Who mentioned sacred cows ? There have been several changes at the back already this season. However, I did not think Turnbull and Jameson had individually bad games, the penalty incident aside, so I would not have messed around with the defence. I might have switched to a back four, but purely for tactical reasons, to give Newport something different to think about.
The midfield did not function properly at the end of the first half, and Mellon was entitled to make changes in that area. He took off Lewis in addition to Merrie.