Last season we went to Newport in the dark. It did not look good. This visit was in the daylight when we could see more. It still did not look good. The decline of the steel industry was not kind to Newport and from what I can see this part of South Wales still has not recovered and may never do so. With an election coming up I’ll leave you to decide where the blame, if any, lies; Margaret Thatcher for privatisation or it just being an inevitable course of events given that British Steel was running up staggering losses?

I wasn’t sorry to have arrived too late to wander to the pub we’d selected for a pre-match pint. We’d come the picturesque route through the Cotswolds steadfastly refusing to pay £6 to get into Wales via the M4. As for paying to get out, now that would be a different matter. But for some bizarre reason that is free.

Once they’ve got you there they want to keep you there. Or perhaps a warning against drinking too much?

But as it was the last day of the season, plenty were in party mood and they helped create an atmosphere that a game with nothing significant resting on it would normally not generate. The yellow smoke is all part of this and whoever smuggled the incendiary device into Rodney Parade must have thought the risk of being caught with it was worth it. I’m assuming it is usually a mix of beer, adrenalin and the folly of youth that results in a little bit of Europe being brought to the terraces of League Two.

Newport looked big and physical and this was exemplified by a sizeable grizzly centre-half (Lee Minshull?) who was dominating in the air. We don’t really have the weaponry to go head to head in such a battle. But what we did have was the better technique and movement.

If a home player was to knock the ball one side of a marker and run round the other (which they did on a couple of occasions) they were then just as likely as not to sprint with the ball out of play. We on the other hand were playing a more measured and thoughtful game and were the ones creating the better chances.

However, until the half hour mark our finishing had not been deadly. Kemar Roofe pulled a ball back from the bye line too far behind Danny Hylton and Hylts had a shot deflected just wide when he should probably have netted. But on the half hour mark Roofe made no mistake with a very well hit first time effort from just outside the box having been set up by Danny Rose after good strong work by our little midfielder.

In added time before the break our opponents were reduced to 10 men. I’d not spotted exactly what it was for on the day but TV replays show Mike Flynn went over the ball in nasty fashion. Michael Collins was the victim and the reaction of both him and his colleagues told the story. Flynn’s behaviour in the milling about that then followed did nothing to help his case for staying on the pitch, not that he had any cause whatsoever.

For the first few minutes of the second half it looked like we would make the extra man advantage pay. We kept the ball well and made the Exiles (a nickname that should now be ditched) do the running.

But as the half panned out it became clear that they had set themselves up superbly and with nothing to lose were willing to throw men forward. As the game neared its conclusion there were times when they were raiding with five men up front and right at the death were joined by keeper Jamie Stephens. If I was a neutral I’d say their wholehearted effort deserved something from this game. They gave us no breathing space. Not only did they quickly close us down thus preventing comfortable football being played around the halfway line, they forced our possession to at times be rather deeper. With this I had slight flashbacks of the horrors of the tippy tappy going nowhere stuff just outside our own box we’d had to suffer earlier in the season. And should any worries have increased given that our centre half pairing was Andy Whing and Chey Dunkley?

As it was, we still saw things out with yet another clean sheet. The defending may at times have been a little more desperate than it has been of late but, given the newness of the combination at the back, that is probably to be expected. Jobs were done effectively by all concerned. Captain for the day, Whing, obviously relishes the battling duties listed in a central defenders job description. Not only that but he showed he can read situations pretty well; on one occasion majestically sweeping across to his right to stop a threat before it had chance to materialise. Dunkley again was sound as were the two full-backs.

It would have been nice to have got a second but referee Mark Heywood was having none of it. Having refused to end the game whilst Newport were banging corners into our penalty area he promptly brought the season to an end as we had the ball in a three versus one situation on the half way line. The one was not the goalkeeper.

Looking at the players as they came over to clap the travellers I couldn’t help but contemplate which of them will be with us for 2015/16 and which will be the preferred starters. We’ll soon have a better idea. Until then we can but speculate.

Jamie Ashdown again had a presence and made one excellent reaction save when a Newport head got on the end of a whipped in free-kick when we were under some pressure. It was Max Crocombe on the bench not Ryan Clarke. Draw your own conclusions.

Our regular centre halves are injured but I’d not put money on who will be starting there when it all begins again in August.

The midfield is an area many fans have thought needs strengthening and Josh Ruffels a player not quite good enough. I’d not disagree, but thought Ruffels had probably his best game for us and was a strong contender for man of the match.

Which brings me on to Roofe. It has been a pleasure to have watched this guy. I really want to watch him some more in an Oxford shirt.

The last eight games have given much hope for the future there’s no doubt about that but as a whole 2014/15 has been one with a lot more disappointment than ecstasy.

Here are some interesting comparisons with the other seasons since our return to the Football League.

So under Mapp we’ve achieved the lowest points total and position in the final table of the lot. But interestingly, whilst Chris Wilder, rightly or wrongly, was portrayed as having a much more defensive outlook compared to Michael Appleton, the stats provide evidence that can be used to argue otherwise.

This season we’ve scored fewer goals than any other but our defensive record is only one goal worse than the best under CW. We let in 13 fewer goals than the Cobblers this season.

It goes without saying that we need to score more goals but the thing that really hits home is how we’ve got worse and worse at home. This trend has to stop if we are to bring the punters back and make the top 3 or 7. Take your pick depending on how optimistic you feel.