NEWPORT picked up an important away point and set themselves on course for the aggregate bonus when they drew at Trelawny in last night's British League Cup match.
The Wasps were only denied an away victory when home skipper Chris Harris came storming through from behind to beat Frank Smart in a last heat decider.
Newport established a four-point advantage in the first three heats, only for Trelawny to four points ahead after heat eight.
To their credit, Newport stuck to their task during the second half of the match and levelled again with a crucial 5-1 in heat 12.
The impressive Niels-Kristian Iversen and reserve Chris Schramm picked up an unexpected 5-1 from home star Matej Zagar and Tom Brown, the Trelawny reserve who is on loan from Newport.
Then came a crucial heat 13 in which Smart and skipper Craig Watson took the early advantage against Harris and Emiliano Sanchez.
Harris kept up a determined chase to catch the Newport pair and came through on the last bend to snatch second spot from Watson - although the Wasps skipper was clearly unhappy at the decision of referee Barry Richardson to award second place to the home man.
That left Newport with a two-point lead going into the final two races.
The experienced Tony Atkin, who had scored only one point from his first three races, gained an unlikely win in the re-run.
So the result was down to the final heat where Smart made the gate, but was unable to resist the determined challenge of Harris, who eventually battled through to snatch the second place.
Smart dropped only three points from his five rides while 20-year-old Dane Iversen was equally impressive on his first visit to the Clay Country Moto Parc.
Trelawny: Emiliano Sanchez 2+2 (4 rides), Pavel Ondrasik 10 (5), Matej Zagar 6 (4), Steve Masters 5+1 (4), Chris Harris 14 (5), Simon Phillips 5 (4), Tom Brown 3+1 (4).
Newport: Frank Smart 12 (5), Carl Wilkinson 4+1 (4), Niels-Kristian Iversen 11 (5), Tony Atkin 4 (4), Craig Watson 8 (4), Chris Schramm 6+2 (5), Matt Cambridge 0 (3).
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