Andy Awford suffered his first league defeat as Portsmouth manager after Newport came away from Fratton Park with a 1-0 win after a poor quality match made worse by the referee.
The Pompey boss reverted back to his wing back system that served him well in his home matches thus far but it didn't work yesterday with chances at a premium and Newport cancelling his team out with their own 3-5-2 formation.
The visitors had the better of the early minutes of the match as Lee Minshull should have tapped in at the near post, Kevin Feely hit the crossbar with a looping header and Paul Jones had to make two great saves to deny Robbie Willmott and Ryan Jackson.
Pompey were struggling to cope with the Exiles' physicality but should have taken the lead after the initial pressure as some good work by Jed Wallace saw him cross the ball to an unmarked Ryan Taylor in the box but he shot wide of the far post when he really should have scored.
Ricky Holmes had a free kick saved late in the half but that was as good as it got in what was a poor first half.
The second half wasn't much better although Joe Devera should have done better with his free header in the box from Holmes' corner. The best strike of the match for the hosts came from Wallace who curled the ball on target from an angle and forced Joe Day to push it away from danger.
Craig Westcarr also had a good chance but couldn't squeeze the ball in at the far post from a tight angle and the ball rolled wide. Newport had barely threatened in the second half but were soon to make Pompey pay for their missed chances.
Andy Sandell sent a free kick into the box on the 84th minute which somehow evaded everyone and found the back of the net for Pompey to concede a soft goal.
There would be no late comeback with referee Lee Collins making a couple of extremely bad decisions late on to prevent Pompey attacking late on and so Awford tasted his first defeat as manager in League Two.
Newport had done a job on Pompey. They worked hard and got in the faces of the Pompey players although had the referee exerted his authority on the match early on then the Welsh side certainly wouldn't have gotten away with half of their antics including shoves off the ball and dirty challenges which should have received yellow cards rather than constant final warnings.
It would be easy to blame referee Collins for the defeat given his inconsistency. He booked Pompey players for minor infractions which would have seen multiple Newport players sent off, gave free kicks when the players clearly took the ball, especially in Atangana's case late on and his performance was summed up when he blew his whistle after an altercation, all 20 outfield players prepared for a Pompey free kick only to be called back for a Newport free kick. It was farcical.
Collins made Kevin Friend seem like Perluigi Collina, however, Justin Edinburgh's side were a very frustrating team to play against and as the game wore on you could see that Pompey were going to get little change out of them playing in the way they did. Therefore, why didn't Awford change the system and make his substitutions sooner? Nigel Atangana is built for this sort of match so it was baffling not to see him start.
There are also some Pompey fans who have accused the players of not trying hard enough. There did seem to be a slight drop in effort since the last home match with Northampton whilst Danny Hollands doesn't look fit and Holmes really should have busted a gut to get off the pitch when substituted rather than casually walk to the dugout.
This defeat will have been a reality check for everyone associated with Pompey. The players would have realised that they will be in for more battles like yesterday's if they haven't already, Awford will hopefully have learned that he can't keep tinkering with his team and maybe needs to be more reactive tactically and the fans who were getting carried away will now have been brought back down to earth.
Still, whilst we shouldn't get carried away with winning we also shouldn't get carried away after a defeat. August has still seen a yield of 10 points from 15 which is a good start to the season and it wasn't as if Pompey were thrashed yesterday and on another day might have nicked the win themselves.
Next Sunday's match at Burton Albion is likely to be Pompey's toughest match yet so we will discover just how much bouncebackability Andy Awford's men has.
Pompey Player Ratings
Paul Jones: 7 - Made a few terrific saves.
Ricky Holmes: 5 - Far too weak.
Ben Chorley: 6 - Solid return.
Paul Robinson: 6 - A couple of timely interceptions.
Joe Devera: 6 - Should have scored.
Nicky Shorey: 6 - Wasn't caused too many problems.
James Dunne: 7 - His type of game.
Danny Hollands: 5 - Looks off the pace.
Jed Wallace: 6 - Best creative outlet in a scrappy game.
Ryan Taylor: 5 - Better defensively and missed a great chance at the other end.
Craig Westcarr: 5 - Struggled against dogged Newport defence.
Substitutes
Peter Brezovan
Dan Butler
Johnny Ertl
Nick Awford
Nigel Atangana (Hollands 78): N/A - Should have started.
Andy Barcham (Shorey 85): N/A - Barely touched the ball.
Miles Storey (Holmes 72): N/A - No impact.