20 minutes but the point keeps them sixth in the League Two table.

Mark O’Brien replaced the injured Joss Labadie and also took the captain’s armband as he slipped back into the Exiles’ back three.

That meant Scot Bennett moved into a defensive midfield role alongside Ben Tozer, allowing Matty Dolan to get further forward in support of front two Padraig Amond and Frank Nouble.

At least that was the theory but Dolan was often playing deeper than his two central midfield partners and that left the strikers a little isolated at times.

With the wind and rain making life difficult for both teams there was little to get excited about in a scrappy first half.

Neither side looked like scoring until the visitors took the lead out of the blue on 21 minutes.

The County defence managed to block a Kane Hemmings header but the ball broke invitingly for Danny Rose, unmarked in the box, and he side-footed the ball past Joe Day with ease.

The Stags had offered little in attack before that moment and after taking the lead they sat back and seemed content to try to hit the hosts on the break where possible.

Flynn’s men were on the front foot for most of the first half but didn’t create many decent opportunities.

O’Brien headed just wide from a Tozer long throw and Dan Butler blazed a half volley well over Conrad Logan’s bar.

South Wales Argus:

Nouble (above), who was roaming from left flank to right flank but rarely playing through the middle, had two half chances before the break.

The first, a glancing header from a Dolan corner, was hacked clear by Rhys Bennett.

The second, a curler from the edge of the area, was high and wide and nowhere near troubling Logan.

Referee Charles Breakspear warned the Mansfield back line about holding and pushing on more than one occasion as they defended free-kicks and corners.

But his refusal to take any further action only added to the sense of frustration around Rodney Parade.

The fans thought County should have had a penalty for hand ball just after the break, but the vociferous complaints were again ignored.

At the other end Hemmings turned and fired just over from the edge of the box and Sean Rigg almost scored an own goal moments after replacing Ben White.

The midfielder was attempting to clear the ball at the far post after Nouble had conceded a silly free-kick and his header, under pressure from Alfie Potter, came back off the upright before being cleared.

Flynn gambled further by throwing on McCoulsky in place of Bennett and it paid off as the super sub delivered again.

The Bristol City striker scored the seventh goal of his loan spell and his third in the past eight days after coming off the bench as he volleyed a Tozer long throw past Logan with 20 minutes to go.

That released a lot of tension around the ground and McCoulsky almost grabbed another shortly afterwards as he clipped a shot just over the bar before heading well off target from Butler’s cross.

Nouble then saw a curling effort, which was heading for the bottom corner, tipped away from danger by Logan as the Exiles pushed for an unlikely winner.

A Rigg rocket was superbly saved by Logan, who then brilliantly denied McCoulsky again from point-blank range and County had to settle for a point.

County: Day; White (Rigg, 59), O’Brien, Demetriou; Pipe, Bennett (McCoulsky, 64) Dolan, Tozer, Butler; Nouble, Amond

Subs not used: Bittner, Barnum-Bobb, Willmott, Owen-Evans, Quigley

Referee: Charles Breakspear

Attendance: 3,146

Argus star man: McCoulsky