NEWPORT boss Graham Coughlan admitted he had some sympathy for Harry Lewis - but still felt the City keeper should have been sent off.

Lewis mistakenly picked up the ball outside his penalty area after seeing the rugby 22m line on the Rodney Parade pitch.

Referee Sam Allison showed him a yellow card when the home crowd were baying for his dismissal.

Coughlan said: “How the referee came to that conclusion… I’d rather not spent time talking about crazy decisions.

“I do have a degree of sympathy for the goalie, it was an honest error, but if our players made an honest error then they would be punished.

“The law is pretty simple and basic, why the laws of the game were not applied I will never know.

“I am sure the ref will come up with some story but it is a regular thing for us. The referees are trying to do their best but just apply the letter of the law.”

The Exiles chief was pleased with his side’s second-half fightback after Andy Cook had fired City ahead before the break. Mickey Demetriou's cross flicked in off Liam Ridehalgh's head.

“We deserved to win and there was only one team going to win it at the end,” he added.

“There was a lot of talk about how good Bradford were, their players, their goal scorer in Andy Cook and their clean sheets but people obviously underestimate the Newport County resilience, character and players.

“The clinical side of the game is probably why Bradford are where they are in the league. They had one chance and took it, and it came from an error.”