JUSTIN Edinburgh’s three-year anniversary as Newport County AFC manager fell flat as his side went down 1-0 to ten-man Oxford United.

Tyrone Barnett was sent off just 10 minutes into the second half but County couldn’t take advantage and saw their seven-match unbeaten run in League Two come to an end.

The winner came from a Michael Collins free-kick that beat everyone in the box and curled in at the far post on 41 minutes.

And it was the least that Michael Appleton’s strugglers deserved after a vibrant display that belied their early season league standing.

Joe Pigott missed the Exiles' best chance as he rounded goalkeeper Ryan Clarke but lifted his shot over from a tight angle wide on the left of the area.

"To lose to the flukey goal like we did, we're disappointed and obviously it puts a dampener on it [the anniversary]," said Edinburgh.

"But it's not about me, it's about the team - we've lost our unbeaten run, which is disappointing.

"It's always easy to say you can go and beat 10 men, but nine times out of 10 that doesn't happen, certainly when a team's holding on to a lead."