Newport secured an impressive National League Three Midlands victory at home to Old Northamptonians – but it came at a cost as they picked up a handful of injuries.

The Forton Road men were 18-6 victors on Saturday to leap into the top half of the table, bouncing back from conceding two penalties inside the first 20 minutes.

They were still behind at the break, a Chris Perry penalty their only score – and they had also been hit by the loss of Nick Townsend to the first injury of the afternoon.

But they gradually began to steal the initiative and took their chance following a bout of yellow cards that gave them the numerical advantage midway through the half.

Joe Carpenter scored the first try of the day when picking up from a five-metere scrum to score, and they were 11-6 in front following another Perry penalty moments later,

Shortly afterwards a number of forward drives allowed Newport to put the ball down the line, where Rob Clymer was on hand to stretch over for the second try. Perry’s conversion from wide out left rounded off the scoring.

But the club physio will now have a busy week ahead of next Saturday’s clash with Longton, with the likes of Neil Weston and Michael Woodhouse all struggling.

Hereford crashed to their third consecutive defeat when they were beaten 33-15 by Dudley Kingswinford.