Notts County manager Stuart Maynard praised his side for producing a “really big performance” as their comfortable 2-0 win at Newport kept them firmly in the mix for automatic promotion.
The Magpies ended a difficult month on a high as two goals from Charlie Whitaker earned victory at Rodney Parade and kept Maynard’s men sixth, just two points behind third-placed Port Vale with seven games to play.
After three defeats and two draws going into the game, it was a welcome three points for the visitors against a side with an impressive home record this season.
“I think that was a really big performance,” said Maynard. “A clean sheet is always pleasing, but we made it so comfortable.
“They didn’t really have any efforts at our goal and we didn’t have anything defensively to worry about.
“And they’ve got the fifth-best home record in the league, so they’re a very good team at home. We knew it was going to be a really tough test. They’ve got a lot of pace and can hurt you on the break, but we coped with it brilliantly.
“We haven’t got the results we wanted in the last three games. But we performed really well so we were confident as a group that this result was coming.
“We’ve just got to take care of our own results. We’ve got seven games left now and it’s another three points to play for on Wednesday, but MK Dons is going to be another really tough game.”
Everton academy product Whitaker opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a confident finish into the bottom corner after being played through the middle by Nick Tsaroulla.
David McGoldrick almost doubled the visitors’ lead and Tsaroulla was denied by goalkeeper Nick Townsend just before the break.
Former Notts County man Josh Martin twice went close for the hosts, but experienced striker McGoldrick teed up Whitaker for the second after 63 minutes and he beat Townsend with another sublime finish.
Newport dropped to 18th in the table and head coach Nelson Jardim admitted the better side won.
“We knew that this was going to be a tough game because we know the quality of Notts County,” said the Portuguese.
“They took their moments well and we had two or three chances that we didn’t take. We should be proud of the effort, but it was always going to be tough against a good team.
“For moments we made it hard for them and also showed we can play good football. It was just the decisions in the final third. Decision-making is what makes a huge difference.”
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