MARK BYRNE admits his winning goal on Saturday was a little lucky, but he feels the Exiles are long overdue some fortune, writes Michael Pearlman.

The former Barnet man won the contest for County on Saturday by virtue of his 68th minute cross creeping in at the far post to break Portsmouth hearts.

“The lads are delighted, it’s a massive win and taking six points off Portsmouth is absolutely huge. For any team, it’s one of the toughest games, but we dug in,” he said.

“I don’t see the controversy with the goal, I’ve gone to cross it and aimed for the back post and Aaron didn’t get a touch, so it was my goal.

“I don’t know if he was interfering, it bounced first so I don’t think the goalkeeper can claim to be unsighted. I ran straight to the ref and said he didn’t touch it and they consulted and once they’d established it was no touch, it’s a fair goal.

“It was slightly lucky though.”

Byrne admits the County players love playing at Rodney Parade.

“I think in the final five minutes it felt like they had about ten men up front, but we showed our character and defended brilliantly, putting bodies on the line,” he said.

“I think we worked hard enough to get a few things going our way, you need some luck at some stage and we feel we are overdue, the goal might have been lucky, but our defending was great.

“We are going game-by-game, we rattle out that cliché, but that’s what gets you promoted, winning when you play well and winning when you don’t and we have that in our locker now.

“Rodney Parade is maybe our biggest weapon, people don’t like coming here and we love that.”

County have released the following information about Saturday’s trip to Cambridge United, which is now all-ticket.

“This is now an all ticket fixture due to the high demand for home tickets in the run up to their FA Cup tie against Manchester United,” they said.

“The inital allocation of 500 tickets is the total number available to County fans. We apologise for the short notice given for this announcement. Tickets are still priced as follows:

“South Stand seated: Adults - £19, Concessions (Over 62, Student NUS, Young Adult 17-21) - £13, 16 and under - £9, Wheelchair - £13 plus carer FOC – 6 pairs (12 spaces)

“Tickets are on sale until Friday 16th January at Midday. It is highly recommended that you order tickets early to avoid potential disappointment. This can be done at the Ticket Office in person, or over the phone on 01633 674963. If you can't make it to the ground, you can order over the phone and arrange to collect at the stadium.”