Cardiff 24 Neath 22

Champions Neath just failed to put icing on a fourth championship cake yesterday against closest rivals Cardiff.This formed a fourth successive defeat for the Blacks against Cardiff, and it took some of the froth off the title celebrations.

But the Blacks were strangely lethargic for most of the second half, and did not come alive until late on after the damage had been done.

Captain Lee Beach once more led from the front, while the introduction of scrum-half Martin Roberts for the injured Gareth Jones on 45 minutes helped to pep them up.

However, it's always difficult in these circumstances for a championship-winning side to pull off a champagne performance - and Neath failed to cope with it.

But at the conclusion of play a WRU presentation party - headed by chairman David Pickering and officials of the Principality Building Society - duly handed over the silverware to Neath captain Lee Beach.

But it could detracted from the way Neath stuck to their task throughout the season while others blew hot and cold.

"With the destination of the title done and dusted in midweek, it took the pressure off us," said Neath assistant coach Gruff Rees.

He went on: "But no side likes conceding a league double, and that is especially the case when it is Cardiff. But they are a top team in this division, and on the day it just wasn't to be.''

Reflecting on another season that contained a few other blips, Rees saluted the unstinting work behind the scenes of some senior players.

He continued: "Every squad member deserves praise for the way they have performed this season to set up a fourth successive title.

"But the task for the coaches has been made a lot more easy through Lee Beach, Gareth Gravell, Steve Martin, Arwel Thomas and Stephen Thomas bringing experience to bear.

"I have the greatest admiration for what they have all done, as in all honesty it was a campaign that could have gone to the dogs.

"Each time we have strayed off the straight and narrow, the boys have bounced back.

"After a drawn game with Llanelli a good performance followed at Glamorgan Wanderers while the win in the Bedwas mud came hot on the heels of defeat at Aberavon.

"Hopefully, more success this season is on the way, but just for the present we will enjoy tonight.''

Neath got off to a dreadful start, turning over ball in slipshod fashion and missing tackles galore on wing Roger Davies.

The former Bridgend man burst clear in the second minute to touch down at the posts with ex-Neath man Leigh Halfpenny converting.

Cardiff had Wales Under-20 captain and flanker Jevon Groves yellow-carded on 12 minutes for killing the ball, and fly-half Arwel Thomas slotted over the ensuing penalty.

Three minutes later Neath hooker Jimmy Richards had a try ruled out but scrum pressure eventually told, and the Blacks won a penalty try, goaled by Arwel Thomas.

The return of Groves in the 23rd minute coincided with Cardiff levelling on 10-10 via a Halfpenny penalty.

It was the turn of Neath to go down to 14 men on the half-hour with James Merriman binned, and Halfpenny nailed the subsequent penalty.

Back came the Blacks in the 32nd minute with slick hands from Arwel Thomas and captain Beach releasing full-back Gareth King over for an unconverted try.

But in a game of shifting fortunes, wing Davies slid over for another try in the 35th minute to take Cardiff back in front.

Halfpenny missed the conversion, but from an identical spot he soon delivered a third penalty, extending the Cardiff lead to 21-15 at the break.

The Blacks then saw scrum-half Jones stretchered off early in the second half, with Roberts taking his place. It was later feared from hospital reports that Jones had broken his neck.

Cardiff held territorial advantage for 15 minutes, but the scoreboard remained undisturbed going into the final quarter.

A high punt in the 62nd minute by Arwel Thomas led to a fumble from full-back Halfpenny, and it almost yielded a try for Wales Under-18 wing Kristian Phillips.

And as time dragged on so the next score was going to be vital and it went to Cardiff in the 74th minute via a fourth Halfpenny penalty.

Neath had a try from wing Matthew Nuthall turned down in the 77th minute for a foot in touch and it wasn't until time ebbed away that they started to fire.

And three minutes into injury time, captain Beach picked up from a five-metre scrum, and replacement scrum-half Martin Roberts nipped over for a try converted by replacement fly-half Howard Thomas.

But it was too little too late, and once again it was a case of Neath being hit by the Cardiff bogey.