NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn hailed a perfect response from his team as they put last week’s 6-0 home defeat to Yeovil Town behind them with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Tranmere Rovers.

Fraser Franks’ goal in the fifth minute was enough to seal a third successive away win in League Two and keep County third in the table.

And it proved that last week’s hammering at Rodney Parade was a blip, according to Flynn.

“It’s a great day and I knew I’d get a response,” said the Exiles boss.

“If I’m totally honest, I probably would have taken a point before we came but to get all three and win three in a row away from home is absolutely superb and the players deserve all the credit.

“I thought they were absolutely fantastic. Even at the end, when we had to hang on a bit and they threw everything at us, we defended excellently.

“It goes to show the things we do work on and hopefully last week was a one-off blip because the way we defended today was absolutely exceptional.”

Flynn’s men restricted Tranmere to one shot on target with goalkeeper Joe Day, who celebrated his 200th appearance for the club, making his first save in the 94th minute when he tipped over substitute Larnell Cole’s dipping effort.

James Norwood had also gone close for the hosts in the first half but the better chances fell to the visitors with Antoine Semenyo and Padraig Amond wasting golden opportunities to extend the lead either side of the break.

“If we’d taken our chances we would have won the game 3-0 or 4-0,” added Flynn.

“Norwood missed one and then there was the save at the end but they’ve not really troubled the keeper other than that.

“Antoine missed a good chance after we scored and Podge missed one as well so it’s a very good away performance.

“We’re away from home and you’ve got to be strong and resilient and keep your shape because this is a tough place to come.

“This is the first time they’ve lost here this season in the league and the boys did their job brilliantly.

“The fans who travelled up deserved it as well because they didn’t stop singing all the way through.”

David Pipe missed the match through illness and is a doubt for Tuesday’s Checkatrade Trophy home tie against Chelsea under-21s.

Matty Dolan is also likely to miss that match after being forced off with a knee problem today but Robbie Willmott, who was suspended after being sent off last Saturday, is available to face the Blues youngsters.