Bentley: That was hard earned

Jim Bentley wishes he could play Newport every weekend after they secured their fourth straight win over the Exiles with a 1-0 triumph.

Bentley saw Jack Redshaw tuck away the Shrimps' only clear-cut chance to secure a 1-0 victory at Rodney Parade. The damaging defeat leaves the managerless Exiles outside the play off places after Plymouth and Bury both scored wins. Newport were caught cold in the opening exchanges when Redshaw pounced on a defensive lapse to put the Shrimps 1-0 up. The busy striker latched onto a lofted ball that Darren Jones failed to head clear, and stroked a smart left-footed finish past Joe Day. County thought they had equalised in the second-half when striker Shaun Jeffers nipped in to poke home a cross from substitute Robbie Willmott. But Jeffers was adjudged to be offside and the goal was chalked off, and Morecambe held out for the three points. Bentley said: "I wish we could play Newport every day. "We've got a couple of teams we can't seem to beat and certainly there a couple that can't beat us and Newport County are one of those teams. "We've played them four times now and won all four so it's great to do a double over a team. "It was a hard earned win over tough opposition away from home and I'm absolutely made up that we've bounced back from the defeat last Sunday. "To come to Newport, who have a big, strong, physical side, under a new manager made it a very tough game for us. "We're pleased with the result and hopefully we can go on a run now. "They've got some dangerous forwards in Zebroski and Willmott who came off the bench as well as Rene Howe and Shaun Jeffers. "We limited them to very little, it was a workman-like performance, we knew it was going to be more of a battle." Newport caretaker manager Jimmy Dack was left wanting to see a cutting edge from his forwards. He said: "I thought we didn't turn up in the first half, we knew they'd conceded early in their last two games but we never got at them. "They've had five shots and three were on target and we've had eight shots and only one on target and that tells its own story. "We seem a bit reserved for some reason, we had a go in the second half but we are giving ourselves Mount Everest to climb all the time. "We have to be more clinical and turn our possession into something better, we are talking about the goal conceded, but our forward line need to start taking some chances."