Llanelli 17 Newport 13

NEWPORT missed a chance to go top of the Welsh-Scottish League table when they fell to another defeat at the hands of Llanelli at Stradey Park last night.

Newport were missing three regulars and they rarely threatened until they finally roused themselves in the last ten minutes and in the end were unfortunate to come away with a loss.

Until that late effort Newport spilled possession and got turned over too often, but the way they stormed the Llanelli rampart at the end made their earlier ineptitude all the more baffling.

The kick-off was delayed 25 minutes because of a double accident on the M4 at Port Talbot which held up the Newport team and their fans.

Newport failed to make any early headway against resolute Llanelli defence though both sides spilled passes.

A long kick by Matthew Watkins put Llanelli back in their 22, but Stephen Jones cleared his lines.

And when Llanelli attacked Newport full back Matt Pini, he drove them back with interest.

Llanelli powered down field, with Chris Wyatt dominant, and young Newport flanker Gareth Gravell stopped Neil Boobyer in his tracks.

But Llanelli came again and Jason Strange missed tackles which allowed prop Phil Booth to charge through and from there Stephen Jones and Boobyer handled for Wayne Proctor to score a try in the corner.

Newport retaliated and Dale Burn and Peter Buxton both made ground and Pini nearly got through before Burn and Buxton again got close to the line.

But with Pini up in attack a long kick out of defence rescued Llanelli and forced Newport back.

Newport lost centre Andy Marinos with a bloody nose, replaced by Hal Luscombe making his senior debut, going on the wing with Watkins moving to the centre.

Newport narrowed the gap to a point when Strange kicked a well judged penalty after Llanelli were caught off-side.

Llanelli lost flanker Ian Boobyer, replaced by Dafydd Jones, but Strange missed a chance to give Newport the lead when his 45-yard penalty shot sailed wide.

Marinos returned to the fray, but almost immediately lost the ball in a tackle and then Newport failed to win their own ball in the lineout for the second time, before the third went astray and then they were penalised in a woeful passage of play.

Then they were turned over and only a poor pass prevented Mark Jones from being worked clear on the Llanelli left.

Llanelli replacement Jones almost broke through, but Newport were caught off side in front of their own posts and Stephen Jones landed the kick to restore Llanellis five point advantage.

And three minutes before the interval after Burn had fumbled at the base of the scrum Newport were caught off side and Jones againput the penalty over.

But Strange replied with his second penalty for Newport and there was still little between the sides.

It turned sour for Strange, however, when referee Paul Adams harshly judged he had deliberately held on to the ball and yellow carded him.

Jones promptly landed the penalty, and Newport had to finish the first half and start the second with 14 men.

Pritchard moved to outside half and ironically Newport were playing better with 14 men than they did with 15, though they still got turned over twice.

Jones, however, pegged Newport right back, then the Llanelli pack drove Newport back yards and when they were caught offside Jones put his fourth penalty over.

But astonishingly the referee failed to even warn Wyatt, never mind yellow card him, after he appeared to kick Ian Gough on the floor.

But more yellow cards did follow as rival props Adrian Garvey and Phil Booth were sent to the sidelines after a fracas.

Newport almost broke through when Burn shot clear from a tap penalty only to knock on near the line.

Newport brought on Ben Breeze, Mike Voyle and Joe Powell ten minutes from the end and they immediately livened up.

In fact, Newport threw the kitchen sink at Llanelli in the closing stages and they were rewarded when Marinos raced across for the try from a tapped penalty after Pritchard and Burn had both gone close and Llanelli No 8 David Hodges had been yellow carded.

Strange converted and Newport continued to press in a thrilling finale, which belied what had happened earlier, but Voyle held on too long when he had a clear overlap.

Llanelli: Cardey, M. Jones, N. Boobyer, Finau, Proctor, S. Jones, Peel, Booth, McBryde, J. Davies, Cooper, Wyatt, S. Easterby, I. Boobyer, Hodges. Replacements: Madden, Smith, Selley, Morgan, D. Jones, G. Easterby, G. Bowen. Scores Tries: Proctor; Penalties: Jones (4) Newport: Pini, Mostyn, Marinos, Pritchard, M. Watkins, Strange, Burn, Snow, Richards, Garvey, Raiwalui, Gough, Buxton, Gravell, A. Powell. Replacements: Young, C. Jones, Boyle, J. Powell, Luscombe, Breeze, Lane. Scores Tries: Marinos; Conversions: Strange; Penalties: Strange (2) Referee: Paul Adams