Newport County new boy, Jamie Moralee opened his scoring account yesterday as the Exiles edged out Bath City in the Dr. Martens League, Premier Division, clash.

New Year's Day is a day when hangovers are nursed and for the first half at Spytty Park, yesterday, it appeared as though Newport County's players were recovering from a night out hitting Newport's hotspots.

The opening 45 minutes were a real eyesore, but the match burst into life after the break.

After a period of Newport pressure, their first concentrated spell of the match, on 55 minutes, Garry Shephard got by his man and crossed into the box at the second attempt and Gareth Phillips found himself in space with time to clip the ball into the net beyond Mark Bryant.

The goal lifted Newport's hangover and they played with more purpose, but controversy soon followed. A penalty was awarded to Bath on 73 minutes after the linesman had spotted an infringement in the box by Terry Evans on Frankie Bennett after a hopeful ball was played in.

Darren Hawkins converted, triggering an extraordinary three-minute spell for the Bath midfielder. Within a minute of scoring he was booked for a late tackle and only a further minute later he saw the red card after kicking the ball away in disgust after team-mate Matt Coupe committed another foul.

The frantic turn in the proceedings were not over yet when only moments later, from the resulting free kick, Moralee, making his home debut, opened his Newport account with a stunning low volley after a high ball beat the offside trap from Ashley Williams.

The sending off and the quick goal knocked the stuffing out of the away side and Newport ended the match in a fairly comfortable manner.

Newport County: Roberts; Evans, Lloyd, Davies, Eckhardt (A Thomas 45), Morgan, S Williams, A Williams (Stevensen 76), Moralee, Shephard (J Phillips 76), G Phillips. Bath City: Bryant; Coupe, Jenkins, Jones, Trought, Rollo, Hawkins, Owers, Eaton, Bennett (Cleverly 77), Milton. Booked, Newport: Roberts (dissent), Evans (dissent), Davies (foul), Eckhardt (foul), S Morgan (foul), A Williams (foul). Bath City: Jenkins (foul), Jones (foul), Rollo (dissent) , Owers (dissent). Sent off: Hawkins (two yellow cards). Attendance: 928. Referee: Kevin Barnes (Swindon).