THE suffering at Spytty Park continued on Saturday as Newport County were dumped out of the FA Trophy at the first hurdle by Kettering Town after a dismal 4-0 surrendering.

Defeat is by no means a crime, especially in cup competitions, but the manner of this latest reversal and the 4-1 FA Cup humbling at Tiverton last week has left fans completely disillusioned.

For the second week in a row they have shipped four goals and allowed an opposition player to grab a hat trick. This time Ollie Burgess took advantage on three occasions.

Manager John Cornforth must feel as though he is banging his head against a brick wall at the moment.

The former Swansea captain was often not the most gifted player on show, but there were few who were more committed than he, and it must be frustrating for him to watch this side simply roll over and die when the going gets tough.

Cornforth himself admitted after the game that these players are letting him down and putting him under pressure, and that he is even in danger of getting the sack before his County career gets properly under way.

The manager has brought in Leyton Maxwell and Matt Rees, and the problematic left side of defence is set to be solved by the arrival of Hornchurch's Damon Searle, but there appears to be a deep-rooted malaise that has set in among the players, and when a goal is conceded they simply give up the ghost.

The 2-0 victory at Weymouth had shown them light at the end of the tunnel, but, alas, it was merely an onrushing express train, and it now looks as though County's season has completely gone off the rails.

On Saturday County were without Nathan Davies and Roger Freestone, again, through ankle injuries, and also Jon Coates was out with an infected toe, but they held out against a dominant Kettering side for 42 minutes before they were inevitably undone when Lee Phillips gave the ball away at the back.

It was picked up by striker Daniel French, who split the backline open and released Drew Roberts, who in turn fired over a cross which the onrushing French slotted home.

Once again, just as last week, they conceded another within seconds of the re-start, when Jamie Patterson dispossessed Kevin Aherne-Evans and whipped over a vicious cross that was belted into the net by Ollie Burgess.

The heads visibly drooped, and it was only a matter of time before the visitors added to their tally, and this arrived on 70 minutes, with new boy Matt Rees the offender this time.

His backpass was woefully short, and Burgess nicked in to place the ball between goalkeeper Andrew Delve's legs.

The game was now well and truly over, but County managed their first shot on target soon after when youngster John Phillips rifled a stinging shot that brought a fine save out of Poppies 'keeper Steve Corry.

The stopper must have been grateful because up until then he was a virtual spectator and could have taken a trip to the burger stall without anyone noticing.

Not long after Jason Bowen was withdrawn, and was met by some derision from sections of the crowd, but their pain was intensified at the death as Kettering twisted the knife one last time.

Only a minute remained when Chris Difante robbed Scott Morgan and the substitute teed up Burgess, who wasted no time in claiming his third of the afternoon.

The final whistle was greeted by much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and if it wasn't clear before, then it is now: These are troubled times down Spytty Road.

Newport County: Delve, Aherne-Evans (G Jones), L Phillips, Maxwell, Rees, Morgan, Bowen (Griffiths 77), D Jones, Moralee, Williams, J Phillips. Subs not used: Thomas, Evans, Blackburn. Booked: D Jones (62 foul).

Kettering Town: Corry, Matthews, McCafferty, Solkhon (Lazarus 89), Gould (Harris 89), Brown, Burgess, Diuk, French, Roberts (Difante 81), Patterson. Subs not used: Bridgeford, Benjamin. Booked: Patterson (25 simulation). Referee: W Barratt (Halesowen). Attendance: 528.

"ABSOLUTELY pathetic" was how Newport County boss John Cornforth described the side's 4-0 surrender to Kettering in the FA Trophy at Spytty Park on Saturday.

Cornforth was fuming after the match and did not hold back his feelings as he witnessed his side reproduce the form that saw them humbled in the FA Cup last Saturday at Tiverton.

"It was absolutely pathetic from the word go," he said. "One minute you get one performance, and the next you get another, and that is not good enough.

"If I had my way six or seven of them would leave the club today, but I can't do that because they are under contract.

"It is blatantly obvious for everybody to see that they are not good enough." He added: "I am under pressure now. If they keep playing like this I will get the sack.

"I have told the players, 'you are going to get me the sack'.

"I don't understand the mentality of sitting back and waiting to get beaten.

"There is a dressing-room full of Welsh players, and I played with a bunch of Welsh boys at Swansea who were willing to get stuck in, be aggressive and make the tackles, but it is just not there.

"I will stick up for my players as much as I can, but I can't stick up for that level of performance."

Cornforth questioned the players' attitude, but he was also left to rue a series of mistakes that led to all the goals.

He said: "Individual errors have cost us. We gave the ball away in the first half and it cost us a goal. If we go in at half-time level it is a different game."

The County boss knows that his hands are tied, but is working to bring in new faces to bolster a side that is clearly lacking in confidence.

He said: "I have got no options to work with. We had three players out and had two kids on the bench that were playing for the youth team in the morning.

"But I am putting in the mileage to bring in new players."

He added: "You had 500 fans there today, but there could be 200 next week because of the way they are playing, and going from one extreme to another."