Newport manager Graham Coughlan admitted after a “car-crash” defeat to Accrington that his side have run out of steam.
Bryn Morris scored a stunning long-range opener but Alex Henderson headed in Jack Nolan’s cross on 22 minutes and Tommy Leigh netted Stanley’s second goal just 20 seconds after half-time.
Joe Pritchard wrapped up the three points with a tap-in on a miserable night for County, who saw a goal from substitute Luke Jephcott ruled out for offside late on before Adam Lewis was shown a straight red card in stoppage time for a full-blooded tackle on Dan Martin that led to a touchline fracas.
“Some of the things that we are doing is car-crash material,” said Coughlan, who has now overseen five successive defeats in League Two – the Exiles’ worst run for seven years.
“Some of the players are showing their levels, and that’s the disappointing thing.
“We have taken them to a level and to where we wanted to get them but some of them just can’t maintain it and stay at that level.
“We have three games left and we have to limp over the finish line, which is killing me. All the hard work we have put in and we are getting displays like that and players playing the way that they are playing.
“At the end of the season we will sit down and have a conversation with a number of them and see where we go because you can’t perform the way that they are performing and expect to be rewarded.
“Thank God we have got to 55 points because this lot have run out of steam and run out of ideas, physically and mentally.”
John Doolan paid tribute to his players’ character and intensity after Accrington’s fightback.
“I thought we started well, even though we gifted them a goal. We got the equaliser, which was a great goal, and then we took control,” said Doolan, who celebrated a second win in his seventh game since replacing John Coleman in the Accrington hotseat last month.
“Tommy Leigh and Shaun Whalley had chances and we could have gone in ahead. Thankfully we got two good goals after the break, and we could have had more goals.
“The lads responded well. We’ve got some character in this team and the spirit is fantastic.
“I’ve asked the lads not to come off it and they didn’t. This is the intensity I want. Everyone put a shift in.
“We’re not going to come off it; we want to finish the season strong to go into pre-season and next year.”
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final
Celtic booked their place in the Scottish League Cup final after hammering Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday.
The 21-time winners of the tournament were inspired by a Daizen Maeda hat-trick in a near-perfect performance against the Scottish Premiership's second-placed side.
Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the result and performance from his side.
"It was a testament to our players and the demands they have. They play every week in big games. We have to manage this group through every game," he told Premier Sports.
"It was up to us to decide the game and the players did that. They were brilliant today. We were more aggressive in the second half.
"Aberdeen have had an excellent season, they will continue to work well I'm sure."
The result was Aberdeen's first defeat in 17 matches in all competitions this season, with a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park last month the only time they had previously failed to win.
Cameron Carter-Vickers got the scoring under way with a header 29 minutes in, before the brilliant Maeda sat down goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for a second three minutes later.
Maeda then got in on the act himself on 40 minutes before the game briefly descended into farce on the stroke of half-time, with Rodgers shown a yellow card for kicking away a ball that had gone out before slipping over.
"To be fair, I was raging because we had given the ball away," he said.
"I have my moments, like every manager. It was just the game, even though we were comfortable at 3-0.
"It was a deserved yellow card. The speed of the ball [was the issue]. I just wanted to keep the tempo of the game."
Celtic and Maeda picked up where they left off in the second half to make it 4-0 in the 50th minute before Nicolas Kuhn hammered in a fifth on the hour.
The rout was complete when Maeda wrapped up his hat-trick as he finished off a flowing attacking move with five minutes to go.
After the match, Rodgers continued to be effusive about his team, who will face either Rangers or Motherwell in the final.
"An outstanding team performance. You come up against a team that has been so, so good. We knew it would be a challenge," he told BBC Scotland.
"We had to bring our A-game and the players did that, in particular during the second half.
"We were ruthless. We worked the ball really well to create the space and made good runs.
"It's a beautiful pitch here at Hampden. It's perfect for the football we want to play."
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Milinkovic-Savic leveller keeps champions unbeaten
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic preserved Al-Hilal's unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season as his header earned the defending champions a 1-1 draw against Al-Nassr on Friday.
Al-Hilal dropped their first points of the season having won their first eight games, but remained at the summit of the standings, moving one point clear of Al-Ittihad.
Al-Nassr found themselves in front inside two minutes when Otavio's clipped ball found Talisca, who took a touch before firing the ball beyond Yassine Bounou.
The first half saw clear-cut chances hard to come by, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Talisca and Mohamed Simakan seeing their efforts unable to trouble visiting goalkeeper Bounou.
Al-Hilal, who had scored 23 goals in their first eight games, came closest to an equaliser after the break when Salem Al Dawsari struck the woodwork.
But the leveller came in the 77th minute when a free-flowing move ended with Milinkovic-Savic heading the ball in off the post after being picked out by Renan Lodi's cross.
Both sides looked to find a winner in the closing stages, with Ali Lajami coming the closest for Al-Nassr, but the points were shared at the Al Awal Park at King Saud University.
Data Debrief: Champions end Ronaldo streak
Ronaldo's run of four straight games with a goal came to an end against Al-Hilal, though he was Al-Nassr's most potent attacking threat during the encounter.
The Portugal captain registered a team-high 0.37 expected goals (xG) to Al-Nassr's 0.9 total, while also having the joint-most touches in the opposition box (five - level with Otavio).
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