After a long journey to South Wales and a wait to see whether the Rodney Parade pitch would be passed fit to play, caretaker manager Andy King paired together his two new loan signings, Hallam Hope from Everton and Antonio German from Gillingham in a bid to break a run of five consecutive away league games without a goal.
He was duly rewarded when Hope opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark.
With confidence fragile, Newport's leveller on the stroke of half-time could have been a huge blow for Town but they regained the lead straight after the interval when returning midfielder Darren Carter shot home.
The hosts pushed for an equaliser but Northampton gave as good as they got and didn't retreat into simply defending their lead.
After a season of late heartbreaks, however, there was a twist in the tale when David Pipe won a penalty for the home side in the 88th minute. This time the script wasn't followed as Matt Duke saved Andy Sandell's spot-kick and the Cobblers survived a couple more scares to belatedly start 2014 in winning fashion.