Newport County gave their survival hopes a timely boost as Bobby Kamwa's superb second-half strike inched them to a nervy 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Town.

Kamwa went close in the first half and had looked the most likely goalscorer throughout a tense afternoon at Rodney Parade.

He delivered the crucial moment after 68 minutes, cutting inside before sending a perfectly judged dipping shot from the edge of the box across Shrewsbury goalkeeper Matthew Cox and into the far corner.

Shrewsbury could only muster one shot on target and have now lost four games in a row without scoring.

Despite the win, Newport stay 22nd, two points outside the relegation zone, after rivals Barrow and Crawley Town also picked up victories.

Shrewsbury stay 19th and with six matches left to play are nine points clear of Barrow in 23rd but form will be a worry for Gavin Cowan's side who are not yet safe.

Kamwa first tested Cox in the seventh minute with a shot from distance before Iwan Morgan fired narrowly wide for the visitors from Anthony Scully's cutback.

A poor clearance from Cox then led to Kamwa going close to opening the scoring before the break as he cut onto his left foot before firing a shot which looked destined to find the corner of the net but was deflected narrowly wide by the heel of the covering Josh Ruffels.

Newport pushed for the opener as the half wore on and with a strong wind in their favour during the first period, corners were causing problems for Shrewsbury, with one landing on top of the crossbar, but an attritional opening 45 minutes with only one shot on target ended goalless.

The Shrews forced County goalkeeper Jordan Wright into action for the first time in the 54th minute as he pushed away Taylor Perry's shot from outside the box.

Kamwa then provided the moment of quality Christian Fuchs had been hoping for with a beautiful strike to claim a hard-earned three points.

Shrewsbury had a penalty appeal waved away in added time but Newport held on with relative ease.