ANOTHER woeful first-half display, another away defeat and another story of what might have been for Newport County AFC.

Michael Flynn’s men were behind after just 61 seconds at Swindon Town as Michael Doughty found space at the far post and was allowed too much time to fire past Joe Day.

And the Robins could have been out of sight before the break as they used the blustery conditions to their advantage to dominate the first 45 minutes.

County were battered and bruised but they somehow managed to go in only one goal down.

They had to improve in the second half and they did with Antoine Semenyo, who had replaced David Pipe in a tactical switch after only 26 minutes, at the heart of their revival.

The 18-year-old posed a real threat and he played a part in the equaliser as he ran at the home defence before cutting that ball back for Tyreeq Bakinson to chip in and Padraig Amond to head home his 11th goal of the season two minutes after the restart.

The Exiles were the better side in the second half and Bakinson, Dan Butler, Mickey Demetriou and substitute Joss Labadie all had chances to win it before Kaiyne Woolery sealed all three points for the hosts with an expert finish eight minutes from time.

“We should have killed the game off, but that’s why we’re where we are and not at the top,” said Flynn, whose side drop to sixth in the table after a sixth successive away game without a win in League Two.

“We’re not ruthless at all. We let in sloppy goals and we don’t hit the target or make the goalkeeper make a save when we’ve got opportunities.

“The amount of chances we put over the bar or slice wide is not good enough.”

Flynn also admitted that his side probably didn’t deserve the win based on their first-half display and his opposite number felt justice was done over the course of 90 minutes.

Richie Wellens, who was briefly a teammate of Flynn’s at Blackpool in 2004, told the Swindon Advertiser: “We came in at half-time and were disappointed we were not 3-0 up – we let them off the hook.

“Michael made a couple of subs because he was not happy with them, so we knew he was going to get them in at half-time and give them a rollicking and we knew there was going to be a reaction.

“We spoke about keeping a high line because we have got a good goalkeeper who is good off his line, so the through balls will just carry through.

“It is a real sucker-punch when you come out after two minutes and it is 1-1.

“We had 43 minutes which were going to be difficult against the wind, but I thought we were always a threat on the counter-attack, and when we did get it down and get a few passes together – which is difficult in those conditions – I thought we showed quality.”

They showed too much quality for County, who were not helped by losing both Andrew Crofts and Mark O’Brien to hamstring injuries.

That’s another blow ahead of the high-stakes FA Cup replay against Wrexham at Rodney Parade and League Two clashes with the top two – MK Dons at home and Lincoln City away – before Christmas.

It could be a tough few weeks for an increasingly inconsistent side and they need to hang on in there until reinforcements can be brought in next month.

A win over Wrexham, which would see the club bank £54,000 in prize money and £150,000 in TV fees, would certainly help with the manager’s January shopping list.

County: Day; Franks, O’Brien (Labadie, 67), Demetriou; Pipe (Semenyo, 26), Crofts (Bennett, 44), Bakinson, Butler; Sheehan; Amond, Matt

Subs not used: Townsend, Pring, Forbes, Harris

Booked: Demetriou, Semenyo

Referee: Dean Whitestone

Attendance: 6,204