CAMERON Pring couldn’t hide his delight after scoring his first goal in senior football on Saturday and now he’s targeting a starting spot for Newport County AFC against his hometown club next weekend.

The left-back, who is on loan from Bristol City, replaced the injured Robbie Willmott in midfield against Colchester United before scoring the second goal in an impressive 2-0 win for County.

It was a goal made in Bristol as fellow City loan star Tyreeq Bakinson split the defence with a perfect through-ball and Pring confidently fired into the bottom corner.

He was only denied another goal by the woodwork in the closing stages and the 20-year-old hopes he’s done enough to earn a first League Two start when the Exiles travel to Cheltenham Town next Saturday.

“I didn’t know what to do when I scored,” admitted Pring.

“I wanted to take my shirt off but I didn’t want to take the fine as I probably couldn’t afford it.

“I didn’t even think about the finish, I just got on the end of Tyreeq’s pass and put my foot through it.

“It was a great afternoon, to get my first league goal was brilliant and the way the boys played was unbelievable.

“It was a great game to play in and the boys really stuck together.

“Colchester are a very tough team to play against and they will be up there at the end of the season so it’s a very good win for us.”

South Wales Argus:

The win saw County climb back up to third in the table ahead of the trip to Cheltenham, where Pring was born and played as a youth.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but it’s exciting to be up there in that position,” he said.

“It’s no fluke that we’re up there, we’ve got quality players and when we stick together to grind out results like that against teams like that, we’re proving ourselves as a very good team.

“The last two weeks have been tough because I’ve been injured but I’m buzzing to get game time now,” he added.

“I’m just buzzing and I want to keep that starting place now.”

Pring played in a more advanced role ahead of first-choice left-back Dan Butler on Saturday and it's a responsibility hat he enjoys.

“We’re a very defensive pair and I think we were tough to break down while we were on the pitch together,” he said.

“I used to play that far forward when I was at Cheltenham in the youth team, but since I’ve been at Bristol City I’ve been at left-back so it was new to me as a senior player but I’m enjoying the chance to attack more.”

Captain Mickey Demetriou told iFollow Exiles: “Cameron deserves his goal. He’s a young lad who’s come in to the squad and done really well.

“He’s been unfortunate with the injuries he’s had so he really deserves it, and he’s basically won us the game because it gave us that little cushion."