League Two: Newport County must address leaking defence fast

The Exiles suffered a 3-0 defeat to Chesterfield at Rodney Parade when they could so easily have been starting the weekend with a point, or possibly three.

County, who will attempt to end a three-game losing streak at Gillingham on Tuesday, ultimately paid the price for a calamitous start that set the tone.

Two seasoned EFL campaigners managed to make a mess of a long ball that was flicked on by Paddy Madden.

Neither Nick Townsend or Kyle Jameson did the required job – put a boot through the ball, have a row and start again from the throw-in at 0-0.

Instead, the loose ball was put in by Dilan Markanday and Chesterfield held onto the lead for Will Grigg to twist the knife with a pair of late close-range finishes.

Here are the talking points from the defeat…

WOE: County's second-half showing failed to grab a point after late goals (Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)

DEFENSIVE WOES

The stats made sorry reading for County - ahead of the Saturday action they have the joint second-worst defensive record of 2.0 goals conceded per game. Carlisle are the worst on 2.1 with Accrington level with the Exiles.

Quite how they conceded three times against Chesterfield is a mystery.

There was the clanger in the first minute and two late sloppy strikes when they were chasing the game. The Spireites had three shots on goal and scored three times.

County haven’t been able to field a settled defence all season and that needs to change; they should stick with a back four and put square pegs in square holes.

They have four specialist centre-backs and it should be two of James Clarke, Ciaran Brennan, Matt Baker and Kyle Jameson.

Brennan has played the last two games at right-back but that has affected the balance of the team and it should be Cameron Evans there until Shane McLoughlin can return (at a push it should be Baker, who looks reasonable there, and not Brennan).

Anthony Glennon has his work-ons but is comfortably the best left-back until McLoughlin can put some pressure on.

County need some luck with injuries but also have to knuckle down and do the basics better.

It’s all well and good saying that the Exiles are creating chances but they have scored more than one goal in just five of 12 games and they have fired a blank four times.

At the moment the defence isn’t giving County a chance of burgling a win like Morecambe away in August.

APPEAL: James Clarke was sure the ball was over the line (Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)

CORNER CONTROVERSY

County are adamant that the should have been level after Chesterfield goalkeeper Max Thompson claimed a Glennon corner on 72 minutes and then stumbled back towards his line.

James Clarke was closest and was livid, running over to the linesman to protest.

Television footage isn’t clear and even if there were the number of cameras that Premier League games have then there wouldn’t be a definitive answer.

It’s a tough call and it’s totally understandable why the linesman didn’t give it. They couldn’t guess and had they given the goal then Chesterfield would have raged about it being clearly NOT over.

Goalline technology has been a success story but it’s costly and there aren’t vibrating watches in the fourth tier.

County might feel that they scored and it was undeniably tight, but it wasn’t a disgraceful decision.

IMPACT: Kai Whitmore impressed off the bench for County (Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)

CHANGE IT UP

County’s squad is starting to look healthier and some tough calls lie ahead over the coming days with a trip to Gillingham followed by a home fixture against Fleetwood.

If Priestfield doesn’t go to plan then the pressure really will be on next weekend in front of an increasingly nervy crowd.

County were flat for the full 90 minutes in the 1-0 defeat at Harrogate while they were very poor for the first half against Chesterfield.

There needs to start being some consequences for failing to fire now that there are genuine options.

The introduction of Kai Whitmore added some real snap and intensity, with his performance contrasting starkly to that of Cameron Antwi.

The midfielder was an exciting addition from Cardiff City but needs to up his game after dropping down two divisions.

At the moment he is at risk of going the same way as Sam Bowen, a player with undoubted qualities on the ball but who failed to shine at Rodney Parade.

Winger Michael Spellman deserves a starting shot soon while it’s a shame that Noah Mawene limped off after looking lively off the bench.

The frontman position is an interesting one after Luke Jephcott, who would have loved to play in a two as County finished, was left out of the matchday squad.

Kyle Hudlin is currently having the bigger impact than Courtney Baker-Richardson, who is yet to score from open play this season and struggled to win his duels in the first half.

What County would give for the ability to start with Madden and bring Grigg off the bench.