Newport County and Fleetwood Town drew 1-1 in League Two on Saturday, substitute Aaron Loupalo-Bi's second-half equaliser cancelling out Christian Doidge's first-half opener at Rodney Parade. The point kept Fleetwood unbeaten in the league this season, but it was Newport who were left to rue what they had not taken. Doidge scored his first goal for his hometown club in the 37th minute, tapping in a Matty Jacob cross, and had been wasteful before and after it. Loupalo-Bi came on in the 62nd minute and levelled in the 67th.
Doidge Breaks Through After Missed Chances The hosts were on top from the start. Doidge failed to sort his feet in time to convert from close range after two minutes, Kyle Cameron headed off target from close range and Cameron Norman flashed over. Matt Dibley-Dias also went close, and Newport had six good first-half chances before the breakthrough arrived. It came in the 37th minute at the end of a slick back-to-front attack. Jacob, on loan from Hull, raced into the box and crossed for Doidge, a summer signing who had missed the last two games through injury, to slot home from a few yards out. Fleetwood had little to offer in the half and were booked three times before the break, Mark Helm in the 29th minute, Finley Potter in the 40th and Ched Evans in the 45th. Their manager, Matt Lawlor, was frank about it afterwards. "We didn't start the first half well at all," he said after the match, adding that "we were rubbish for the whole first half".
Loupalo-Bi Levels Newport stayed on top after the restart, and Doidge sent a diving header wide from Harrison Biggins' free-kick, a miss that proved costly. Fleetwood made five changes in the second half, two in the 56th minute and two more in the 62nd, when Loupalo-Bi and Will Davies replaced Ronan Coughlan and Evans. Loupalo-Bi, who played under Newport manager Hayden Mullins at Fulham last season, needed five minutes to make his mark. He nipped in at the near post to divert a low ball past Jordan Wright in the 67th minute. Shaun Rooney was booked in the 53rd minute and Rhys Bennett in the 95th, Fleetwood's fifth yellow card of the afternoon. Newport finished with 16 shots to Fleetwood's 15, though only two were on target to the visitors' three, and won nine corners to three. Fleetwood had 51% of the possession.
Mullins Sees Positives While Lawlor Takes the Point Neither side could find a late winner. Fleetwood have now drawn four of their first six league games of the season, while Newport remain unbeaten at home. Mullins saw positives. "The performance in the first half and from the start of the second half is something that we have got to build on," he said after the match. "It was a bad goal to concede, and it came at a time when we felt momentum was shifting their way." Lawlor was content to leave with a point. "I would have liked three points, but after that second-half performance, I will take the point," he said.