Crawley Town boss Billy Smith celebrated the 1-0 Premier Division win at Newport County by ordering a crate of beer for his players.

And it was well deserved after a passionate, committed performance that produced only a second home league defeat for Newport in two years.

Smith said that due to the 70mph winds the game would be a lottery, and admitted: "It was not the best game to watch, but we worked hard and deserved what we got.

"The players I have brought in are genuine and relish the battle, whereas a couple of months ago maybe the team were not up for it.

"There is plenty of hard work to be done and I believe if we get nine points then we'll avoid the relegation pack and on this performance that is well within our reach."

The all-important goal came in the eighth minute and against the wind and rain.

Striker Dean Wordsworth waltzed passed three Newport defenders and delivered an inch-perfect cross for on loan player Gus Hurdle, who headed the ball against the post and eventually over the line.

Hurdle modestly said afterwards "The ball hit me rather than me hit the ball in. It seemed ages for the ball to cross the line but it eventually did."

Five second half goals, all from set pieces, gave Hastings Town a 5-0 win at Burnham in the Eastern Division.

Town mastered the windy conditions, leaving manager Dean White enthusing: "It was a good, professional performance. We had to dig in for the first half but in the second half we didn't let them rest."

Paul Jones ended his recent drought with the first goal after 59 minutes and Shaun Loft headed the second a minute later.

Stuart Playford hooked home the third before substitute Stuart Myall added two more in the final ten minutes - the first four all came from corners and the fifth from a free-kick near the corner flag.

A 1-1 draw at Witney extended St Leonards unbeaten record to seven games.

Substitute John Rattray saved Saints with an equaliser seven minutes from time after Witney had gone ahead through Justin Merritt on 37 minutes.

The bad news for Saints was the suspected broken leg suffered by midfielder Gavin Ramsden midway through the first half.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.