Kids are alright for Edinburgh

Justin Edinburgh hailed his Newport kids after Regan Poole and Jamie Stephens helped them to a 2-0 victory over Plymouth.

Sixteen-year-old Poole dealt with League Two's top-scorer Reuben Reid and rookie keeper Stephens kept his side in front with a stunning save. Their fourth win in five matches keeps them in seventh place in League Two, but moves them level on 37 points with John Sheridan's side. Chris Zebroski headed Mark Byrne's looping ball past Plymouth keeper Luke McCormick after 10 minutes for his eighth goal of the season to give County a dream start. And it should have been two moments later but Shaun Jeffers could not convert Zebroski's low cross with the goal gaping. Stephens preserved the lead with a lightning quick reaction save from Aaron Bentley's head before Byrne settled the game in the 80th minute. The Irish midfielder got a heel on Andy Sandell's corner to flick it into the back of the net. And Edinburgh hailed the influence of his young stars, with County set to enter 2015 in the League Two play-offs. He said: "Jamie Stephens' save was big, it kept the scoreline at 1-0 and allowed us to go on and win the game. "They had one really good chance, but we had chances to see the game off. "The second goal took the sting out of the game, it disheartened Plymouth and we saw the game out. "I was pleased to get clean sheet, it's great for Jamie Stephens and young Regan Poole, who's come in and played against the best striker in the league and not looked out of place at 16 years of age. "In terms of energy and determination we were very good, it wasn't a vintage game but we fought well and I'm delighted we came out on top. "We were too eager after taking the lead, we managed the game a lot better in the second half." Plymouth manager John Sheridan said: "I don't think we deserved to lose 2-0. "The first goal was a bad one to concede because we should defend properly for it. "We had a go in the second half and were the better team, but we didn't penetrate and hurt them enough. "I thought we played well and created good chances, if we had scored those then it would have made for a completely different game. "We were predictable but we did keep the ball very well. "If we had scored when Stephens made the save then we could have gone onto to win the game as we were the team in the ascendancy at that time."