Michael Flynn bemoans mistakes as Newport slip to first defeat

Posted Sunday, October 11, 2020 by PA

Newport boss Michael Flynn bemoaned the mistakes that cost his side as they suffered their first league defeat of the season.

Paul Mullin scored a goal Cambridge in each half for Cambridge to take his tally for the season to six, setting up a 2-1 victory which lifted the U’s to second in the Sky Bet League Two table.

He opened the scoring after 38 minutes and netted again just after the hour, while Newport set up a tight finale when Scott Twine’s spectacular strike reduced the deficit 23 minutes from time.

“The goals we gave away were very cheap and you can’t give goals away. It’s not what we’re about,” said Flynn.

“The conditions were terrible, especially second half. If it wasn’t such a long journey I’d have been all over them. It’s the same for both teams, I’m not using any excuses, but it stopped us.

“The game we’ve been playing, moving the ball quickly and getting at teams, we couldn’t do it. It wasn’t ideal.

“It’s frustrating, I don’t like losing. It’s a game we’ve just got to wipe off and go again. There was more mistakes in that game from our players than combined from the season so far. It was just mistake after mistake, and easy ones. It was full of mistakes.”

Flynn chose not to speak about the decision not to send off Cambridge midfielder Luke Hannant in the first half for a kick on Joss Labadie, adding only: “I’m not saying anything because I’m going to end up getting in trouble. Whoever is choosing the officials needs to have a look at the criteria.”

Cambridge manager Mark Bonner explained how his side had set up to combat their opponents’ strengths.

“Any game you play against Newport is tough, so any time you get a win against them you have to work really hard to get it,” he said.

“I think they are a brilliant team. We knew the problems they were going to cause but dealing with it is another thing, so we had a plan of how we might do it.

“We had some good counter-attacking opportunities in the first half. Once we started to get some control, even in that spell we probably had the better chances, and then our goal was a brilliant one.

“In the end, it’s a massive win for us.

“We’ve played some top teams in the last few weeks in the league. Exeter, Tranmere and Newport will all be up there. We’ve taken four points, so we’re not quite at the level yet where we can really consider ourselves amongst them, but we’re making progress.

“We’re not the team we’re going to be yet, but there are encouraging signs for us.”