MILTON Keynes Dons and Manchester City beware – after beating Middlesbrough and Mansfield Town at Rodney Parade, Newport County AFC have got their mojo back.

Robbie Willmott, who scored his first goal of the season to set County on the road to a thrilling FA Cup victory over Tony Pulis’ men in midweek, celebrated his new contract with the only goal of the game to see off Mansfield in League Two.

The second-placed Stags had only lost three in 20 before this game, but they were no match for Michael Flynn’s men, who move up to 13th in the table.

The manager stuck with the same starting XI who had battered Boro and they picked up where they’d left off on Tuesday night with a superb hard-working display in difficult conditions.

Mansfield could have been ahead inside 20 seconds when CJ Hamilton crossed from the right and Nicky Ajose ballooned his shot over from 10 yards.

But after that early let-off, County took charge and they were deservedly ahead after 15 minutes thanks to another brilliantly-worked corner routine.

Dan Butler rolled the ball to Padraig Amond, who flicked the ball to the on-rushing Robbie Willmott to hammer home from the edge of the box.

Joss Labadie thought he had doubled the Exiles’ advantage 10 minutes later when he hooked in from close range, but the offside flag was up.

Jacob Mellis fizzed a long-distance effort just wide at the other end and Tyler Walker shot straight at Joe Day, but it was the hosts who looked most threatening.

South Wales Argus:

Willmott was the main outlet and his direct running caused panic in the visiting defence, with both Ryan Sweeney and Mal Benning booked for hacking him down.

The visitors were being out-fought and out-played and they made a double change at the start of the second half with Benning and Ajose replaced by Danny Rose and Gethin Jones – the former Wales under-21s captain.

But Rose only lasted around seven minutes before he was replaced by Will Tomlinson following a clash of heads, which led to a delay of around eight minutes.

South Wales Argus:

That could have disrupted the flow of the match, but County continued to play some excellent football on the tricky surface with Jamille Matt, Bakinson, Willmott and Amond passing and moving to great effect up front.

Bakinson, whose deflected volley led to the corner for the goal, saw another goal-bound effort diverted behind as Flynn’s men pushed for a second.

There were some nervy moments as the Stags broke at speed and the Exiles’ cup exploits began to take their toll.

Substitute Tomlinson saw a shot deflected behind and Sweeney headed inches wide in stoppage-time.

But Matt almost put the game to bed when he controlled a high ball from Poole only to see his shot saved by Stags goalkeeper Jordan Smith.

And, in the end, one was all they needed as they battled their way through 11 minutes of added on time to claim another big home win.

County: Day; Poole, O’Brien, Demetriou; Willmott (Dolan, 88), Bennett, Bakinson, Butler; Labadie; Amond, Matt

Subs not used: Townsend, Forbes, Crofts, Sheehan, Kennedy, Marsh-Brown

Booked: Demetriou, Amond

Referee: Graham Salisbury

Attendance: 3,133 (362 Mansfield)

Argus star man: Willmott