Notts County upset the form book to earn new manager Stuart Maynard a first win at the fourth time of asking and revive their play-off hopes, while halting Newport’s charge towards the top seven with a 3-1 victory.
The Magpies were winless in five, while the hosts were the form team in the fourth tier with four straight wins.
But the Exiles found winger Jodi Jones and Macauley Langstaff – League Two’s top scorer – too hot to handle on a rain-soaked night in Newport.
Jones provided the cross on both occasions as Langstaff headed in his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season to break the deadlock in the 22nd minute and make the points secure just before the hour mark.
In between, Langstaff turned provider for David McGoldrick to tap in the visitors’ second.
Will Evans’s 90th-minute penalty proved only a consolation for the hosts, who also hit the post in stoppage time through Scot Bennett.
Maynard’s men climb to eighth, while the Exiles drop to 14th.
