Bentley delighted with record

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Bentley’s latest shut-out meant he beat the previous best sequence set by Mervyn Cawston in 1981.

And Bentley, who has not conceded a goal at Roots Hall since October, was thrilled to have worked his way into the record books.

“It’s fantastic and I’m really proud to have done it but it’s not all about me and it’s a record a lot of people have played a part in,” said the 21-year-old.

“It’s very humbling to be mentioned alongside Mervyn Cawston because he’s been a family friend for many years and I know how much of a legend he is here.

“So it’s something very special for me and it’s probably a bit of a relief too after finally breaking it.”

Bentley was not forced into action too often during the first half as the fifth-placed Shrimpers piled on the pressure.

Joe Pigott, Will Atkinson and John White all went close to scoring before Cian Bolger headed Southend in front just before the break with an excellent effort from Atkinson’s right-wing corner.

The Shrimpers doubled their lead in the 51st minute when Gary Deegan teed up Stephen McLaughlin to fire home his first goal for the club since signing on loan from Nottingham Forest.

But Newport hit back and David Tutonda and Aaron O’Connor both struck the right post as the Welshmen rallied late on.

However, they could not find a way past Bentley which delighted his manager Phil Brown.

“It’s a great result and we played some great stuff in the first half,” said Brown.

“We took our foot off the gas and we rode our luck a bit at the end. But Daniel Bentley kept his 11th clean sheet in a row to set a new club record which is just phenomenal and I’m very proud of him.”

The defeat pushed Newport down to ninth in the table, three points below the play-off berths..

But their manager Jimmy Dack is still confident of a top-seven finish this season.

“We’ve got three to go and we probably need three wins but two of those are at home and we can still do it,” said Dack.

“We’ve put ourselves in a great position and we don’t want to let that slip at this late stage of the season.

“It’s just not happening for us at the moment but we’re still in the mix. We still believe we can do it and we won’t be dwelling on this. We’re all very disappointed but we’ve got to get going again now.”