A patient in possession and attacking Newport outfit, consisting of the majority of their first team, gave the Seagulls a stern test at the Optima Stadium.
Newport took the lead inside the opening 20 minutes when trialist keeper Niall Maher punched a ball clear, but only as far as Newport captain Joss Labadie 18 yards out, who brought the ball down, held off Ryan Jones and fired into the back of the net to open the night’s scoring.
Image: Will. T. Photography
A second came for Newport not long before half-time when former Seagulls loanee George Nurse got the best of Sam Hendy and his beautiful cross into the back post was met by striker Padraig Amond, who headed past Maher into the corner.
There was still time for Newport to find a third before the interval when tall centre-back Kyle Howkins beat Aaron Parsons in the air from a corner and powered Matty Dolan’s set piece into the top corner for 0-3.
In the second half, a fourth came for Newport just before the hour when Corey Whitely found the overlapping Nurse, whose drilled cross was slid in at the back post by Amond for his second.
Whitely also got his name on the scoresheet for the EFL League Two side, firing in from 25 yards via a deflection off the leg of Parsons.
Former Forest Green Rovers winger Keanu Marsh-Brown made it six when he played a one-two with youngster Momodou Touray and the winger slotted into the back of the net for six.
Seventh heaven was reached for Newport when a passing move came to Touray, and he pulled the ball back for substitute Josh Sheehan to slot into the net from 12 yards out.
Image: Will. T. Photography
Weston did get their goal near the end when trialist Nuno Felix played a cross into the box, and midfielder Sam Hendy side-footed his volley into the corner of the net, leaving the Newport shot stopper stood still.
Newport finished off the scoring though when Marsh-Brown was played in behind and his pass to the back post was tapped into an empty net by Touray.
FT: Weston 1-8 Newport (Hendy 78 – Labadie 18, Amond 36, 62, Howkins 42, Whitely 70, Marsh-Brown 74, Sheehan 75, Touray 87)
Weston XI: Maher, Parsons, Felix, Laird, Cook (Goodall 70), Tindle (C), Llewellyn (Byrne HT), Hendy, McCootie (Malshanskyj 66), Whitehead (Howe HT), Jones (Pearce HT). Unused substitute: Madden.
MOTM: Greg Tindle