Stevenage boss Dino Maamria returns to haunt Newport County

In 13 home league games as assistant to Graham Westley last season there were only two wins and the Tunisian admitted before the match that Newport County AFC were right to give the pair the boot.

That was a smart bit of PR from Maamria and it went a long way to ensuring that he received a relatively warm welcome from the fans in the Hazell Stand.

The Exiles players who remain from last season were determined to get one over on him, especially the likes of Dan Butler and Ben Tozer, but that never really looked likely.

It was a low quality match with far too many high balls and Stevenage were not much better than a laboured County side who reverted back to the form they showed against Crewe Alexandra a fortnight ago after an impressive display against Coventry City last week.

The visitors were stronger and hungrier and they won it thanks to Chris Whelpdale’s header three minutes before the break.

Flynn’s men can point to two possible penalties in the second half as Frank Nouble and substitute Josh Sheehan both hit the deck in the box.

But referee Ollie Yates dramatically dismissed both half-hearted appeals and, in truth, the hosts rarely looked like getting back into the match.

By the end Maamria and his players were the only ones who were happy with their afternoon's work.

“I loved it,” said the Boro boss afterwards. “I love winning. I love the feeling.

“It’s hard work, of course, but that’s the best thing about it; you work very hard in the week to prepare your team, you look at the opposition, you have a game plan, you motivate the players in the dressing room, you do everything you can as a manager and you hope that the players produce.

“I thought that our players were different class. I thought they played the pitch very well, they played the conditions very well and played the game that was there to be won.

“I thought they were brilliant. The only thing is that we should have been more clinical – we probably should have scored two or three.”

Brilliant may be stretching it a little but Maamria’s men were certainly better than their hosts and it’s true that they looked more likely to add to their advantage than concede.

Joe Day had a difficult afternoon with numerous shaky moments and he was thankful to Mickey Demetriou for two vital blocks but the goalkeeper also made excellent saves to deny Luke Amos and Danny Newton, who poked another effort over the bar late on.

“We’re getting better,” added Maamria. “That team looked like it cared about the result.

“It showed in the last 15 minutes when they [County] threw a lot of bodies up there with long throws and corners – they are a big team and quite effective on set-plays – and I thought we limited them.”

County were certainly limited and even when Flynn brought on Sheehan and Marlon Jackson to support Nouble and Padraig Amond there was no grandstand finish.

The final whistle was greeted by a few boos but they soon fizzled out.

County’s season looks like it’s going the same way and they need to halt a dismal run of results to avoid a hugely encouraging campaign from ending on a sour note.

County: Day; Pipe (Reid, 77), White, Demetriou, Butler; Willmott, Dolan, Tozer (Jackson 81), Collins (Sheehan, 61); Nouble, Amond

Subs not used: Bittner, Bennett, Jahraldo-Martin, Touray

Booked: Butler

Referee: Ollie Yates

Attendance: 4,007