NEWPORT County boss Jimmy Dack hailed his side despite their play-off dreams ending at Bootham Crescent.

Despite halting their four game run of defeats with a 2-0 triumph at York City, Plymouth Argyle’s 3-2 victory over Tranmere Rovers means the Exiles can now only finish eighth or ninth in League Two.

Goals from David Tutonda and stand-in skipper Lee Minshull as well as a penalty save from goalkeeper Joe Day helped the Exiles to three hard earned points and Dack didn’t want the disappointment of the day deflect from that.

"I thought we were outstanding from start to finish, I thought our game plan was spot on, we came here, we passed the ball and I thought we were convincing winners," he said.

"I don't think they could handle our pace today, we were making the right decisions, we turned them when we needed to turn them.

“Our last four or five games have been really high pressure games, I think we hit teams at the wrong time and it cost us, but today we showed our supporters what we're all about.”

Dack feels the result underlined the growth the Exiles are making, as does the campaign as a whole.

"We've never been involved in a League Two play off promotion bid, and there is a lot of pressure involved, but the players will be better for it next year,” he said.

We're a growing club and we're getting better and better.

"All in all it's a great day's work but we're going into Saturday and we'll look forward to our last game of the season now."

Dack paid tribute to goalscorer Minshull, who not only doubled the Exiles’ advantage, but also helped to keep a clean sheet as part of an unfamiliar back three.

"Lee hasn't trained all week, but I've bought him in, made him skipper and thought he was probably man of the match today,” Dack said.