Newport were ‘running through treacle’ in defeat to Dons

Newport boss Graham Coughlan felt his side were out-run by higher league opposition after MK Dons ran out 3-1 winners in the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday night.

The League Two side went toe-to-toe with Liam Manning’s much-changed side in the first half, trailing only to Darragh Burns’ overhead kick.

But in the second-half, Dons were in total control, adding to the score via Matt Dennis and Will Grigg, who came off the bench to make it 3-0.

The Exiles pulled one back somewhat fortuitiously via an own goal off Dan Oyegoke, and Coughlan felt his side were simply unable to keep up with higher league opponents.

He said: “I thought we were really good in the first half, we played really well, got into some really good areas and created really good opportunities. That was positive from the start.

“But playing against a team at a higher level, they're able to go through the gears and when they do that, you have to stick with them. And we had a few of our lads running through trecle at the end.

“It was a tough night for one or two of our players. But we gave it our all, left it all on the pitch. Now we've got to work on those fine margins.

“It was a tough ask and a tough challenge and the lads gave a half-decent account of themselves.”