NEWPORT 2 CITY 1

THE Welsh Blood Service had set up a stall at the game calling on Newport fans for donations.

How Stuart McCall is crying out for a team prepared to spill a drop or two for City.

His glowering expression on the touchline watching his side blow another away chance said it all.

Face like thunder, McCall became an easy target for the local loud-mouths who wanted a bit of fun at City’s expense.

After four games without a goal, let alone a win, the Newport fans eagerly milked the moment.

“You’re gonna cry in a minute,” they taunted the City boss from behind the away dug-out.

But McCall had more important matters on his mind; wondering how to piece back together a season that is in danger of drifting into nothingness over the final two months.

Like Deontay Wilder’s corner, there is a distinct feel that some seem ready to throw in the towel.

McCall had been all smiles ahead of kick off as he caught up with opposite number Michael Flynn for a cheery reminisce about their time together at Valley Parade.

Watching City self-destruct, though, was far from a laughing matter as another away game went begging.

Oh, for a warrior like either manager out there now to grab players by the scruff of the neck and dish out a few home truths.

Shrugs, the odd shake of the head – that doesn’t really cut it as the hopes of making it just a one-year sabbatical back in the bottom tier continue to evaporate.

McCall’s pre-match address called on his players to “man up” for battle on the division’s most challenging playing surface.

It is less than three years since the Welsh Rugby Union splashed out £750,000 on a new pitch at Rodney Parade to cope with a workload that also involves two rugby teams.

But the excessively wet wintry weather has seen its condition plummet rapidly downhill since November.

Staging 50 matches already this season in both sports, the latest just three days before City’s visit in the Leasing.com Trophy, the pitch has received a battering.

And yet it wasn’t the state of the surface that caused City’s undoing.

Bearing in mind that Valley Parade is hardly a bowling green, McCall’s men could not point the finger even if they wanted to.

It was familiar frailties that led to an all-too-familiar outcome; minds wandering, players abdicating responsibility to react to changing situations.

Both Newport goals came from corners that were not properly dealt with; typically sloppy moments that have dogged City defensively since the turn of the year.

But nobody was calling each other out. There was no bawling in faces, holding team-mates angrily to account, just a gesture of resignation at another lapse.

Where were the indications that it is hurting the well-played bunch of players as much as the near-500 supporters who made the long haul to south Wales for no reward.

Five points from 11 away games now – no wins on their travels since the clocks went back. Anyone who treks up and down the motorways to follow City this season deserves a medal.

Saturday, just like the previous weekend at Cambridge, had teased with the promise of that elusive first victory since October.

Once more, City struck the first blow – and this against a team understandably low on confidence from their own goal drought and, no doubt, running low on petrol given their midweek exertions against Salford.

Newport, surely, were there for the taking. That’s if the Bantams had managed to preserve their advantage for more than the 70 seconds or so it took for another set-piece implosion.

The Exiles were on the scoresheet for the first time in over seven hours of toiling and the whole vibe had been turned on its head. Again, we were back in territory that City followers have become all too accustomed to in these wretched times.

Newport’s Rodney Parade record has included the scalps of Swindon, Crewe and Plymouth. But they had not won – or scored – since beating Macclesfield a month ago.

Not to worry, though, you can count on the Bantams for a generous leg-up.

McCall had restored the height and presence of Clayton Donaldson for an afternoon that would not care for niceties.

And it looked to be paying off handsomely when the veteran striker, who had already stretched home keeper Tom King with one header, looped home Connor Wood’s well-weighted cross.

That should have been the launchpad to exploit any Newport fragility and push on for a morale-boosting result to take on the long journey home.

But there was barely time to blink and City’s lead had vanished.

It was not as if they were unpicked by a well-rehearsed corner straight off the training ground.

Robbie Willmott played it low into the box where Josh Sheehan slipped away unmarked from the two central midfielders.

Even then, he shot into the ground – but it sat up enough for Ryan Inniss to get ahead of Lee Novak and bundle in from close range.

Four hundred and 43 barren minutes were over. It needed only four more for Newport’s next goal to come along.

Another corner; another Bantams brain freeze.

Half-cleared in front of the near post, the ball popped out to Scot Bennett and he fired past marker Novak to follow his fellow centre-half on to the scoresheet.

It had suddenly become a goal-fest at a ground which had witnessed just three in the previous five matches.

City were playing catch-up again; something that has not proved their forte away from home.

They have rescued just three points from losing positions on the road this season. That measly tally did not improve despite having more of a go after the break.

McCall switched to three at the back to get Wood further forward and Glenn Middleton pushing on with the front men.

Jake Reeves rattled the bar early in the second half and Inniss led Newport’s spirited resistance with blocks from Middleton, Paudie O’Connor and – with what appeared an outstretched arm – Novak.

But there was no salvage act and more defensive dithering almost gifted Newport a third when Ben Richards-Everton failed to clear away a long throw-in.

McCall and Kenny Black made a point of showing the players the video of what went wrong with both Newport goals as soon as they were back in the dressing room. But the damage had been done.

Opportunities are fast disappearing.