John Doolan praised an “outstanding” performance as Accrington moved 10 points clear of the bottom two with a 5-0 win over Newport – their best result of the season.
The Reds, who remain 21st despite the comprehensive victory, were on the front foot from the start in their game in hand over the teams around them and led 3-0 after just 26 minutes.
Doolan said: “This was a perfect night – five goals, your three forwards scoring goals, 3-0 at half-time and a clean sheet.
“The players deserved it, they were outstanding from the first minute to the 94th minute.
“We know we have this in us, we challenged the players to push their levels and they showed desire, attitude, work-rate, effort and togetherness and the quality to score goals. They have answered every question.
“Joe (O’Brien-Whitmarsh) was outstanding, his second-half goal was world class, both with his left foot, and it’s great for Kelsey (Mooney) and Tyler (Walton) to get on the scoresheet.
“You can’t ask for any more. They all had the bit between the teeth and it showed.
“You can’t take your foot off the gas though. We have now got to go and win the next game and focus on us.”
Accrington made a dream start after four minutes when Southampton loanee O’Brien-Whitmarsh raced forward and fired low into the net.
Dominant Accrington grabbed a second on 15 minutes when Walton’s cross was tapped home by Mooney.
Number three came after 26 minutes when a Ben Woods free-kick took a nick off Walton and found the bottom corner of the net.
O’Brien-Whitmarsh, who scored his first EFL goal last week, celebrated a brace after 53 minutes, rifling home from 20 yards.
The fifth came in the 75th minute when Walton, with a hat-trick of assists, set up Mooney to stroke home.
Newport have lost back-to-back games and have the worst defensive record in the league.
Head coach Nelson Jardim said: “It’s very disappointing, this is a wake-up call to everyone.
“Two teams started with different levels of desire and aggression and that’s the reason we were 3-0 down after 25 minutes.
“When you don’t match the opposition in terms of that, it’s very hard.
“When you lose 5-0 you don’t need to talk so much as the result speaks for itself.
“It’s not only down to me to find reasons for that. Some of the players will have to find reasons as well.
“They have missed another chance to show what they can do and, after 5-0, they need to keep their heads down and work hard.
“In our last 11 games, we have won five and drawn two and, when you look at our team, you have to look wider and that’s good. But we have 10 games to go and what we have seen today can’t happen again, it’s not good enough.”
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