Newport County 0 Crawley Town 0: Reds earn battling draw in Wales
Both sides had periods on top and the visitors gave a good defensive performance to keep a clean sheet in the thick of a period of pressure by Newport late in the second half.
Reds head coach Gabriele Cioffi handed a full league debut to former Watford under-21s defender David Sesay who played at right-back while George Francomb moved to central defence.
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Hide AdNewport had a good chance to score after 16 minutes when a long ball was played to Padraig Amond who lifted the ball off-target.
Reds applied pressure on the hosts’ goal when Mark Connolly headed a corner into the hands of goalkeeper Joe Day.
Then Panutche Camara passed to Dominic Poleon who could not get a shot off before being tackled.
Newport forced a catch from Reds’ ‘keeper Glenn Morris to twice deny Amond.
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Hide AdJust before half-time Josh Doherty was knocked over in the area but play continued before Amond blasted over the bar.
Connolly emerged for the second half with his head bandaged after a first half clattering.
Reds made a strong start to the second half, with Camara finding Sesay whose cross was deflected behind the goal.
Reece Grego-Cox passed to Poleon in the area who set-up Camara for a mishit shot from the edge of the area.
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Hide AdNewport missed taking the lead due to poor finishing in the six-yard box by Amond and Jamille Matt.
Reds had a big appeal for a penalty turned down with nine minutes to go when Poleon was brought down in the penalty area.
Crawley survived a late onlaught by Newport and four minutes of added-time to earn Gabriele Cioffi’s first away point since taking charge.
Crawley Town: Morris, Doherty, Payne, McNerney, Connolly, Grego-Cox (Gambin 77) , Poleon, Francomb, Sesay, Bulman (capt), Camara
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Hide AdUnused subs: Mersin, Nathaniel-George, Maguire, Allarakhia, N’Gala
Newport County: Day, Butler, Franks, Demetriou, Bennett, Forbes (Harris 78), Willmott, Dolan (Bakinson 56), Crofts (O’Brien 51), Amond, Matt
Unused subs: Townsend, Sheehan, Marsh-Brown, Pipe