Wrexham break 120-year record in Newport win

Wrexham and Newport County were facing off in the top four tiers of English football for the first time since March 1988.

An improved second-half showing earned Wrexham a 2-0 win over Welsh rivals Newport County.

Elliot Lee netted in the final stages to earn Phil Parkinson's men another key victory in their quest for a second successive promotion.

Wrexham stay third in League Two while Newport are 17th.

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Arsenal loanee Arthur Okonkwo returned from a jaw injury to start for the hosts, while Jones replaced the suspended George Evans to make his 100th league appearance for the club.

But Parkinson had to reshuffle his pack moments before kick-off after Eoghan O'Connell sustained an injury during the warm-up - with Max Cleworth stepping up from the bench for his maiden league start.

As for Graham Coughlan, he made two changes from the side that started Newport's 1-1 draw with Grimsby Town last weekend as Harry Charsley and top scorer Will Evans replaced Lewis Payne and Matt Baker.

Wrexham sought to get on the front foot with just 14 seconds on the clock as Paul Mullin lifted the ball into the path of James McClean who lashed over - although the offside flag had already been raised.

But that lively opening was hardly a sign of things to come, with strong winds doing little to help either side play an attractive brand of football.

In what was a disjointed display, it swiftly became apparent how grateful Wrexham were to have goalkeeper Okonkwo back in their side.

The 22-year-old denied Evans from an acute angle after the Welshman had been played through on goal by the menacing Omar Bogle.

Okonkwo then made an even better stop to tip Seb Palmer-Houlden's goal-bound header from a Ryan Delaney cross on to the bar.

Newport captain Delaney then went close to scoring himself, although he was unable to flick Charsley's driven effort on target.

Even when the home side did get into promising positions, they were unable to trouble Exiles keeper Nick Townsend who was only too happy to see Andy Cannon blaze over in the latter stages of the first half.

Despite being below par, Wrexham will have taken comfort from the fact that they would be shooting towards the temporary Kop stand, housing fans for the first time in 16 years, with the wind behind them in the second half.

A Ben Tozer long throw-in six minutes after the restart caused mayhem in the Newport box, but Townsend was alert to pluck Cannon's header from the air.

Wrexham were certainly improving though, and Newport were hugely fortunate not to fall behind on 58 minutes as Lee's thumping shot struck the post before hitting Townsend's back and bouncing behind to safety.

Only a minute later, Sam Salby spun his marker before drilling just wide as, for the first time in the contest, Newport looked edgy.

Parkinson must have felt it would only be a matter of time before his side's drastic improvement reaped rewards.

He may well have feared it would not be Wrexham's day when striker Mullin was unable to stretch to prod Dalby's flashed effort into the net from a yard out.

But just two minutes later, Wrexham took the lead.

Newport were once again unable to clear from a Tozer long throw-in, and Jones rifled beyond Townsend from near the penalty spot to send the majority of the 12,095 supporters in attendance into raptures.

It means the Dragons have scored in 49 successive home league matches, breaking a 120-year record.

Newport pushed in the final stages as Wrexham were happy to take the sting out of proceedings.

But they failed to trouble Okonkwo and, after substitute Steven Fletcher fired straight at Townsend, the home side made the victory safe.

Tozer delivered yet another long throw into the Newport box, and Lee headed home his 13th goal of the season to ensure Wrexham have netted at least twice in each of their 12 home league outings this term.

McClean nearly made it 3-0, stinging the palms of Townsend in the final minute, but the damage had long been done as Wrexham secured a sixth win in a row at home in the Football League for the first time since December 1995.