by Dan Cope
NEWPORT County manager Michael Flynn has rued his side’s missed opportunity to book their place in the second round of the FA Cup.
The Exiles drew 1-1 in their first round fixture with Grimsby Town after Padraig Amond’s penalty cancelled out Luke Waterfall’s opening goal.
The result means a replay at Rodney Parade and Welshman Flynn was left frustrated by County’s inability to gain a victory.
“We didn’t have enough cutting edge first half, or second half actually. We dominated the game. We gave away a sloppy goal and, with some better finishing or some better runs, we could have scored a hatful,” he said.
Grimsby took the lead after Liam Gibson’s cross found Town defender Waterfall, whose header beat Tom King in the Newport goal on the stroke of half time.
Flynn was annoyed by the goal his team conceded, calling it “schoolboy”.
“We conceded a really, really schoolboy goal and it’s something that I’m not happy about.”
Despite Irish veteran Amond equalising for County, Flynn was frustrated by his side’s lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.
“Everything else, for the majority, we defended well and we attacked well. But that cutting edge just wasn’t there – and if it was, we would have been comfortably through to the next round.
He added: “We had a lot of joy. We failed in the final third, but as soon as that clicks, we are going to start scoring a few more goals.”
Flynn believes his side deserved to win saying: “To be totally honest, we should have won the game. We were the better team in nearly every area and that’s the frustrating thing.”
However, despite Flynn’s frustration, he sees County still being in the cup competition as a positive.
“We just lacked that cutting edge. We will see the draw on Monday, but we take nothing for granted. We are still in the hat.”