THE midweek draw at home to bottom club Macclesfield Town was definitely two points dropped but, on balance, this was probably a point gained at unbeaten Forest Green Rovers – despite Mickey Demetriou’s missed penalty.

Newport County AFC manager Michael Flynn was again frustrated that his side didn’t take all three points and when you concede an unfortunate own goal and miss from the spot it’s natural to dwell on what might have been.

But Rovers boss Mark Cooper will also reflect on the near misses for his men in the first half when Carl Winchester curled an effort onto the post and Reuben Reid clipped the top of the bar.

A point apiece was probably a fair result after an end-to-end contest that was full of entertainment for the fans and underlined that both these sides are in for a good season.

Rovers are now the only unbeaten side in the Football League and they are still yet to concede more than one goal in a match.

Padraig Amond’s beautifully-taken equaliser, which came 20 minutes after Scot Bennett had deflected a Dayle Grubb cross into his own net, was the first goal that the hosts have conceded from open play at The New Lawn this season.

Cooper admitted that his side weren’t at their best but they are clearly much-improved since County romped to a 4-0 win at the same ground 12 months ago.

“The game was too frantic,” said the Forest Green boss.

“It was end-to-end but once we got in the final third the shot was wanting. We’ve not played well but I’m proud of the players, they tried their socks off.

“We hit the post before their goal and we made a couple of mistakes for the goal – we left a man free for them to roll it in at the far post.

“Fair play to Newport who are a good team, a powerful team.

“We didn’t do enough to win but Portsmouth lost so we are the only unbeaten team in the Football League, so hats-off to my players.”

Flynn was also keen to praise his players, who he felt controlled the game – particularly in the second half.

"We wanted to change it a little bit and we thought about changing things but there was no need to because I felt really comfortable,” said the Exiles boss, who was pleased to have Robbie Willmott back from suspension.

“Robbie had a little bit of a slow start but I thought he was excellent.

“You see what he did for the goal and the unseen things that he does – the tracking back, his positional play and the way he shut off the ball to Reuben Reid – were very good.”

That defensive discipline was key to the victories at Port Vale, Oldham Athletic and Tranmere Rovers last month and contrasts markedly with the sloppy defending we’ve seen at Rodney Parade – where County have conceded 11 in their last three league games.

Antoine Semenyo typified the work ethic that the Exiles are displaying on the road at the moment with the striker frequently acting as an extra left-back alongside Dan Butler

“He’s a young lad and I thought he was excellent – the work-rate and the things you don’t usually notice,” said Flynn.

“He was always quick to break and he shuts the angles off [to prevent counter-attacks] really well, which is good for a centre-forward who is 18.”

County look like a really solid outfit on the road at the moment and they now have a full week to prepare for a home clash with Stevenage and ensure they get the balance between attack and defence just right at Rodney Parade.

County: Day; Forbes, Franks, Demetriou, Butler; Bakinson, Bennett, Willmott (Pring, 81); Semenyo, Matt (Harris, 90), Amond

Subs not used: Townsend, Pipe, Dolan, Sheehan, Marsh-Brown

Referee: Tim Robinson

Attendance: 3,081 (964 County)