NEWPORT County AFC shrugged off the absence of manager Michael Flynn at Prenton Park to beat Tranmere Rovers 1-0.

A tight and entertaining encounter went the way of the Exiles thanks to Alex Fisher’s first strike for the club.

The 31-year-old striker, making his first start after coming off the bench at Mansfield, battled in the box to score a scrappy goal just seconds after hitting the underside of the bar with a superb header.

County held firm to record a fine win against a side likely to be in contention for promotion.

Here are the talking points from Merseyside…

South Wales Argus: DEPUTY: Wayne Hatswell called the shots for County in the absence of Michael FlynnDEPUTY: Wayne Hatswell called the shots for County in the absence of Michael Flynn

WAYNE’S WORLD

Flynn was at home after testing positive for coronavirus on Friday and will also miss the Carabao Cup game against Premier League Southampton on Wednesday and trip to Salford on Saturday.

Clubs have had to plan for such events in the pandemic and the presence of assistant Wayne Hatswell meant the disruption was minimal.

The experienced coach finished the preparations for Tranmere then called the shots from the dugout with his usual gusto.

In fact, Hatswell probably has more leeway with the officials when he’s the boss rather than right-hand man.

Flynn has worked hard to build a good backroom team and all good managers empower their staff.

Of course County will miss their boss over the next week but it’s one of those things and, as Hatswell said afterwards, they’ve just got to get their heads down and graft.

Most importantly, speedy recovery Flynny.

LONG BUT LOVELY TRIP

Flynn had to watch a VIP iFollow stream and he would have been gutted to miss one of County’s finest away wins of recent times.

Not many teams will go to Tranmere and triumph; this was a classic performance on the road.

County were resilient while carrying a threat, they got the all-important first goal and then they managed the game superbly, with man of the match Ed Upson to the fore.

Rovers went direct at the death but the Exiles, who had shown their flexibility by playing most of the game with a flat four, stood up to them with Scot Bennett dropping back into defence.

There is more to come from this County team in attack when they start to gel – there were more flashes from Finn Azaz and Jermaine Hylton, while Fisher was physical and got into the box to threaten – but it was their battling and togetherness that was most pleasing.

Only when the league table settles will we see the true quality of this win but it felt big given the quality of Mickey Mellon’s hosts.

But this schedule is unrelenting – County are back on the road next weekend at Salford to finish their August on the road.

“We said that if we could get a couple of wins away from home it’d give us something to build on,” said Hatswell.

“We had the disappointment at Mansfield when we felt we could have nicked a point but this has certainly made up for it.”

Six points from nine on the road is an excellent return, especially now that fans are back.

COMBATIVE CLARKE

The signing of James Clarke went a little under the radar this summer, a 31-year-old defender from Walsall is never going to have the flashiest of highlights reels on YouTube.

He arrived to provide more competition for the defence but probably expected he would have to bide his time.

Clarke was on the bench at Oldham on opening weekend but came on when Matty Dolan suffered a calf injury.

He did well, then captained an inexperienced side at Ipswich and covered for Mickey Demetriou on the left of a three at Mansfield.

Dolan and Demetriou remained sidelined at Prenton Park and Clarke came to the fore with an accomplished performance against a well-drilled Tranmere team.

Flynn and Hatswell opted to go with a flat four with Cameron Norman and Ryan Haynes the full-backs and Priestley Farquharson and Clarke in the middle.

There were some wobbly moments, as you would expect away from home, but the way that the defence stood firm to protect the 1-0 lead was magnificent.

Clarke came up with the biggest moment with a brave block at the death when Callum McManaman looked certain to level.

“He is playing with a smile on his face and is really enjoying it,” said Hatswell about the defender. “He is a great lad to have around.

“Him and Priestley were outstanding with their blocks and headers, they had a tough job with the strikers that Tranmere have.

“When they were throwing everyone forward at the end, they put their bodies on the line and that’s what you need in a team effort.”

UP STARTS STRONGLY

The summer loss of Josh Sheehan was expected and the Wales midfielder has made a bright start at Bolton in League One. The playmaker has the ability to go up another tier.

Ed Upson, not wanted by Bristol Rovers, arrived with the unenviable task of filling the role in front of the defence and he has made an extremely accomplished start to life in Newport.

Bringing in a player of such experience looks to be a masterstroke by Flynn – Upson will be his own man, not try to mirror what Sheehan did.

He is neat and tidy, composed, has a nice range of passing, mops up well in front of the back four and also comes up with some important defensive interventions.

Upson doesn’t have the ability to drive forward and threaten like Sheehan – think of his goal at Morecambe last season – but he doesn’t provide as many nervy moments in possession in his own half.

There was the feeling in 2020/21 that stopping Sheehan stopped Newport and teams snapped away at the playmaker, sometimes forcing him into sloppy mistakes that sparked threatening counter-attacks.

Upson probably is a bit more forward-looking and looks a good fit for playing away from home. It will be interesting to see how/if things differ at Rodney Parade.

The 31-year-old seems sure to be a vital figure if County are to be promotion contenders again.