NEWPORT proved that lightning really does strike twice in the same place with Saturday's dramatic Heineken Cup victory over French champions Toulouse at a highly charged Rodney Parade.
A year ago Newport achieved a memorable European victory over Bath, then welcomed Castres and struggled to victory by a point.
Twelve months on and Newport gained an even more impressive win in Europe against English opposition, this time Newcastle, because it was away.
Again a week later they entertained French opposition and the result was exactly the same, a one point margin, and by precisely the same score of 21-20.
Last year it was the boot of Shane Howarth which saw them home as his seven penalties were just enough to pip Castres. This time Howarth was again at the centre of it all, though the execution was a bit different.
Howarth had missed two easy penalties in the opening 12 minutes, then sliced a conversion and finally passed up another penalty chance, though on the orders of skipper Simon Raiwalui.
Howarth went for touch instead and when Newport couldn't secure their own line-out ball the chance was lost, and with it seemingly the match.
Toulouse, who fielded the biggest pack I've ever seen in club rugby, had looked set for victory nine points ahead following a ten-point start to the second half in as many minutes.
But then Howarth, by now more accurate, landed his third penalty, though there was still little sign of the intense drama to come.
That missed opportunity by Newport appeared crucial, but so was one wasted by Toulouse which really would have been goodnight for Newport.
Wing Nicolas Jeanjean sliced through the middle coming across from the opposite flank only for centre Xavier Garbajosa to drop his pass with the line open in front of him. That let-off served to spur Newport on to great heights, and the crowd just as much as the team failed to give up hope.
They lifted the side again and again as Newport threw the kitchen sink at Toulouse. Sensing that something was on Newport mounted one final attack with just three minutes left. Peter Buxton had a go, so did Ceri Jones and Ofisa Tonu'u before Howarth finally swept majestically over between the posts.
It was all on the conversion, but Howarth could hardly miss and his earlier lapses were forgotten as it went over and Newport were through by the skin of their teeth. It was a wonderful climax to a game that rarely lived up to expectations, particularly in a disappointingly low key first half.
*PICTURED: Shane Howarth sprints to his match-winning try.
Newport struggled to cope with the mammoth Toulouse pack, Fabien Pelous and David Gerard a pair of giants at lock and props Franck Tournaire and Benoit Lecouis giving Newport a hard time in the scrums.
Behind them Jerome Fillol was a quicksilver scrum half, pouncing for the first try after a charge by Tournaire and then leaving the Newport back row dead in their tracks as he shot away for the second.
But what Newport lacked elsewhere they made up for in abundance with their sheer never-say-die spirit.
They simply refused to lie down when things appeared to be going against them, and they kept battling to the bitter end.
Howarth may have got the man-of-the-match award for the second week running, but for me, while admitting it was a huge team effort, lock Mike Voyle was an absolute tower of strength.
Though Newport were not at their best in the line-out that was hardly Voyle's fault for he proved a giant in the middle.
The decision he has to make about his future is well documented, but the watching Wales coach Graham Henry is one of those eagerly awaiting the outcome. Henry could hardly fail to be interested in Voyle, surely playing the best rugby of his career, contributing about the field as well.
Number eight Andrew Powell also showed why he has been called up for a Wales training squad place with another impressive performance in front of Henry.
And wing Matt Mostyn has found his try scoring touch after a slow start to the season, scoring his third in as many matches when he collected a rebound from opposite number Michel Marfaing and made it to the line, his momentum carrying him over. Little did he, or anyone else, realise what lay in store in those desperately exciting final few minutes.
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