Newport win, just!

Of course, they have excuses for a far from championship display - a new coaching team, a squad containing 14 newcomers, a very young back line and the usual first-game rustiness.

But apart from the coaching situation, the same can be said of Pontypool and their players are less well known while their pack also lacks the experience of the Newport eight.

Pooler coach Steve Jones used my prediction of them finishing the season relegated as a means of motivating his side. The other motivation was simply that they were playing opponents clad in Black and Amber.

Those elements were sufficient to inspire a brave, fighting performance and, had they held on to two try-scoring opportunities, they might have won.

Their scrum was solid and their lineout secure and they were dangerous around the fringes where young No 8 Lloyd Burns excelled.

They also turned over a lot of Newport ball while centre David Smith, once of Newport, posed problems.

Newport's set piece only looked secure in the last quarter after changes brought on by weariness in the warm conditions.

Prolific points scoring outside half Dan Griffiths had one of his poorest games, missing two conversions and three easy penalty kicks, though opposite number Sam Mills was also wide with two penalties he might have landed on another day.

Newport's tackling was also poor but they had a dangerous runner in right wing Gareth Chapman, scorer of over twenty tries for Cross Keys last season, while back row pair Rhys Jones and Sam Waldron worked hard.

Newport may have been unlucky early on when Treorchy referee Tony Rowlands twice awarded penalties for crossing against them when it seemed they simply employed dummy runners, coach David Rees claiming this affected confidence.

And both sides were fortunate as early as the fifth minute when a free-for-all resulted in no action other than Pontypool hooker Leighton Jones leaving the field with a nose bloodied by Darren Davies.

In the second half an accidental clash of heads resulted in Jones going to hospital with a badly bruised jaw.

Soon after the initial set-to a personal wrestling match between Pontypool skipper Cae Trayhern and Waldron resulted in yellow cards, whereupon tempers cooled.

Newport took an eighth-minute lead when Rhys Jones drove over and after Mills had kicked a penalty and Pontypool wing Mohammad Ali had dropped the first of their try chances, Chapman made the most of an overlap to make it 10-3 before Mills again replied.

Griffiths' one successful penalty made it 13-6 after 55 minutes but then a superb Smith chip, catch and follow-up burst set up a try for full back Richard Jenkins which he converted before Pooler took a 64th-minute lead through Mills' third penalty.

An upset was really on the cards, but in fact a yellow card for persistent offside against former Newport scrum half Owen Jones handed the advantage back to Newport and eventually scrum half Bryan Shelbourne sold a dummy inside the Pontypool 22 to score the winning try which Griffiths converted.

The Newport crowd of 2,954 were relieved, along with the coaches, for they won and will undoubtedly improve.

But Pooler should take the most satisfaction, for the skill and spirit displayed indicates my suggestion they could be relegated may be wide of the mark.

Newport: R Williams, G Chapman, R Payne, S Ireland, W Kershaw-Naylor, D Griffiths, B Shelbourne, I Evans (S Cronk 62min), A Brown (K Crawford 53min), G Robinson (D Pattison 62min), D Davies (N Edwards 53min), M Veater, N Kelly (P Williams 75min), S Waldron, R Jones.

Scorers: R Jones, Chapman, Shelbourne; conversion: D Griffiths; penalty: D Griffiths. Pontypool: R Jenkins, M Ali (R Mason 53min), D Smith, N Lewis, L McCabe, S Mills, O Jones, J Viner, L Jones (R Miller 44min), N Blake (G Gunter 70min), M Amos, D Cox, C Trayhern, D Gibbs, L Burns.

Scorers: try: R Jenkins: Conversion: R Jenkins; penalties: S Mills (three).