Bromley boss Andy Woodman happier with result than ‘terrible’ display at Newport

Bromley boss Andy Woodman admitted his side got out of jail after a “terrible” performance saw them snatch a late 1-0 win at lowly Newport.

Relegation-threatened County dominated the first half and hit a post through Ben Lloyd after the break, while home substitute James Crole was denied five minutes from time.

But the visitors held on and snatched all three points thanks to Corey Whitely’s superb 88th-minute volley against his former club.

The win lifts the League Two leaders five points clear of MK Dons, who play Colchester on Wednesday night, but manager Andy Woodman was a lot happier with the result than the performance.

“We were terrible,” he said. “Newport are fighting for their lives and they ran their socks off and made it tough for us, and we just couldn’t get going.

“Credit to Newport and credit to the manager. What he’s done here, he’s turned his team around. I don’t want to talk about them too much, but they really didn’t deserve to lose. And I don’t say that often.

“On the flip side, my team just keep going,” he added.

“The keeper makes a big save at 0-0 and it kind of gives everyone a lift. And then Corey, I mean, we’ve seen him hit those many times and they’ve gone into car parks and into next week.

“But today he hit one and it’s just gone in. And I’m relieved, I’m buzzing. Sometimes you get your luck and sometimes you earn your luck by the graft you put in and these boys have put the graft in.”

Newport slipped to 22nd in the table, a point above Harrogate in 23rd and two points clear of bottom club Barrow, who have a game in hand.

But, despite the cruel manner of the defeat, Exiles boss Christian Fuchs was proud of the way his players performed.

“It was a great performance,” said Fuchs. “I think, when you look at the game, you cannot tell who is number one in the table.

“I’m very proud of the team, with the character that they played, with the intensity, the energy. They didn’t deserve at the end what they got from the game, but that’s one of those moments – you play really well and don’t deserve that loss at the end.

“We should be more clinical with our chances, that’s very clear,” he added. “I think we had chances for three games (and three victories). But, overall, I’m very proud of the boys and we need to build on that again.

“We can take a lot away from the game and I’m just disappointed for them because the effort we put in definitely deserved more than that.”