Graham Coughlan delighted to start Newport tenure with a win

New manager Graham Coughlan was delighted to put smiles back on the faces of Newport fans with a 1-0 home win against fellow strugglers Colchester in his first game in charge.

Will Evans scored the only goal of the game with a close-range header in the seventh minute and, though they were made to work hard by the visitors, there were not too many scares for Coughlan’s men as they held on comfortably enough to claim the three points.

It was only a second home win of the season in Sky Bet League Two for the Exiles, after a run of 10 defeats in 12 at Rodney Parade in the league cost James Rowberry his job.

And, though there is still plenty of room for improvement, Coughlan knows the result was all that mattered for his side.

“The three points was vital,” he said. “Both teams are obviously in a precarious position in the league, so the three points was massive.

“It was a performance and a win based on the old tradition and the old spirit of this football club and this community.

“We won our individual battles and the clean sheet really pleased me. We looked dangerous as well – there are goals in this team.”

Coughlan only took charge on Thursday and he is certain he can get the Exiles climbing up the table before too long.

“I didn’t have much time with the lads,” added the former Mansfield boss, who faces his old team on Tuesday. “I just got some messages across to them on Thursday and on the grass on Friday.

“We’ve still got lots to work on. It’s pleasing and we’ll enjoy it because we’ve not had too many smiles on faces here over the last 12 games, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

While County climbed to 18th in the table, Colchester dropped into the bottom two after a ninth defeat in 14 games.

But manager Matt Bloomfield, who only took charge at the end of September, was encouraged by the performance of his team.

“But for a couple of moments, I thought we were really solid at the back and we had some really good chances at the end of the first half,” Bloomfield said.

“We were playing the better football and creating the better chances. If we’d taken one, it might have been a different story.

“Between both boxes there were loads of positives. We didn’t quite take our chances at one end and they scored one in the middle of our six-yard box at the other end.

“But there are some positives to come out of the game, some good individual performances, and we keep moving forward.”