NEWPORT are still well on track despite their narrow 17-13 Welsh-Scottish League defeat against Llanelli in last night's top-of-the-table clash at Stradey Park.

That is the encouraging claim of coach Ian McIntosh, disappointed with the start but happier by the end after his team had almost snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. "We nearly snatched it out of the bag," he said.

"It looked like we were dead and buried but to come back the way we did was very encouraging.

"It's not the end of the world, we are still well on track.

"It's just a hiccup, but it means we must win our home games."

But McIntosh was not as pleased with Newport's performance in the first hour or so. "I fully expected Llanelli to come at us, and they did," he said.

"Their forwards were rampant and their defence was outstanding. "We were getting slow ball and running right into the traffic.

"It was clear to see that Llanelli got into us in the first 15 minutes and put enormous pressure on.

"We fell into the trap of playing behind our forwards, we came back but it was too late and in the end Llanelli deserved it because we played it totally the wrong way. "We probably had a hangover from the Heineken Cup and the Celtic League. "It's sad, but a top-of-the-league clash is very important to both sides, the guys are very keen and they play it like a Test."

McIntosh was angry at referee Paul Adams, ironically named man-of-the-match by TV pundit Jonathan Davies, who handed out four yellow cards, two on each side. The one that left him fuming was the one dished out to Jason Strange for failing to release the ball when he had little chance.

"I just can't believe how yellow cards are dished out. Jason was pinned to the ground so how could he release it? It was very hard."

Llanelli coach Gareth Jenkins praised his side for their first half performance, enough to clinch victory to go top of the table.

"We won the game with our first half performance," he said, though adding, "but it was far too close for comfort and I am very relieved to have withstood the last ten minute onslaught.

"We were outstanding with our pace and intensity in the first half, but we lost our way a bit in the second half.

"The Llanelli defence was huge and I'm relatively pleased."