Mark O'Brien praises Newport County team effort at Swindon Town

O’Brien opened the scoring at the County Ground with a header from Robbie Willmott’s corner seven minutes before the break.

And Jamille Matt sealed the win with a volley from substitute Padraig Amond’s cross in the 82nd minute.

O’Brien was pleased to make an impact at both ends of the pitch, but he was quick to praise the team effort.

The centre-back told iFollowExiles: “To find myself in those positions is very rare so it’s always good to get myself on the scoresheet.

“As we’ve said for a long time, you can’t always just leave it down to your strikers to score all the goals.

“It is a good feeling but, at the end of the day, I’m a defender and the clean sheet is more important.

“When we’ve kept clean sheets in the past, 1-0 wins have been crucial for us.

“And, like we always say, if we can keep them out at one end, we know we’ve got lads at the other end who can stick them in.

“It was a great team performance, every put in a great shift and that’s from the lads who played and came off the bench.

“As well as the back five, the midfield and Tristan [Abrahams] and Jamma [Matt] all put in a great performance.

“They gave their all, which meant it was a full team performance. It wasn’t any individuals who were stepping out and getting the limelight.

“Our basis is making ourselves a hard team to beat and knowing that we’re going to work hard for each other. And we’ve shown all that again.”

The win lifted the Exiles to sixth in the League Two table, only two points behind leaders Exeter City.

O’Brien was proud of the display, but he insists the players will not be getting carried away.

“It’s a statement performance,” said the Irishman.

“We’ve been doing that and showing it non-stop this season.

“We’ve shown we can compete with the so-called best teams in the league. We’ve just got to keep this momentum going and keep going to the next one now.

“We’ve put a run together before when it’s mattered and we know what we’re capable of on our day.

“In League Two, you have to turn up on the day because anyone can beat anyone.

“If we can show a bit more consistency like we have been doing, then we’ll look forward to next Saturday [at home to Carlisle United].

“We just take each game as it comes because there’s no point looking too far ahead, it’s a very long season.

“If we can just keep gaining the points and keep pushing on week after week, getting stronger and stronger, then we know we’ll be in with a shout.”

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