No tears yet over City's spilt Milk bid.

Football League Cup 1st Round 1st Leg 

Exeter City 1-2 Newport County

Attendance 2292

Match Report by Trina Lake 

Exeter City's first taste of the Milk Cup this season left them a little sour after last night's 2-1 home defeat by County. Newport Two fatal lapses in defensive concentration in each half cost them dearly as Steve Lowndes and Dave Gwyther were allowed all the time and space in the world to score for Newport. But all is not lost and City manager Brian Godfrey was far from dejected after the match. "It's a two legged affair and there's another minutes left to play. 90 "They've come here and won so there's nothing to stop us from going up there and doing the same thing," said the determined City boss. He did, however, admit to being disappointed that his new-look defence should suffer from the same problem as last season's seive- like back four. Tony Kellow had put City back in the game with a typically taken 75th minute equaliser after Dave Pullar had spotted him pulling away from his marker. The sure-shot striker received the ball inside the penalty area and cooly picked his spot to give the advancing Mark Kendall in goal no chance. But just two minutes later the experienced Gwyther rose unchallenged on the six yard line to send a header from a Neil Bailey corner arcing over Len Bond into the net for the winner. "That was a bad goal to concede. I'm disappointed that after getting back into the game we didn't hold onto it long enough," said Godfrey. The hard-running, fast breaking Newport side deserve credit for seizing quickly on moments of indecision and slackness in City's defence hit by the loss of Martyn Rogers who failed a test on his badly bruised toe just before the game. Apprentice Frank Howarth stepped into the breach and looked confident both before and, to his credit after a terrible marking mistake had let Newport in for their first goal. The Welsh side's front runners had pulled City's central cover out of position and when Vaughan Jones floated a cross into the path of Lowndes, running through from midfield, the Newport player took it in his stride and drove it low and hard past the helpless Len Bond. "Young Frank was caught a bit out of position but the lad is only 17, he will learn from his mistakes. He acknowledged, though, that Newport had played well and there is no doubt that Westcountry born manager Colin Addison has moulded together a more than useful side with an attacking approach. They looked a little vulnerable at the start.of the second half when City went at them with renewed vigour. The hard-working Kellow hit a cracking shot which Kendall did well to parry but the ball still looked goal-bound until stand-in centre half John Relish somehow managed to head it clear on the line. There is no doubt though that City have left themselves with a tough battle at Somerton Park in a fortnight's time.  The one-goal cushion this industrious Newport side take into that match may be all they need to make their Milk Cup run over into the second round.

Exeter City:
Bond, Kirkup, McEwan, Roberts, Howarth, Viney, Harle, Delve, Rogers, Pullar, Kellow. Sub Pratt.

Newport County:
Kendall, Jones, Relish, Stroud, Vaughan, Bailey, Lowndes, Elsey, Moore, Tynan, Gwyther. Sub Aldridge.