Nine-man Newport County endured a miserable afternoon at Rodney Parade while Port Vale returned to winning ways in emphatic style.
County did have a chance of finishing the day top of League Two after an impressive start under new coach Nelson Jardim, but they could not find their form in this chaotic encounter.
The visitors made a perfect start with Jayden Stockley heading home in the sixth minute.
Aaron Wildig levelled for County, before Stockley struck again before half-time.
County were then caught napping on the re-start, Nelson Sanca gave the ball away and Ethan Chislett made no mistake from close range.
Lorent Tolaj extended the lead with a fine strike, while County were reduced to 10-men. Ciaran Brennan was shown a red card for kicking out at Port Vale skipper Ben Garrity in an off-the-ball incident.
Kyle Jameson followed his team-mate down the tunnel shortly after for a second booking; the first for a hand ball attempting to stop Tolaj’s goal and then for getting involved in a scuffle inside the box.
Newport County head coach Nelson Jardim:
“I felt like everything that could have gone wrong, it went today from the beginning.
“We have to stay positive and look at what we’ve done, what we have achieved so far.
“We’ve come a long way, there’s a long way to go and a completely new squad with the young boys.
“We understand that we have a lot to improve, especially in controlling our emotions. I think they got too much and probably those two sending offs was probably a little bit like that.”
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