YORK City manager Nigel Worthington admitted that Russell Penn’s red card proved the pivotal moment in a 3-1 defeat at Newport.

Penn was sent off just seconds after the break following a reckless lunge at home midfielder Lee Minshull.

It led to his second bookable offence following a caution for dissent at the end of the first half.

The Minstermen were leading at the time courtesy of a debut strike from on-loan Sheffield United forward Diego de Girolamo, but goals from Andrew Hughes, Chris Zebroski and Darren Jones quickly turned the tables and the margin of defeat could have been more emphatic at the final whistle as the visitors dropped to third-bottom in the Sky Bet League Two standings.

While Penn might have been most culpable for the defeat, Worthington was also unimpressed by Lindon Meikle’s efforts to prevent Hughes’ opening goal and the under-hit back pass by Marvin McCoy that played in Zebroski for the second.

Trying hard to keep a lid on his emotions, the City chief said: “During the first 45 minutes, there was some good play and the commitment was very good, so I was very pleased up to that point.

“Newport are a strong side but we matched them in the first half. We also passed the ball well at times and had put in so much effort to get a foothold into the game.

“But what happened 30 seconds into the second half blew everything out of the water and, through bad decision-making, we ended up with what we deserved, which was absolutely nothing. It started with a kick off we have never done before and that causes your captain to get sent off and then it’s backs-to-the-wall stuff.

“The first goal was poor. We did not stay with the runner and the second goal was a bad touch back to the keeper.

“The third was a hell of a good strike, to be fair, but there wasn’t enough out there regardless of the situation. The mistakes cost the team three points and I don’t think some of our players are bright enough on a match-to-match basis, so that’s something that probably needs to change.”

Worthington had no complaints with Penn’s dismissal, which will prompt a one-match ban and rule him out of Saturday’s home match with Shrewsbury.

The Bootham Crescent boss added: “He apologised and took responsibility after the game but it would have been better if he had stayed on the pitch. It was a bad decision from the kick off.

“He then lost control of the ball and, because he was trying to chase it, he made a challenge you don’t want to see, so the referee was spot on with his decision.”

Goalkeeper Michael Ingham was replaced by Jason Mooney at half-time with Worthington revealing that he felt sick despite initial reports from the dressing room that he had suffered a dead leg.

“It was illness more than anything,” Worthington said. “He was feeling unwell.

“The doctor says it might be a virus so we will wait and see how he is before the next game.”

Ryan Jarvis also limped out of the action in the second half, adding to a casualty list that had already seen Josh Carson, Dave Winfield, Michael Coulson, Wes Fletcher and Jake Hyde ruled out prior to kick off.

On the former Norwich attacker’s injury, Worthington explained: “He took a bang on his knee and was struggling with that, so we’ve got a few bumps and knocks but that’s part of the game. You have to live with that and deal with it.”

Italian under-19 international De Girolamo’s goal on his professional full league debut was one positive on a demoralising day and Worthington was happy with his contribution prior to being substituted after Penn received his marching orders.

“It was a good goal and I was pleased for him,” the former Northern Ireland manager said of De Girolamo’s eight-minute effort. “The quick free kick was bright play by Keith Lowe and the little man tucked it away nicely.

“I was disappointed we had to take him off because he can sit in that hole, get on the ball and prove a pain for the opposition but circumstances dictated the situation.”

Fellow loan striker Ryan Brunt was left to plough a lonely furrow up front for the entire second half and, on his display, Worthington said: “I didn’t feel Brunty played as well as he did against Portsmouth. He wasn’t getting into the right positions to receive the ball and was giving himself too much to do at times.

“It was a difficult game for him but he’s got a presence and gives us something different. We saw that in the first half but not as much in the second.”