Newport visited Hamble Club for the first time and came away with an honourable draw but it was almost more.
It’s seldom you see four penalties awarded in a match but all four were reasonable calls.
Aiden Sainsbury opened the scoring from the spot to put Newport 1-0 up after Charlie Urry was brought down from behind as he turned quickly inside the box.
Hamble Club were level inside six minutes when a high ball was played across the Newport box, headed back across the goal and was bundled in near the goalpost.
Just before half time Mark Taylor was booked for a series of fouls in quick succession.
Half Time: Hamble Club 1 Newport 1
Within five minutes of the restart Mark Taylor was sent off as he committed a foul right in front of the referee and received a second yellow card.
Down to 10 men Newport were under pressure but the game seemed to open up and the Port dug in.
Hamble had a series of chances from the edge of the box but their shooting was off target. When they did get one one on target Gary Streeter was in the right place.
The pressure paid off eventually as a desperate tackle brought about another penalty. In a fortunate let off for the Port the taker ballooned it over the bar and into the next field.
Andy Sampson got some fresh legs on to the pitch, Josh Younie, Jared Wetherick and Darren Powell all coming off the bench.
Jared managed to weave between three defenders and he was hauled to the ground – another penalty.
Normal penalty taker Aiden Sainsbury was off so Josh Younie stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way, 75 minutes gone.
Hamble Club came back and threw the kitchen sink at the Port in an effort to get back level. The Newport defence was under pressure and holding strong. It was looking good with two minutes on the clock but unfortunately a shot struck a stray Newport arm and the referee had little choice but to award the fourth penalty of the night.
Gary Streeter went the right way but was just beaten by the speed, 2-2 with normal time just about up.
Hamble pushed forward to try and get the win in injury time but a draw was a fair result in the end.
Newport: Streeter, Jake Younie, McDonough, Ballentyne, Pearce, Sampson, Sainsbury (Josh Younie), Wilson (Powell), Urry (Wetherick), Gane, Taylor.