Paul Simpson and James Rowberry rue missing out on win

Both managers were left disappointed after Carlisle fought back to earn a 1-1 draw at Newport.

Corey Whelan earned Carlisle a point after Nathan Moriah-Welsh had given struggling Newport a 1-0 half-time lead.

But boss Paul Simpson was left to rue what he saw a missed opportunity to take advantage of County’s poor recent form.

The Welsh side had lost four in a row in all competitions and suffered nine defeats in their last 10 at home in League Two in a wretched run stretching back to March.

“Without being disrespectful in any way, we needed to come here and win this game,” said Simpson afterwards.

“We didn’t because in the first half we weren’t good enough.

“In the second half we had a bit more of a go without really playing great football.

“We should have had a penalty on 70 minutes when (Paul) Huntington got grabbed round the neck and pulled down.

“But over the 90-odd minutes, a draw is probably a fair result because I’m not really sure either team deserved to win it.

“It’s a point away from home but we had to come and win. With the run that they’re on, if we were better – if we were anywhere near what we’re capable of – we’d have won the game.”

Moriah-Welsh scored with a clever flicked finish over Tomas Holy after half an hour.

But the visitors, who had squandered several good chances in the first half, rescued a point when defender Whelan found the bottom corner 14 minutes from time.

Both sides could have won it at the death, with Exiles defender James Clarke just failing to get his boot to Mickey Demetriou’s long throw and Huntington firing against the bar at the other end in stoppage time.

Under-pressure County manager James Rowberry also harboured a sense of regret after seeing a much-needed three points snatched away.

“It’s a disappointed changing room,” he said. “We probably didn’t impose our gameplan in the second half like we did in the first half. We didn’t impose ourselves enough with the ball.

“But on the flip side, we’ve got a point and we’ve stopped those three league losses in a row.

“It’s always difficult when you’ve had the run of defeats that we’ve had – you get a little bit nervous, it happens. But we stuck at it and got that point.

“We need build on this now and we will. The aim is to give our supporters something to shout about.

“One thing we’ve shown is how resilient this group is and how resilient this club is.

“I’ve learned a lot about the players, the club, the supporters, my staff, and that’s important. Now we’ve got to build upon this and keep going.”