Newport County 2 Harrogate Town 3: Sulphurites secure their League Two status

The Sulphurites travelled to South Wales six points clear of second-from-bottom Hartlepool United and with a vastly superior goal-difference, knowing that a draw would be sufficient to extend their stay in the Football League into a fourth year.

But, they went one better and left Rodney Parade with all three points courtesy of Luke Armstrong’s late goal.

Tuesday’s result lifts Simon Weaver’s team one place to 20th position in the table with two fixtures remaining, and all of a sudden looking at how high up the table they can finish, rather than over their shoulders at the drop zone.

But, they could hardly have made a worse start to proceedings, falling behind as early as the third minute after Omar Bogle got in front of Tom Eastman to stab home Will Evans’ left-wing cross from inside the six-yard box.

Town’s response was however almost instantaneous.

Armstrong climbed highest to meet Mark Oxley’s huge goal-kick, nodding the ball into the path of Sam Folarin, who needed a couple of touches to bring it under his control but then picked out the bottom corner with a precise 20-yard strike.

Three minutes later, the visitors were in front. Kazeem Olaigbe’s nicely-weighted pass found Folarin on the left-hand edge of the penalty area, and although Armstrong couldn’t finish off his dangerous cross, George Thomson made no mistake arriving at the back post.

Harrogate looked good value for that lead as the first half progressed, posing a threat on the counter-attack while standing firm at the other end as Newport launched a barrage of long throw-ins and set-piece deliveries.

They were however grateful to goalkeeper Mark Oxley in the 31st minute as he got down smartly to his right to push away Harry Charsley’s goal-bound effort from distance.

There was little by way of goalmouth action during the remainder of the opening period and it took until the 70th minute for a clear goal-scoring opportunity to materialise, despite Newport enjoying a long spell of concerted pressure.

That chance fell to Evans, who nodded Bogle’s centre over the top when he ought to have done much better, then Mickey Demetriou forced Oxley into another decent stop with a close-range headed effort.

Armstrong did see a goal-bound header blocked on the line at the opposite end of the pitch, though County kept on coming.

And, having thrown on an extra striker, they eventually got their reward in the 80th minute.

Substitute Charlie McNeill cut in off the left and saw a venomous strike blocked, but had the presence of mind to lift the loose ball over the top for Bogle to beat Oxley on the half-volley.

Earlier in the season, such a blow would likely have been the cue for the Sulphurites to go on and lose the game. But Weaver’s men are made of sterner stuff these days and - just as they did when they fought back to salvage a point from 2-0 down in three consecutive matches earlier this month - they showed their fighting spirit and roared straight back at the Exiles.

With 83 minutes on the clock, Levi Sutton picked out fellow substitute Matty Daly down the left and he delivered a low cross to the near post, which the sliding Armstrong diverted across Joe Day and into the net.

Newport kept pushing during the closing stages and Cameron Norman almost bagged the sixth goal of the evening with a right-footed effort, though in the end Town managed to see the game out with their lead intact.