Edinburgh says defeat was harsh on Newport

The Exiles were beaten 3-1 in their first away league game since their return to the Football League, a result that looked unlikely during an early spell of Welsh dominance.

Town keeper Matt Duke made several good saves during that time and goals from Jacob Blyth and Roy O’Donovan turned the contest on its head before Gary Deegan sealed the result with a late, low drive.

Conor Washington denied Duke a clean sheet with a goal in the 90th minute but former Rushden & Diamonds boss Edinburgh was left to rue what might have been.

“I don’t think it was a composure thing, we hit our targets and there were chances there for us today to get goals,” he said. “We haven’t taken them.

“I’ve got no real complaints about the performance. To come to somewhere like Sixfields and put the home side under pressure for long periods of the game is very pleasing.

“We put them on the back foot for long spells and forced them to play on the counter-attack. We lost our way for probably five or ten minutes during the first half but other than that I thought we gave a fantastic account of ourselves.”

That fantastic account included a sequence of first-half chances that required superb interventions from Duke, who was unquestionably Northampton’s best performer.

Edinburgh, whose team won their two previous games, admitted his side should have been more clinical at times.

“Their goalkeeper was man of the match but we shouldn’t be giving him the chance to make some of the saves that he did,” said Edinburgh.

“The scoreline is very harsh on us but we gave a good account of ourselves, I thought. But the scoreline is a harsh one and doesn’t reflect the nature of the game, really.

“Without a doubt we were not ruthless enough in our box and we are disappointed with the goals we have conceded.”