Newport caretaker manager Dafyyd Williams rued what he called his side’s Achilles heel after they went down 2-0 to two set-pieces in League Two at Fleetwood.
Williams took over for the final two games of the season following Nelson Jardim’s departure this week and was pleased by what he had seen in his two sessions on the training ground. But ongoing issues in defending set-pieces continue to plague the Exiles.
The hosts took a lead early in the second half through Phoenix Patterson’s free-kick into the top corner, while it was the Cod Army’s second goal though, a set-piece strike by Zech Medley that was a carbon-copy of a goal they had scored five days earlier, that had Williams fuming.
“It’s been a turbulent couple of days naturally,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed it and the players have responded really well.
“They’ve trained really well. They’ve taken on quite a lot of information in what’s been just two sessions and two meetings, so I can’t fault that effort and their reaction. But ultimately, we’ve come here and we’ve lost.
“There have been too many of those this season away from home and that for me is unacceptable.
“We’ve conceded another two set-pieces. It’s been our Achilles heel this season, the number of goals we’ve conceded from set plays has been an absolute disgrace. We haven’t been able to solve the problem.
“The free-kick’s a good free-kick, to be fair and then the corner.
“They’ve literally done it against Harrogate the other week and to be fair, the staff showed them that clip in the preparation for the game and they’ve scored from it.
“So the players need to take accountability, 100 per cent. But equally, I think we can all look at ourselves.
“First and foremost, I think we have to reflect on our roles and responsibilities as well – staff and players – because ultimately that’s not good enough to concede that many set plays, it’s not good enough when you’re representing Newport County.”
Fleetwood boss Pete Wild was delighted by his side’s first home win since February, courtesy of the work they do on practising their set plays.
Wild hailed both his goalscorers, particularly Medley’s after the defender’s lengthy lay-off with an Achilles injury.
“I’m really pleased,” said Wild. “I’ve just said to the players that I’ve been really critical of them and their performances recently but I thought they performed really well today.
“The players played with a tempo and an energy, they moved the ball really well and I was really pleased with how we went about our business.
“It was nice to watch them and to score two really well-worked goals from set-pieces, that puts us one off being the best set-piece team in the country, they deserve a massive amount of credit for that this season.
“A lack of firepower has meant we’ve relied on those set-pieces and the lads have delivered.
“I think Phoenix should probably be scoring more than the three he’s got this season and forward players are judged on their goal returns so I think he’d like to score more. But he has worked ever so hard for the team today and I’m really pleased he got his goal.
“I’m delighted for Zech too, we’ve seen how much drive he’s put into his rehab so he could get into a position where he could play again this season. Full credit to him and it was a lovely moment for us all when he scored.”
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