Graham Coughlan felt his Newport side could easily have been leading by “five or six goals” at half-time of their 4-0 win against Doncaster.
County raced out of the blocks and effectively put the game to bed inside 21 minutes with three unanswered goals.
Seb Palmer-Houlden got the opener in the sixth minute when he outmuscled Joseph Olowu and fired past goalkeeper Ian Lawlor.
Will Evans doubled the Exiles’ advantage in the 14th minute when he slotted in the rebound after Lawlor had denied right-back Shane Mcloughlin.
The third arrived seven minutes later when Doncaster failed to clear a corner and, in the resulting scramble, an attempted clearance cannoned off Rovers captain Richard Wood and inside Lawlor’s post.
Coughlan’s men could have had more before the break, but Evans made certain of the three points with his second and Newport’s fourth just four minutes into the second half.
It capped an impressive week for the Exiles, who lost 3-0 at Accrington on the opening day but beat League One Charlton in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
“It was pleasing, a really good all-round performance,” said Coughlan. “The game fizzled out in the second half after the fourth goal, but we could have scored five or six goals in the first half.
“Let’s put it in our back pocket and build on it. That is what we are about, and if we come off it and don’t play with those intense levels we tend to struggle.
“What was really pleasing was that there was a lot of combination play in midfield and the first goal came from us defending a corner. Nick Townsend caught it and we broke out like the Red Arrows.
“To see work transfer from the training ground to the pitch was really pleasing; it was a good, solid home performance.”
It was a second league defeat of the new season for Doncaster, who have now won just one of their last 13 matches in League Two, losing 10.
Grant McCann, who returned to the Rovers hotseat in May, admitted his side were outplayed.
“It’s a very disappointing performance,” he said. “It was a catalogue of errors and we just weren’t good enough. They were better than us.
“The first two goals were mistakes and the third was a comedy of errors – a sliced clearance hitting Richard Wood’s calf and ending up in the back of our net. It was an uphill task from there.
“Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. And that’s including the travel (on Friday) when the bus broke down!
“Everything went against us, but I’m not one for making excuses – that was totally unacceptable from us.”
CF Montreal v Vancouver Whitecaps: Sartini aiming to keep winning feeling in playoff fight
Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini has urged his team to keep fighting for a playoff place as they travel to CF Montreal in MLS.
The Whitecaps have lost just two of their last six matches and got back to winning ways on the road with their 3-1 win over Minnesota United in midweek.
They are now up to fifth in the Western Conference, but Sartini knows they cannot rest on their laurels with the teams below them closing in.
"We hit like three or four performances where we were a little bit poor, and two wins where we didn't really deserve to win," Sartini said.
"Playing more defensive allowed us to get points, but in the last two games, we've returned to the form that got big results at the start of the season.
"We need to put the costume from [Sporting] Kansas City on so we can fight to get the win. We need to keep going, everyone's happy when we're fighting for the playoffs and making a result in Montreal would be fantastic."
Montreal, meanwhile, are 12th in the Eastern Conference, just two points off a playoff place after picking up just one win in their last six outings.
Though they are unbeaten in four at home, they have struggled on the road, with goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois lamenting a disjointed forward display.
"Our forwards had a little bit more trouble finding each other and combining [against New York City FC]," Sirois said.
"I think there are days like that, and it's up to us, the whole team, to find solutions together, but unfortunately, we didn't do that.
"Yes, we created chances, but I think there were too few and that's why we didn't score."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
CF Montreal – Sunusi Ibrahim
Sunusi Ibrahim has scored six goals for Montreal this season, more than anyone else in the team.
The Nigerian is without a goal in his last three games though, and after managing just one shot in the defeat to NYCFC last time out, he will be keen to regain his scoring touch.
Vancouver Whitecaps – Ryan Gauld
Ryan Gauld may be Vancouver's joint-top scorer with nine goals this season (level with Brian White), but he turned provider on Wednesday against Minnesota.
He assisted all three goals as the Whitecaps secured another win, lifting him to the top of their assists chart with six for the season.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
There has not been much to split the sides across the last eight meetings, with Montreal and Vancouver winning four apiece. The Whitecaps came out on top when they last met in April 2023 with a 5-0 thrashing.
Montreal have won just one of their last six matches (drawing three and losing two). However, that victory was in their last home match as they beat the Philadelphia Union 4-1.
After back-to-back defeats, Vancouver have since won their last two on the bounce, scoring seven goals across those victories.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
CF Montreal – 38.4%
Draw – 26.5%
Vancouver Whitecaps – 35.1%
Mikel Arteta drops hint on new Arsenal contract
Mikel Arteta hinted that he will sign a new contract to stay on as Arsenal manager, insisting "it will happen".
The Gunners boss sees his present deal expire in June 2025 and as yet there has been no official word on an extension.
Arteta, though, has been making plans for the upcoming season his main focus rather than his own future and remains confident his tenure as boss will continue.
Speaking to ESPN at a training camp in Marbella, Arteta said: "There is no update at the moment.
"The thing that hasn't changed is how happy I am and how valued I feel here and how much I love representing this club.
"Things happen in a natural way and our relationship is that good that I don't predict any issues happening. But things have to develop in the right way and it will happen."
When asked whether a new contract would provide stability at Arsenal, he replied: " "I understand that but the focus now is, 'okay, how we can improve things around the team? How we can improve now the things in the transfer window that we have?'
"We have time to sit down and discuss that."
The Gunners finished runners-up to Manchester City for the second campaign running last term, with Arsenal aiming to go one better in the Premier League this time around.
LA Galaxy 1-2 Los Angeles FC: Visitors earn bragging rights in El Trafico
Los Angeles FC held on to beat LA Galaxy 2-1 after a quickfire first-half double to go three points clear at the top of the Western Conference.
Kei Kamara and Denis Bouanga were on target to LAFC in command and, although Gabriel Pec halved the deficit in the second half, that proved enough to see of rivals Galaxy at the Rose Bowl.
The visitors dominated the shot count in the first 45 minutes, with Eduard Atuesta only able to strike the post after getting the better of John McCarthy.
LAFC finally got the breakthrough in the 39th minute as Kamara nodded in from the edge of the six-yard box.
Atuesta was then brought down in the penalty area less than a minute later, with a spot-kick being awarded after a lengthy VAR review, and Bouanga confidently converted it just before half-time.
Pec reacted quickest to poke Miki Yamine's cross past Hugo Lloris in the 56th minute, and Joseph Paintsil missed a glorious opportunity to equalise, skying his close-range effort over the post as the Galaxy dropped to third in the table.
Data Debrief: LAFC cannot stop scoring
LAFC have scored in their last 17 games in MLS. It's their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 18 between September 2021 and May 2022.
In fact, they have scored 20 first-half goals in 21 matches, with only Real Salt Lake (22) netting more.
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