PADRAIG Amond says Newport County AFC have to forget the frustrations from Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Mansfield Town and focus on earning three points at Cambridge United.

Amond put County 2-0 up from the penalty spot after Joss Labadie had opened the scoring at Rodney Parade.

But Mansfield battled back into the game with two goals in just 96 seconds soon after the break.

They would have been ahead if it wasn’t for new goalkeeper Tom King’s penalty save from Nicky Maynard.

But the Exiles also had chances to win the game in the closing stages after Stags midfielder Jacob Mellis was sent off.

Amond told iFollow Exiles: “We’re very frustrated. We played really well for the first 45 minutes, switched off for ten minutes of the second half, then we were the better team again and dominated after the red card. But we just couldn’t get the winner at the end.

“The position we were in at half time, it doesn’t look great in terms of the result, but the most important thing was that we made sure we didn’t lose the game. We easily could have done that as well, but Kingy has made a good save from the penalty.

“We were completely on top and we feel that we maybe could have got another couple,” added Amond.

“But we didn’t play well enough in the first 10 minutes of the second half and we’ve been made to pay for it.

“It’s a frustrating start but we can look at it and say it was a better start than last year against Mansfield.

“You just want to win and we’re disappointed not to win but the beauty of League Two football is that games come around very quickly.

“We’re heading into a period where there’s lots of games over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully we get on the winning trail next weekend [at Cambridge].”

And Amond believes there are plenty of reasons for optimism after the opening match.

“There are a lot of positives,” he said. “A lot of the boys made their debuts and did really well and some of the football in the first 45 minutes was brilliant.

“It’s very mixed feelings but we know there are lots of positives to take out of it. There’ll be negatives which we can work on in the week but it’s not the worst start in the world.”

Free Press Series:

And, from a personal point of view, Amond was pleased to get off the mark at the first opportunity as he looks to better last season’s tally of 23 goals in all competitions.

“It’s always pleasing because you want to score as quick as you can,” said the Irishman. “Thankfully I had the chance and I scored.

“I took a couple of penalties in pre-season. I took one over in Spain against Al Ahly and missed one last week against Hungerford but there was never a doubt. I scored it and I’m obviously pleased to get off the mark.

“I was disappointed with the one at the end,” added Amond as he reflected on a late header that was disallowed.

“I think I was offside, but I would like to see it again. It’s one of those where I was so convinced that I was offside that I might look back and not be.

“We probably would have deserved that if it had gone in at the end, just to get the three points because the first half was too good.”

Read more: Newport County can take the positives from 2-2 draw with Mansfield Town