NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn hailed an “outstanding” effort from his side as they beat Crawley Town 2-1 to climb to fifth in League Two.

First-half goals from Padraig Amond and Mickey Demetriou put County in charge but it was a different story once Jimmy Smith took advantage of a Joe Day error to pull a goal back for the visitors three minutes after the restart.

But the Exiles held on to record a fourth successive win and maintain the 100 per cent start to 2018.

"It was a hard-earned [win], a game of two halves,” said Flynn.

“We were absolutely superb in the first half. We played them off the park and should have been out of sight.

"But they were the better side in the second half and after the mistake for the goal, it was all a bit tense."

Flynn was particularly pleased to win without key midfielders Joss Labadie and Matty Dolan.

Both were ruled out with hamstring strains and they could also miss Tuesday’s home clash with Morecambe.

“It’s outstanding and this is the credit that the players deserve now,” added the manager, who was delighted to see Josh Sheehan make his first appearance since last February.

“We had two players out who have been regulars this season so they were a big miss.

“But Ben Tozer has come in and I thought he was excellent and Josh Sheehan came in and got nearly 70 minutes under his belt.

“In the first half he was the old Josh Sheehan. OK, there were a few loose touches but he was finding space, he was picking passes, he was feeding Frank [Nouble], feeding Robbie [Willmott] and it was a joy to have him back.”