Ten years ago the two clubs were five tiers apart in the footballing pyramid, but subsequent contrasting trajectories have brought them together in a league fixture for the first time since 1983.
Portsmouth’s decline – featuring seven owners, two periods of insolvency and successive relegations – has been well documented, while Newport’s rise under former Portsmouth defender Justin Edinburgh has gone largely unnoticed.
Edinburgh kept Newport in the Conference against the odds in 2012 before leading them to an unlikely promotion via the play-offs last season and few would bet against the Welsh club maintaining their play-off position, particularly if they continue to pick up points away from home like they do so consistently at Rodney Parade.
Both goals came shortly after the hour. Flynn timed his run to perfection to meet Ryan Jackson’s cutback and his rasping left-footed drive was still rising when it crashed in to the roof of the net.
The Newport-born midfielder completed his double three minutes later by firing a low shot on the turn after he was left unmarked at the far post. His goals visibly deflated the home side, who rarely threatened to get back in the game.
Barker said: “We’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do. It’s too easy to score goals against us and we need to stop that quickly. Once the first goal went in, that’s when our [lack of] confidence looked a problem. I’m still learning about the players but we look fairly fragile. We make no bones about it, this is a tough run we’re in. We need to make sure that on January 1st, we’re well aware of how good and how not-so-good things are so we can make changes.”
Whether or not Portsmouth have the financial resources to strengthen given their high turnover of players over the past couple of seasons a radical overhaul is not required. Rather, on this evidence, Portsmouth have a capable squad that needs to return to defending properly.
Match details
Portsmouth (4-4-2): Carson; Moutaouakil, Bradley, Devera, Potts; Barcham, Cooper (Ferry 80), Racon, Holmes (Wallace 67); Agyemang (Bird 67), Connolly.
Subs: Sullivan, N’Gala, Padovani, Ertl.
Booked: Potts, Cooper.
Newport County (3-5-2): Pidgeley; Pipe, Worley, Oshilaja; Jackson, Chapman, Flynn (Minshull 85), Willmott, Sandell; Washington (Crow 41), Jolly (Naylor 80).
Subs: James, Barker.
Booked: Pidgeley, Worley, Oshilaja, Chapman.
Referee: D Deadman (Cambridgeshire).
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