David Malone took a seat in the stand at St George's Park on Saturday as Newport winched themselves out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Molesey.

After quitting as director of football and vice-chairman of Winchester City, Malone, pictured below, is looking to invest in another club and is particularly interested in Newport as he intends to spend more time at his property in nearby Shanklin.

He travelled to the Island for talks with Newport's directors last Wednesday and was invited along as the club's guest on Saturday, but he stressed that negotiations were only at a tentative early stage.

There are still grey areas he needs clarifying - most notably the nature of chairman Bill Manuel's continuing involvement with the club after he sold the ground to South Coast Leisure earlier this year.

Malone confirmed: "I'm looking into the situation at Newport and it's possible I could get involved, if asked, but I'd need clarification about the set-up of the whole club and to be certain of their ambition."

While cautious team manager John Linington speaks for many at St George's when he says Port need long-term nurturing rather then a short-term financial fix, Malone feels Saturday's meagre crowd of 152 speaks volumes about public opinion.

He said: "In the long-term I think Newport will have to put some money in. The public won't put up with mediocrity on the pitch."

Linington, though, was encouraged by Saturday's performance. With Leigh Cole marking his return to the ranks with a solid midfield performance alongside talented skipper Simon Pilcher, the Islanders were well worth the points.

The winner came on 40 minutes when Adam Barsdell lobbed the ball into the area and Dave Greening volleyed past Molesey keeper Luke Garrard.

Linington said: "Molesey had one really good player in Phil Williams, but I thought we dominated for an hour and deserved our win. Leigh Cole held things together in the middle, we had Ollie Fleming back in defence and Lee Wood (re-signed from Salisbury City) also did well.

"Mark Frampton (ex-Fleet striker) played well up front for Molesey and had one chance when he headed it down and Leigh Cole cleared."

The victory lifts Port two places to 19th and they have another crunch basement battle next Saturday at rock-bottom Croydon.

l A change of manager failed to bring a change of fortune for Fleet Town, who were thumped 3-0 at home by promotion-chasing Metropolitan Police.

Paul Holden could only sit and watch as his depleted side were torn apart by three goals inside 20 minutes from Jon Daly and Kevin Cooper (2), keeping them 17th in the table.