MORECAMBE went down to a second half goal from Dale Gorman to lose 1-0 at Rodney Parade.
With 22 minutes remaining Cristoffer Mafoumbi punched a left-wing Newport cross to the edge of the area but the ball bounced perfectly for Gorman to lob the ball over the Shrimps’ keeper and past a crowd of bodies on the line.
The Shrimps looked to fight their way back into the game with Rhys Oates making a welcome return to first-team action and Harvey Bradbury causing problems.
Bradbury went close to sealing a dramatic point deep in injury time when he beat home keeper Tom King to a bouncing ball in the box but his effort was cleared off the line by the covering Scott Bennett.
Boss Derek Adams was forced into two changes from the side that drew with Crewe last week with A-Jay Leitch-Smith suffering an injury in training in midweek and Adam Phillips suspended. Alex Kenyon and John O’Sullivan earned call ups and the Shrimps looked solid in a first half that saw few chances as both sides struggled to come to terms with an awful surface.
Newport had the first effort of any note in the fourth minute when Matty Dolan’s free-kick from the edge of the area curled around the Morecambe wall but was easily saved by Cristoffer Mafoumbi.
The Shrimps hit back with Jordan Cranston firing well over from 20 yards out and Toumani Diagouraga unable to bundle home a Jordan Slew pull back.
Newport tried their luck again from distance with Robbie Willmott again sotting straight at Mafoumbi after cutting in from the right.
The closest either side came to a goal came from an unusual source as Mafoumbi’s long clearance almost embarrassed Newport keeper Tom King who got his bearings all wrong and had to palm away the ball at full stretch while back peddling.
Stevenage's defeat at Crewe leaves the Shrimps still 10 points clear of the bottom club with nine games of the season remaining.
Newport: King, Haynes, Bennett, Inniss, Demetriou, Gorman, Willmott, Dolan, Sheehan, Matt, Abrahams (rep Green 62). Subs not used: Howkins, Amond, Collins, Waters, Khan, Woodiwiss.
Morecambe: Mafoumbi, Cooney, Old, Lavelle, Cranston, Kenyon (rep Brewitt 87), Diagouraga, O’Sullivan, Mendes-Gomes (rep Bradbury 67), Wildig, Slew (rep Oates 80). Subs not used: Halstead, Conlan, Mbulu.
Ref: N Hair.
Att: 3,048.