It is now six matches without defeat for Graham Westley’s side as they remain in the hunt for promotion from League 2

Stevenage 2 Newport County 1

Sky Bet League 2

Stevenage’s resurgence continues at pace as they beat another one of their promotion rivals.

Goals from Charlie Lee and Bira Dembele extended Boro’s unbeaten run to six matches, with five of those against teams above them, and this victory meant that they leapfrogged County into eighth place in the League 2 table.

Boro welcomed back Chris Beardsley, from suspension, and Jerome Okimo, from injury, while new loan signing Keith Keane, from Preston NE, started on the bench.

They were also without a trio of players who limped off during Tuesday’s home win over Plymouth Argyle: Dave Martin, Roarie Deacon and Chris Whepdale.

And yet, Graham Westley’s walking wounded managed to get the better of a decent Newport outfit to put themselves in a superb position heading into the last 11 matches of the season.

Lee put Stevenage ahead on 31 minutes with a header from a Simon Walton corner, his eighth goal of the season, before Dembele gave them some breathing space midway through the second half.

His goal was also a header, with Ben Kennedy supplying the assist from a free-kick, before Ryan Jackson almost put the ball in his own net for a Stevenage third only to slice his clearance wide.

The visitors did get on the scoresheet, when a clearance from a corner fell to Adam Chapman and he beat Chris Day with his shot, but any hopes County had of getting a point were dealt a huge blow when Chris Zebroski was shown a second yellow card late on for a poor challenge on Dembele.

Up next for Boro is a trip to Cambridge United next weekend.

Att: 2,941 (228 away)