THIS was a weekend to underline the unpredictability of League Two.

One week on from being crushed 6-0 at home by Yeovil Town, Newport County AFC defended superbly to claim a richly deserved 1-0 win at Tranmere Rovers, who had won at high-flying Carlisle United last weekend.

And Yeovil? They suffered a comprehensive 3-0 home defeat to Swindon Town, who were beaten at home by Bury the week before.

Make sense of that if you can. County will hope that this was a case of normal service being resumed after they were slapped around by the Glovers.

And, in a crazy division full of inconsistency, the Exiles have been one of the most consistent sides so far with only Lincoln City and Exeter City ahead of them in the table after nine games – almost a fifth of the campaign.

Since their opening day defeat to Mansfield Town, Michael Flynn’s men have turned themselves into a supremely effective team on the road.

A creditable draw at Exeter in August has been followed this month by hard-fought wins at Port Vale, Oldham Athletic and now Tranmere Rovers.

County haven’t recorded three successive away wins in the Football League since October 1983 and Flynn was delighted to see his side battle their way to a little bit of history.

“There’s going to be times when we’ve got to grind it out and you’ve got to be resilient,” he said.

“The boys were excellent. It goes to show we can make changes and still be a force so I’m very pleased with the three points.”

Mark O’Brien slotted into the back three as if he’d never been away and Scot Bennett proved he can do an effective job in midfield, while Padraig Amond led by example in defending from the front.

But, whereas they had to ride their luck at times at Vale Park and Boundary Park, County could have won more comfortably at Prenton Park.

Strikers Antoine Semenyo and Amond both had chances to add to Fraser Franks’ superbly-taken strike in the fifth minute and O’Brien also went close with a bullet header.

And, while the hosts put plenty of pressure on the Exiles defence, they rarely troubled Joe Day in his 200th appearance for the club.

James Norwood chipped one effort onto the roof of the net in the first half but Flynn’s men restricted Rovers to just one shot on target.

That came from substitute Larnell Cole in stoppage time and Day was equal to it to ensure he and his teammates got what they deserved on Merseyside.

Even Tranmere boss Micky Mellon couldn’t complain with the result.

“It was a very frustrating afternoon,” he said. “To lose the goal as early as that created a bit of frustration.

“We never got into our rhythm and we allowed ourselves to be man marked all over the pitch and our movement wasn’t what it usually is.

“When we did get the ball into the forward areas, we were not imaginative enough and we didn’t do much of the stuff that we worked on last Thursday and Friday.

“It was that type of the day. Newport defended their 18-yard box very well and they were aggressive in terms of getting to the first headers.

“We have to be more aggressive when the ball is going in there, we need to show more optimism, better movement and attack the key areas when the crosses are coming in.”

County: Day; Franks, O’Brien, Demetriou; Forbes, Dolan (Sheehan, 62) Bennett, Butler; Bakinson; Semenyo (Matt, 79), Amond

Subs not used: Townsend, Pring, Cooper, Harris

Booked: Bennett, Matt

Referee: Carl Boyeson

Attendance: 5,745 (298 County)