Nelson Jardim praises Newport character after comeback win over Doncaster

Posted Sunday, August 18, 2024 by PA

Nelson Jardim hailed the character and resilience of his Newport team after they fought back from a goal down to beat Doncaster 3-1 at Rodney Parade.

County trailed 1-0 at the break after a superb Owen Bailey strike from inside the 18-yard box gave Doncaster a deserved lead in the 30th minute.

But winger Bobby Kamwa, who went close three times in the first half, levelled within two minutes of the restart with a curler into the bottom corner that just evaded team-mate Courtney Baker-Richardson in the middle.

Midfielder Kai Whitmore put the hosts ahead with a right-foot rocket from the edge of the box on 66 minutes.

And defender Matt Baker fired in a third three minutes later to end the Exiles’ 10-game losing streak and earn Jardim a first three points since replacing Graham Coughlan this summer.

“It feels great,” said the Portuguese coach. “I’m just so pleased for the fans. They deserve this win and I just wanted to thank them for the support we’ve had from them.

“It’s a huge win for the club, but me and the players want to dedicate it to the fans – they were brilliant.”

“We had to show character again. At Cheltenham last week, being 2-0 down we showed that resilience, and today again.

“In the first half we were not competing the way we wanted to, but in the second half I think we did a really good game and you could see the quality of our players and the character and desire to go and win the game.

“Doncaster are a good team, they played some good football and they are very well organised, so winning against them is even better for us. It means a lot.”

Doncaster dominated the first half but could not respond to the home side’s second-half fightback.

“It was a tale of two halves,” said Rovers manager Grant McCann.

“I thought we were very comfortable in the first half. We were the much better team, and we were in control.

“Then, just like last week, we conceded within the first two minutes of the second half.

“There’s a phrase we use in the dressing room – ‘don’t light the fire’ and we lit the fire for them in the second half.

“We gave them the opportunity to get back into the game and I didn’t recognise the team in the second half.

“They were like a team of individuals and everything we worked on over the summer and everything that we’ve been about for the past four or five months completely went in the second half, and that’s concerning for me. We need to respond next week.”