Match Report

Cross Keys 9 - Neath 21

Pandy Park , Fri 14th Mar 08 KO: 19:30

Neath last night took another significant step towards winning the Welsh Premiership for the fourth successive time with a hard-earned victory over Cross Keys.It formed a fifth league double of the season for the table-topping Blacks, having taken the reverse fixture over Keys 19-12 back in November.

It also allowed Neath to build confidence ahead of the Konica Minolta Cup quarter-final clash with Keys at the same venue on April 5.

Neath head coach Rowland Phillips said: "You have to work for everything in this league, and that is especially the case during floodlit games in Gwent.

"But once again the boys responded well, and it allowed us to lay down a marker ahead of an imminent return to Cross Keys in the cup."

In the end the superior firepower of the Neath forwards carried them to another significant victory, with captain and No. 8 Lee Beach leading from the front.

Neath gave Jonathan Spratt a rare start at full-back, while two other Ospreys also figured - flanker Tom Smith and scrum-half Martin Roberts.

Early pressure from the Pandy Park side yielded a third-minute drop-goal by fly-half Scott Sneddon, and soon after they almost made it over the try-line during a series of pick and drives.

Neath levelled in the 15th minute via a penalty from fly-half Howard Thomas, but he failed with two others during the first quarter.

Those misses led to Keys retaking the lead in the 25th minute on the back of an angled penalty from Sneddon.

Back came the Blacks 10 minutes later with another equalising penalty from fly-half Thomas, but they were only on terms for a brief period.

Sneddon delivered another penalty as a scrappy half produced few try-scoring chances, and Keys led 9-6 at the interval.

Two minutes into the second half it was a case of level pegging again after Neath fly-half Thomas completed a penalty hat-trick.

Keys were reduced to 14 men in the 52nd minute when ex-Cardiff No. 8 James Malpas was binned for persistent ball-killing.

That led to the Blacks putting added pressure on the home scrum, and turnover ball in the 58th minute paved the way for the opening try.

Wing Kevin James made ground close to the home 22 before sending centre Stephen Thomas into space and wing Matthew Nuthall was released for a corner try.

Fly-half Thomas landed an excellent touchline conversion to increase the lead to 16-9 during the absence of Malpas.

His return signalled a period of home pressure, but they seldom threatened to break down a watertight Neath defence.

And the champions sewed things up in the 79th minute following a break from replacement scrum-half Gareth Jones.

He exploited a tiring defence and delivered a perfectly timed pass for wing Nuthall to claim an unconverted try.