David Hughes hails ‘discipline and resilience’ as Newport survive late shock

Newport boss David Hughes praised his side’s “resilience” after they dramatically edged past Barnet on penalties despite conceding two stoppage-time goals.

Cameron Antwi and Michael Reindorf gave County a 2–0 lead at the break, before strikes from Ryan Galvin and Rhys Browne in the seventh and ninth minutes of stoppage time forced a shootout.

Keeper Nik Tzanev saved Kane Smith’s penalty and Cameron Evans converted the winner to book a Carabao Cup first-round tie with Millwall.

“We showed real discipline and resilience,” said Hughes. “It’s tough when you concede late but we kept our belief and handled the pressure.

“We want teams to fear coming here. The lads were outstanding – disciplined, alert and eager to improve. They defended set-pieces brilliantly and earned that win.”

Barnet manager Dean Brennan praised his team’s bravery but admitted missed chances and poor defending cost them.

“I’m proud of the bravery. We kept passing and probing and the subs made a big impact,” said Brennan.

“But the frustration is the two goals we conceded. The second came from a counter and we’ve got to defend better out wide – we got to make a tackle.

“We were in control early but a bit toothless in the first half and paid the price. Our motto is not to let people inside and we did, which is so annoying.

“The key now is to keep playing our way but be more ruthless in the final third and defend key moments much better.”