NEWPORT County AFC head coach Nelson Jardim praised his side’s ruthless finishing but admitted they did ride their luck during the 3-1 home win over Accrington Stanley.

County led 1-0 in the 12th minute when Shane McLoughlin’s shot deflected in off Stanley defender Seb Quirk.

But the visitors were deservedly level seven minutes before the break when Shaun Whalley cut inside his man and fired past Nick Townsend in the Exiles goal.

Tyler Walton then hit the post and Townsend tipped over a fierce effort from Donald Love as the visitors ended the first half on top.

But Courtney Baker-Richardson restored the hosts’ lead in the 52nd minute when he scored from the spot after Love felled Bobby Kamwa in the box and captain Aaron Wildig hooked in the third on 63 minutes.

“I’m very pleased,” said Jardim, who has two wins from two at home after replacing Graham Coughlan this summer.

“Winning home games is important in this league and the performance was, I would say, enough for that.

“But, credit to Accrington, they are a good team. They made it very difficult for us and I think this is a win for the staff that I have got working with me, they’ve been brilliant. And for the players – they deserve the credit for this win.”

Not that it was entirely comfortable viewing for the Portuguese head coach, as Jimmy Knowles also crashed a free-kick onto the bar after the break.

“They caused us a couple of problems that we were probably not expecting, due to their quality, but I think we improved in the second half. We had to dig in and work very hard to win the game,” added Jardim.

“We have to improve. We didn’t do as well as we wanted in the first half, and they made it very difficult.

“Full credit to the opposition. I thought they created too many chances, but we were ruthless. If we create five or six chances, we manage to score three. But we know that not every game is going be like that.”