FOR the second time in nine days Newport County AFC saw two points ripped from their grasp in the final throes of the battle.

There were still 10 minutes on the clock when Port Vale equalised at Rodney Parade last week but Accrington Stanley’s leveller arrived in the 88th minute on Saturday to leave County with an even greater feeling of frustration.

But, while a 1-1 draw at home to 22nd-placed Vale has to go down as two points dropped, a 1-1 draw at second-placed Accrington is definitely a point gained.

Manager Michael Flynn, his players and the 183 Exiles fans were desperately disappointed as they contemplated the 200-mile journey back home on Saturday night.

But, on reflection, they can be proud of the performance and pleased by the outcome.

County had the better of the first half with Robbie Willmott the main goal threat and Mickey Demetriou’s long throws into the box causing the Stanley defence plenty of problems.

And they led three minutes after the restart as Frank Nouble found the top corner with a perfect finish having been picked out by Willmott in a clever corner routine that caught Accrington cold.

Willmott then saw a shot pushed onto the post but the final half hour saw the hosts crank up the pressure on the County defence.

Flynn’s men perhaps sat back too much but the back-line coped well and it looked as if they would hold out for a morale-boosting victory until substitute Mallik Wilks lashed home two minutes from time after the otherwise excellent Ben Tozer had failed to clear the danger.

It could have been worse for County, who were grateful to Scot Bennett for a brilliant block to deny Accrington an undeserved winner in a frantic finale.

The Exiles were also thankful for a strong refereeing performance from Darren Drysdale.

They have cursed their luck with officials in recent weeks, most notably against Mansfield Town and Notts County, but the boot was on the other foot on Saturday.

This time it was Stanley boss John Coleman who was upset by what he referred to as “questionable decisions” after the match.

Flynn, on the other hand, praised the officials for withstanding the pressure to point to the penalty spot from the home players and fans at a whipped-up Wham Stadium.

There were fewer than 1,200 Stanley supporters in attendance but they made plenty of noise as the likes of Billy Kee and Kayden Jackson theatrically threw themselves to the floor at regular intervals.

Some referees would have awarded the hosts at least one penalty and some might even have sent off Joe Day for a rash challenge outside his box in the first half.

But Drysdale was unmoved by the tumult from the terraces.

“It’s a small stadium but they make it sound like there’s an extra thousand people because it’s so tight,” said Flynn.

“I wasn’t worried because the referee and the fourth official were quite good.

“They spoke [to each other], they didn’t rush into decisions and you could see that a few of their players were diving.

“Fair play to the fourth official, he told the referee at half-time that their number 10 was going down very easily and making a meal of things so at least they’ve done their homework and paid attention to it.”

County will hope that the referee is not the talking point as they target a much-needed win at home to 23rd-placed Barnet on Tuesday night.

Victory at Rodney Parade will put a brighter sheen on Saturday’s result and keep the play-off places within reach ahead of another testing trip to Swindon Town.

County: Day; White, O’Brien (Owen-Evans, 90) Demetriou; Pipe, Bennett, Tozer, Butler; Willmott; Nouble (Jackson, 87), Amond (Rigg, 75)

Subs not used: Bittner, Reynolds, Jackson, McCoulsky, Quigley

Booked: Tozer

Referee: Darren Drysdale

Attendance: 1,371 (183 County)