Manager Michael Flynn hailed 10-man Newport’s best win of the season after they beat Grimsby 1-0 at Rodney Parade.

Scot Bennett was sent off in the first half before Nicky Maynard ended Newport’s eight-match winless run in League Two with a debut goal which lifted the long-time leaders up to fourth.

You have to go back to the last time the two teams met, at Blundell Park on December 8, for Newport’s last win and once again they did it the hard way.

For the fourth time in their last five outings they had a player sent off, Bennett being the culprit on this occasion after lunging into Stefan Payne, before Maynard struck the winner.

Flynn said: “For me it was probably the best win of the season.

“I feared the worst when we went down to 10 for the fourth game in five, which is not good enough.

“We are giving referees the chance to give them and we need to learn quickly because we are not always going to get away with it.

“The red cards have all gone to experienced players – Liam Shepherd, Josh Sheehan, Joss Labadie and now Scot Bennett – who should all know better. One or two might be harsh but don’t give the referee an opportunity.

“I will speak to Scot on Monday, he’s already feeling bad enough about it. The worst thing is the ball was six inches out in the movement before he got sent off. It is what it is.

“I wish I could control my players’ decision because they wouldn’t be getting sent off.”

The win moved Newport from seventh to fourth and they host Southend at Rodney Parade on Tuesday night.

Flynn added: “I’m really pleased with the three points and we are back on track. But we’ve got another tough game on Tuesday because that pitch isn’t going to get any better.

“It does affect us a lot more this season than in previous years, so we are at a disadvantage.”

Grimsby’s defeat left boss Paul Hurst still seeking his first win since returning to the club at the turn of the year and only one point off the bottom of the table.

But Hurst said: “As disappointed and frustrated as I am with the defeat, there are positives.

“Some people might say I’m talking rubbish, because it is a results game and given the position we are in we need points, but I’m pleased.

“Seven of the players who started weren’t here in January when I first joined and there were three more on the bench. We know we have got to raise our levels because it hasn’t been good enough so far.

“We are playing better teams when you look at the league table, so we’ve got to raise our game to even have a chance of getting a result.

“But it didn’t look that way with people looking to get to know each other on the pitch, although a few of them will benefit from more training and more games to get to the pace of everything.”

Hurst’s side had 68% of the possession in the first half and then saw Newport reduced to 10 men.

He added: “I didn’t want the sending off to happen. Michael Flynn would have got into them at half-time no matter what and changed things around but once they got an early goal in the second half they were able to sit in and defend.

“We dominated over the 90 minutes but didn’t create much and they defended really well.

“Nick Townsend made one very good save but overall we didn’t have enough to get what a lot of people might have thought after the first-half performance and the sending off would have been a win.”