Match Report

Newport 34 - Neath 32

Rodney Parade, Sat 28th Feb 09 KO: 14:30

Newport 34
Neath 32

By Tony Poole
At Rodney Parade

DIRECTOR of rugby Rowland Phillips has vowed that champions Neath will keep on going to the end.
He made this statement after seeing a sixth league defeat of the season for the Blacks bring a 10-match unbeaten streak to an end.
Unbeaten since going down 20-3 at Glamorgan Wanderers back in November, they fell to an 80th-minute penalty from Newport replacement full-back Daniel Griffiths.
"While this defeat impacts on the top of the table, Neath will continue to fight hammer and tongs until the final day of the season," stressed Phillips.
"The league is extremely tight this season, and I'm sure there are more twists to come.
"We were hoping Neath would be resilient against Newport, but on the day we conceded some soft tries.''
Newport head coach Sven Cronk echoed Phillip's sentiment in that the league title could go one of several ways.
"Neath are not dominating the Welsh Premiership this season, and it is leading to healthy competition," explained Cronk.
"Earlier in the season, we let ourselves down in losing home matches against two other championship rivals - Llanelli and Aberavon.
"But to gain a key victory over the champions of the last four seasons - and outscore them 4-2 on tries - represents progress.
"We have important away meetings with both Llanelli and Aberavon still to come, and that means nothing is settled.''
However, the victory was overshadowed by a 38th-minute neck injury to their flanker Richard Dale, who was making a 100th Newport appearance.
He was taken to hospital with a compressed neck, and early indications suggested he had feelings in both arms.
"Hopefully, Richard (Dale) will make a full recovery, and our best wishes go out to him and his family," continued Cronk.
This has to be marked down as one of the best games that the Welsh Premiership has produced this winter.
Just about everything was packed into 80 electrifying minutes with the last-gasp penalty from Griffiths forming the coup de grace.
The unluckiest player to end up on the losing side was Kiwi scrum-half Kevin Farrell, who turned in one of the individual displays of the season.
Having recently destroyed Bridgend almost single-handed, the powerful Counties Manakau player thrived in the competitive environment.
However, Newport proved more ruthless finishers with wing Michael Poole and centre Tom Riley forming constant threats.
The lead changed hands no fewer than 10 times and even after Griffiths landed the winning penalty, there was still a feeling that Neath had a winning score up their sleeves.
The return of former Wales U-21 centre Dafydd Lockyer and wing Stephen Thomas formed big pluses for Neath, who face another major test at Cardiff this Saturday.
Former Wales fly-half Arwel Thomas, who contributed 22 points, kept the champions in the game, but it was Newport's vociferous fans who had the last laugh.

Match stats

Newport: Tries - T Riley (2), M Poole, A Coombs; Con: T Riley; Pens: D Griffiths (3), T Riley

Neath: Tries - L Ford, D Lockyer; Cons: A Thomas (2); Pens: A Thomas (6)

Team: K Morgan (D Griffiths 51 mins); M Poole, T Riley, S Williams, P Jones (S Taylor 63); M Schropfer, A Quick (A Walker 58); D Pattison (I Evans 63), A Brown (D Goodfield 58), G Robinson, A Jones, M Workman, R Dale (D McShane 38), A Coombs (capt), P Williams

Team: G King; K James, J Spratt, L Ford, S Thomas (D Lockyer 63); A Thomas, K Farrell; N Downs, G Price, C Mitchell, E Evans, N Edwards, H Pugh (S Miles 70), L Evans, G Gravell (capt)

Referee: Tim Hayes (Carmarthen)

Principality man of the match: Kevin Farrell (Neath)