FLEET Town clambered four places clear of Newport IoW in the Ryman 1 relegation zone by sneaking a 1-0 victory over the Islanders at Calthorpe Park.

But Newport manager John Linington has poo-pooed suggestions in The Non-League Paper that the north Hampshire side dominated proceedings.

"They weren't on top at all," he insisted. "In fact we totally dominated the match until they scored.

"We went through every player on the way home and couldn't say that anyone had a bad game.

"We were tight at the back and good in midfield, but the difference was that Fleet had one chance and took it, while Dave Greening had three or four excellent chances for us and missed them all.

"Overall a draw would have been a fair result because we didn't make the most of our opportunities, but we had a lot of the play compared to them and, on chances, we should have won comfortably."

It was the introduction of ex-England international Andy Sinton that helped swing the game Fleet's way. The former Spurs midfielder was hauled off the bench on 55 minutes after a lengthy lay-off with calf trouble.

Eighteen minutes later he supplied the corner from which Tinoi Christie found the net with a well-struck shot from 15 yards.

With Banstead and Molesey both losing, Fleet's second win in five days moves them seventh to bottom ahead of tomorrow's visit of play-off contenders Leatherhead.

Newport are hovering just one place above the bottom-two drop zone, five points clear of Ashford Town but having played one game more.

Port lost midfielder Chris Bridges with a head injury after ten minutes, while Fleet defender Steve Riley made an early exit with a hip problem.

Bashley had a wasted trip to Fleet Services before hearing their scheduled game at Ashford Town had been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.