VERDICT: Bradford City turn up the heat in Newport victory

EGGED on to say it again by the club cameraman, Harry Lewis delivered his smiling, slightly bleeped-out “up the chickens” battle cry.

The keeper’s new catchphrase is fast becoming a ritual on social media after any positive outcome.

The hope is that seeing Lewis and his beaming reaction will be a regular feature over the coming months.

League win number one, while nothing particularly special other than the goals, was a cause for cheer at Valley Parade.

Lewis and his back four had extra reason to be cheerful after collecting their second clean sheet on home turf.

And City had not won two in the same week at BD8 since this time last year when Andy Cook’s first-half treble against Stevenage had us all believing in the Derek Adams promotion dream.

Reason enough not to get carried away by the first three points of the fledgling campaign – and Mark Hughes ensured feet in the dressing room remained firmly grounded with his post-match verdict that they should have pushed on for more against another depleted opponent.

The difference between Newport’s 10 men and those immovable objects in Doncaster colours the previous fortnight was the score at the time of the red card.

When the Exiles were relieved of defender Declan Drysdale just before half-time, they were a goal down and had to still come out and chase the game.

There was no chance of pulling up the drawbridge as Gary McSheffrey’s Rovers had done on the opening day.

So, you can understand why Hughes was slightly frustrated that his side did not put their foot down a bit more having increased their advantage so early on in the second half.

But perhaps we should cut them some slack given the extreme temperature, which saw both halves punctuated by EFL-enforced “hydration breaks” for the players to take on water.

The cloying heat certainly sucked the energy to exhaust any plans of a full-on assault.

Those (fool) hardy souls in the lower rows of the Midland Road Stand deserved a medal for sticking it out in conditions that would have tested a Foreign Legion route march.

But there was no excuse for the idiot who thought it clever to release a flare after City had gone two up.

It might have been a moment of euphoria but that will never justify throwing a pyrotechnic from the upper tier towards the fans below. What kind of thought process goes through the perpetrator’s brain – if they even considered the consequences at all?

Hopefully the young supporter struck by the object will not be put off from coming back; equally, let’s find the one responsible and ensure they do not darken Valley Parade’s doors again.

There were breaks in both halves for the players to take on water

Youthful exuberance and a bit of innocent fun? No, plain and utter stupidity that deserves the toughest sanction.

The club, too, could face punishment from the FA who will expect a full report on how the flare was smuggled into the ground in the first place as well as the unsavoury incident itself.

As crowd numbers grow, such issues are worryingly starting to creep in and City must try to nip them in the bud.

But don’t let the moronic minority spoil what was an enjoyable afternoon for the rest as their team backed up the Carabao Cup triumph over Hull with another win to get the league season up and running.

The momentum – that word that Hughes loves to use – generated from Tuesday night was evident in a high-octane start that saw City sweep into an early lead.

Chances fell for Lee Angol, recalled to the starting line-up ahead of the unlucky Jake Young, and Scott Banks before Richie Smallwood’s thunderbolt after six minutes.

Receiving possession midway inside the Newport half, the grey shirts seemed reluctant to close him down. Then again, given the City skipper’s scoring record down the years, they probably didn’t anticipate what would happen next.

Smallwood, though, sensed the opportunity. Shifting the ball on to his unfavoured left foot, he fired with deadly effect into the top corner.

It was only his second goal in his last 46 matches – and his first in a home game for six years!

The last time he had celebrated scoring on his own patch was September 2016 for Scunthorpe against Southend; no wonder he was entitled to milk the moment.

“His left foot is usually for standing on, so I don’t know where he’s got that from,” laughed Harry Chapman, although that was not strictly true.

When pushed, he did recall something similar from Smallwood when they were together at Blackburn.

“It was a left-foot volley at Rochdale which was a big surprise. He did the same as well and ran round the pitch three times for his celebration with all the lads chasing him!

“But it was a great strike and set up the rest of the team to perform how we did.”

You could sense the change in mood that an early goal can make. Newport, too, were drawn away from any pre-match thoughts of “doing a Donny” and parking numbers in their own half.

Their willingness to stick with two up front, even after going a man down, made for a more open contest although threats on City’s goal were limited.

Omar Bogle looped a first-half header wide but otherwise the only occasions when the hosts really needed to be switched on came from set-pieces and long throws.

More often than not, it was Andy Cook’s bonce on the end of them, back doing his defensive duties on an afternoon when he could not add to his own recent goal rush.

He did try to claim the last touch on the second goal but without any conviction. The assistant’s flag had clearly signalled Chapman’s shot had crossed the line before the centre forward ran in to make absolutely sure.

But Chapman deserved all the plaudits for seizing the initiative from the halfway line.

Encouraged by Hughes at half-time to be more selfish on the ball, there was only one thought in his mind as he charged through Newport’s back-pedalling ranks.

Chapman brushed through two challenges and then cut past a third in the box before releasing his shot early.

That seemed to catch keeper Nick Townsend off his guard and the ball squirmed through his dive and over the line before Cook could apply his own full stop.

Disappointingly, that was City’s only on-target effort of the half – something that Hughes was quick to raise in his team debrief.

Plenty of room for improvement, of course, but it’s been a good week since Barrow. Valley Parade can smile again.