ORIENT 0 COUNTY 1

MARCH 12 was the last time Newport County AFC won a competitive match – a world away in football terms.

That was a world before Leicester City won the Premier League, before Wales made the semi-finals of Euro 2016 and before Gary Lineker presented Match of the Day in his pants.

Those unlikely events have taught us that anything can happen in the sport we love and, just when we least expected it, County finally ended their 13-game winless streak.

After successive 3-2 defeats to Mansfield Town in League Two and MK Dons in the EFL Cup nobody but the most optimistic of fans would have expected a victory at Leyton Orient.

The hosts certainly didn’t with midfielder Dean Cox dismissively claiming this was a ‘must-win’ for the O’s if they were to be genuine promotion contenders and the Brisbane Road fans voicing their displeasure throughout.

On paper this was one of the toughest trips of the season and the Exiles hardly went into it full of confidence.

They rode their luck at times with Orient striker Ollie Palmer guilty of some glaring misses but they deserved the three points.

Feeney’s men threatened early on thanks to the industry of Jennison Myrie-Williams and Sean Rigg and grabbed the lead thanks to another well-worked set-piece.

Mark Randall didn’t have his best game but he picked up another assist as his corner was expertly flicked on by Marlon Jackson and Jamie Turley did brilliantly to get into position to bundle it in at the far post.

And Rigg and Jackson could have doubled that lead just after the hour before the hosts stepped up the pressure late on.

It was nervy, particularly those agonising five minutes of added time, but only because of how much it meant to the visitors and their 306 travelling fans.

Andy Hessenthaler’s men did squander chances but they didn’t do enough to force their way back into the game.

Goalkeeper Joe Day and his defence dealt with everything and simply refused to give up a hard-earned clean sheet.

Turley excelled at right-back and in the middle Darren Jones and captain Scot Bennett were also on top form.

All three produced goal-saving blocks that were every bit as important as Turley’s winner and Day eased the tension by claiming everything in the air.

After the final whistle it was a pleasure to watch the players and management celebrate with the fans – a feeling that they haven’t experienced for so long.

The players came off the pitch with smiles on their faces and Feeney was beaming as he conducted his post-match media duties.

He rightly emphasised that nobody should get carried away with one win – particularly with a daunting trip to Luton Town to come on Tuesday night – but the result will come as a big relief to the Exiles boss.

For the majority of the players it was a first win at the third attempt but for him it was a huge weight off the shoulders and he’ll be delighted to put an end to questions about 13 games without a victory.

The challenge now is to build on this success and ensure it’s not another 13 games before we see a repeat.

He could have done without an injury to Myrie-Williams but with striker Jon Parkin now available after his three-game ban he has more options up front.

And, with goals from midfield and danger from set-plays, if the defence can keep up these standards then the season suddenly looks a lot more promising than it did just a few days ago.

County: Day, Butler, Jones, Bennett, Turley, Myrie-Williams (Tozer, 65), Labadie, Randall (Owen-Evans, 86), Green (Barnum-Bobb, 63), Rigg, Jackson

Subs not used: Bittner, Bignot, Sheehan

Booked: Labadie, Randall

Referee: Michael Salisbury

Attendance: 4,184 (306 County)