David Hughes said his Newport team and their supporters should enjoy the day after only their second Sky Bet League Two win of the season with a 1-0 victory at Accrington.
Michael Spellman had a header touched onto the post by Stanley keeper Ollie Wright before the Exiles opened the scoring in the 43rd minute.
Bobby Kamwa’s strike deflected off Isaac Sinclair and went into the net to secure their first win since August 9 and move off the bottom of the table on goal difference.
Hughes said: “We were excellent in the first half and to only have one goal to show from the first half was disappointing.
“You know the second half will look different and we showed resilience and character.
“The win has been coming, we haven’t been poor, we have performed well but haven’t got the results we have deserved so I am pleased for the players and the fans who were right behind us.
“Am I happy? Yes. Was it frustrating going through a tough time? Of course, but I am an optimist.
“The players and supporters are the most important people at a club, and that’s our message: enjoy the win and three points tastes very nice.
“But it’s only one victory, we need many more to get the points we need, but this gives everyone a lift.”
There were potential managers in the crowd and Hughes knows this is part of the job, adding: “It’s the nature of the game, if you aren’t successful and not winning then questions are asked.”
Stanley are just one point ahead of County and have suffered three successive league defeats.
They struggled to create much, with their best chance being a Joe Bauress header which was tipped over the bar in the 73rd minute.
Manager John Doolan said: “Our performance, especially in the first half, was not very good. In the first half we huffed and puffed, we didn’t stand up to the challenge.
“We spoke of the first goal influencing the game on Friday and they get one on the stroke of half-time and it changes everything.
“I don’t know what our first half was, I don’t know if there was a nervousness about the players but their decision making was poor at times.
“We were better in the second half but didn’t have the quality in the final third, we lacked that.
“These lads have done well in recent games but we have got some big players out and the lads filling the gaps are just doing OK. They are trying their best.
“We are in tomorrow to go through it all. We have got to learn from this, we have to come in and face each other. We will analyse it as a team.”
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