RICKY Marheineke said he couldn’t sleep after Huntingdon Town beat Newport Pagnell Town 4-3 last night - but he would have been seriously annoyed had he not been able to sleep … because of a loss.

The manager was buzzing from a game he said had everything, which was won by the team who made the most of the other’s error rather than its own prowess.

Still, that is another three points for a team who have won six and drawn one of their seven games in the United Counties League this year.

“It was a game that had everything,” he told The Hunt Post. “It had the lot.”

Stuart Eason opened the scoring but Newport Pagnell came back into the game, fluking an equaliser and going ahead from a set piece and with a cracking volley.

“I could tell it wasn’t working early on a made a change, bringing Jack Warwick on to play alongside Ricky Dear in the centre of the midfield – and that helped,” said the manager. Declan Rogers was then fouled in the box and scored the penalty himself for 2-2 at half time.

In the second half Newport got their third before Ricky Dear scored the second equaliser and Eason the winner late on.

“To be fair, we had the better chances, but really it was the team that took advantage of the other’s mistakes that was going to win it – and that was us.

“They were a hard team and it was a tough game – but that’s another three points and the pleasing thing is it came after those 120 minutes [in the Hinchingbrooke Cup against Peterborough Northern Star] on Monday.

“Newport just wanted to fight and it is a credit to our lads that we kept our cool.”

This is Huntingdon’s first season in the Premier Division of the UCL – after they were crowned champions of Division One at the end of last season. But they are more than coping with the step up and are now sixth in the table, just six points off third place.

Former Cambridge City defender Charlie De’ath made his debut in the game with Victor Torres missing out after injuring his ankle in the 1-1 draw with Spalding on Saturday. He will be out for two-to-four weeks.

And there are further concerns for this Saturday’s game at Long Buckby with Dan Moyes and Ben Sawyer also struggling, and the captain Dear, Warwick and Dave Townsend unavailable because of work. Add to that, Ryan Spencer picked up a dead leg.

However, Marheineke confirmed that goalkeeper Enol Ordonez has signed for another month on loan – and he is hoping to keep hold of the Spanish Cambridge City player until the end of the season.

“He has been excellent – he is a quality goalkeeper,” the manager said.