13 April 2021

Carlisle boss Chris Beech accuses Newport of playacting

13 April 2021

Carlisle head coach Chris Beech accused Newport’s players of playacting after his team were left frustrated by a 0-0 draw in their Sky Bet League Two clash.

Beech’s Blues were the better side throughout at Rodney Parade, but paid the price for missed opportunities as Rod McDonald and Omari Patrick failed to convert in either half.

Newport manager Mike Flynn was rightly pleased with a point considering his team were second best, but the Exiles were the target for strong criticism from Beech.

“Newport have got some players who have been around the game and they know how to work the referee. There was constant screaming on the floor and it’s not nice,” he said.

“Their skipper has gone rolling around on the floor and he’s a good player. It’s almost like they have no reason to stop doing it unless they get booked.

“Hopefully they clamp down on it because I think the referees are aware of it. They test the referee with their constant screaming, but I thought he did OK.

“We were aggressive and on the front foot and I might be biased, but I thought we were better than them.”

McDonald missed a sitter of a header from Callum Guy’s delivery in the first half and it was one of several Carlisle chances over the course of the 90 minutes.

Offrande Zanzala did head in, but he was judged to have fouled Newport goalkeeper Nick Townsend.

Beech added: “I don’t think there was anything wrong with our goal because Offrande didn’t make contact with their goalkeeper. We were the better team, but they will feel in a better position because we didn’t beat them.

“It’s a good point and I’m pleased with the lads and their efforts. We went through turmoil at Christmas and we are back to our best and back to playing quick football.

“We’ve got Port Vale next in a huge game. They are in great form and flying high.”

Newport are sixth after this draw and still in the play-off hunt.

Flynn said: “I thought it was a fair result. I think they edged the first half with their chances, but we were the better team in the second half and we tried to win the game at the end.

“Carlisle are a good team and I’ve no problem giving the opposition credit.

“They have pace going forward and look to hit you on the counter-attack. They are strong and have a midfield three who run all day.

“In the second half we swung the momentum back and it was a hard-fought point. We have got another huge game on Saturday now and the confidence going into that will be high because we finished on a high.

“It was a solid point gained, we can still finish on 80 points, and we will try to get there. It’s going to be a tall order to get automatic promotion, but hopefully we will finish as high as we can.”

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