Newport given Rodney Parade challenge after second home win in 10 months

Newport assistant manager Mark Smith believes the Exiles are starting to make Rodney Parade a fortress once again after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Chesterfield.

County went nine months without a home win between March and December last year, but second-half goals from Harrison Biggins and Michael Spellman sealed back-to-back victories in Newport for Christian Fuchs’ men.

The win also lifted them off the bottom of the League Two table and they will aim to carry that momentum into a big week with Accrington at home on Tuesday before a short trip to Bristol Rovers next weekend.

“It was coming,” said Fuchs’ number two Smith.

“The boys deserved that, everyone deserved that.

“It’s been a great week of training – they put it in and they believed.

“I could tell from the warm up that they were on it. They were primed for that and it feels good. It’s a great win.

“We knew we had to turn Rodney Parade into a fortress again and back-to-back wins is huge. We’ve got to use that to kick on now, one game at a time.

“It’s a quick turnaround to Tuesday, but we need that (momentum) to roll on now.

“We’ve got two big games coming up and hopefully we can take more points and get ourselves into a better position.”

Biggins bundled in from a corner five minutes after half-time before Spellman scored a spectacular second in the 63rd minute.

Substitute Dilan Markanday pulled one back after 85 minutes but it was not enough for Chesterfield, whose play-off hopes took a dent.

It could have been different if Freddie Ladapo and Liam Mandeville had converted early chances for the visitors, much to the frustration of first-team coach Gary Roberts.

“We prepared well for the game,” he said. “They caught us out a little bit with a change of shape, but I felt we were in charge of the game in the first half and we missed two chances.

“Freddie should score and then Liam missed as well, and from there the momentum changed a little.

“I didn’t think we played bad, but we missed chances at big times in the game and then we concede from a set-play. It’s a bad afternoon for us.

“The goal gave them a shot of adrenaline and energy and got the crowd up and then we were huffing and puffing.

“The second one is a world-class finish from the kid Spellman, a good player.

“It’s a really disappointing afternoon.”