WHEN Jamille Matt headed in to salvage a draw, it felt almost like a win for Newport County AFC and hurt nearly as much as a defeat for relegation-threatened Stevenage.

Both sides were desperate for a victory for different reasons and a point apiece wasn’t much good for either.

But a 1-1 draw was a fair reflection of the match and, despite being at home to the team in 23rd place in the table, it is County who will be the happier with the result.

After four successive defeats in League Two, Michael Flynn’s men had to stop the slump and they did that in the end.

And it really was at the end – the 92nd minute, to be precise – when Matt climbed high to meet a perfect cross from George Nurse and cancel out Emmanuel Sonupe’s 12th-minute opener for the visitors.

A fifth straight defeat and third on the bounce at Rodney Parade would have further sapped their fragile confidence.

And, while a home draw with struggling Stevenage is nothing to get excited about, Flynn will hope that it provides his side with a platform to go on and get that much-needed win at bottom club Morecambe next week.

The Exiles boss was certainly taking the positives after the match, talking up the character shown by his side on a day when they were missing eight players due to injury and illness and were then forced into three more changes during the game.

And in the absence of Ryan Inniss, who has gone down with mumps, the return of Mickey Demetriou and Scot Bennett provided some welcome good news.

An improved performance from Taylor Maloney and a promising cameo from youngster Lewis Collins also provided rays of sunshine on a mostly gloomy afternoon before that Matt finish, which produced an outpouring of joy and relief.

South Wales Argus:

There were contrasting emotions in the opposite dugout and Stevenage’s Cardiff-born caretaker manager Mark Sampson was as sick as Inniss after the final whistle.

“It’s a real tough one to take,” said the former England women’s boss. “When you concede a goal with more or less the last kick of the game, that’s a real tough blow.

“The players were on the floor in the dressing room.

“Not many teams will come to Newport and play as well as we’ve done.

“We started the game well and we scored a good goal. That was the plan; to push Snupes [Senupe] in there and tempt [Josh] Sheehan to get the ball and try to nick it off him. It worked to a T.

“For large parts of the game everything went to plan but we’ve come away with one [point] when we could have had three.

“We had enough chances to win it but when you come to Newport, they’re going to put balls into your box and we defended heroically at times.

“But the overriding emotion is huge anger and frustration and we’ve got to use that in a positive way and make sure we get the win against Crewe next week.”

County also know that they must claim three points at Morecambe next Saturday, when they hope to have captain Joss Labadie back in the fold.

If they can end a six-match winless run in the league, this point can be judged as a positive building block.

If not, it will go down as two more dropped.

County: Townsend, McNamara (Collins, 79), O’Brien (Bennett, 46), Demetriou, Haynes, Maloney, Dolan (Abrahams, 46), Sheehan, Nurse, Amond, Matt

Subs not used: King, Woodiwiss, Jefferies, Poleon

Referee: Christopher Sarginson

Attendance: 3,556 (88 Stevenage)x