“BY FAILING to prepare, you are preparing to fail,” said the great American polymath Benjamin Franklin and, after the multiple mishaps that befell them on Saturday, Newport County AFC will be grateful for a point at Cambridge United.

Manager Michael Flynn, assistant Wayne Hatswell, management consultant Lennie Lawrence and their staff are meticulous in their pre-match planning, but they were let down by a number of factors outside their control ahead of the trip to Abbey Stadium.

Whoever made the decision to tackle the 195-mile journey on the morning of the game, rather than stay overnight on Friday, is probably regretting it now.

After the players’ food for the coach failed to materialise that led to a longer-than-anticipated stop on the way, a delayed arrival at the ground and a farcical situation with Ryan Haynes having to lead the team out before handing over the armband to Joss Labadie – all to avoid a fine.

The Exiles were also forced to wear a cobbled-together change strip because the Fraser Franks tribute shirts have yet to be delivered from the manufacturers in the Far East.

Those issues are merely embarrassing for the club, but the admin error that led to Mark O’Brien missing the game was far more serious and rightly left Flynn fuming as he’d already told Kyle Howkins that he would be dropping to the bench.

It all overshadowed what was a poor spectacle in blustery conditions with neither side really doing enough to claim all three points.

Haynes wasted a good opportunity created by Padraig Amond and Robbie Willmott forced a fine save from Dimitar Mitov late on but a seventh successive County win over Cambridge would have been harsh on the hosts, who look a tougher nut to crack this season.

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Flynn felt his side created the better chances in difficult conditions and could have had a penalty after the break.

“The wind played a big part,” he said. “You could see the boys were misjudging where the ball was landing, putting too much on the pass, not putting enough on the pass, so it affected them.

“But we had the better chances and I think we should have had a penalty for a foul on Jamille [Matt] but I’m a little bit further away than the referee so I’m going to trust his judgment.

“A point away from home is never a bad result,” he added.

“This time last year we’d already lost. We had three points, but we’re unbeaten at the minute and we’ve got two solid draws on the board.

“Without being an exciting start to the season, it’s a solid start to the season.”

Cambridge also have two points after back-to-back 0-0 draws and manager Colin Calderwood admitted that the weather was the only winner on Saturday.

“[We were] resolute in the first half in really awkward conditions,” said the U’s boss.

"In the second half, we had moments where we have to judge ourselves on bringing more danger to teams.

“We’ll be hard on ourselves because we played one or two longer ones [passes] that there was no need for on occasions.

“We have to play within the conditions if we can.

“But it’s easy when you’re sat on the sidelines. I said to them afterwards I’ve probably forgotten what it's like to be on the pitch in those conditions and the difficulty they’ve had to deal with.

“They get the credit for that, and we’re grateful for the point. Is it the conditions that stopped us creating more chances? Hopefully it is.

“I’ve got to give both teams credit for attempting, in savage conditions, to try and produce something.”

Both teams failed to produce a winner in the end but, after the day they had, County will at least be thankful that they didn’t return to Newport empty handed.

County: King, McNamara, Howkins, Demetriou, Haynes, Sheehan, Willmott, Dolan (Abrahams, 62), Labadie, Amond (Bennett, 76), Matt

Substitutes: Townsend, Leadbitter, Nurse, Maloney, Whitely

Referee: Marc Edwards

Attendance: 3,949 (224 County)