THE first derby of the season between the two Gwent clubs in the South Wales Premier League ended honours even in a draw with Newport getting the better of the exchanges.

Newport decided to bat in glorious conditions at Panteg House and made a good start as Terryn Frey (77) and Imran Hassan put on 109 for the second wicket.

Nathan Millichip (25), Tom Josham (16) and Rhys Harper (16no) all chipped in as Newport closed on 251-7. Chris White had 5-0-25-2 for Panteg, Chris Mee 9-1-46-2, Lloyd Smith 6-0-61-1 and Gareth Davies 10-0-51-1.

Callum Reid (65) and Ian Bird (34) shared a fourth wicket partnership of 53 when Panteg batted and Reid and Adam Harrison (48) added 40 for the sixth wicket.

Harrison and James Reid (16) held Newport up with a seventh wicket stand of 46 and Panteg were able to see out the overs to finish on 225-8.

Newport's bowling figures were: Harry Powell 10-0-49-2, Greg Maybury 10-1-36-2, Darnell Taylor-Wood 4-0-22-0, Scott Thornton 10-1-33-2, Lewis Coates 10-0-49-1 and Michael Clayden 6-0-34-1.

Elsewhere, the top-of-the-table clash between Mumbles and Cardiff ended in a draw, Bridgend Town drew with Ynysygerwn, Port Talbot Town drew with Neath and Pontarddulais beat Swansea by seven wickets.

In the second XI competition, Panteg surprised Newport by chasing down 1699 to win by one wicket at Spytty Park.

SUDBROOK inflicted a first defeat of the season to Chepstow in their local derby at the Deepweir in Division One of the Thomas, Carroll Glamorgan and Monmouthshire Cricket League and knocked them off the top of the table in the process.

Sudbrook opted to have first knock and captain Ross Lewis was in imperious form as he scored a fantastic 161 with the support of Micky Martin (94no), Sudbrook posted a daunting 286-4. David Teague took 2-41 for Chepstow and Jon Roberts 2-49.

Chepstow battled hard with Dave Bennett getting 44, Teague 39, Alun Franklin 35 and Jason Dobbie 31 but they could only manage 225-8. Under-18 star James Hussey took the top three Chepstow wickets in his 3-17 and Rhys Pescod took 3-37.

Usk took advantage of Chepstow's defeat to go top of the table after a convincing victory over struggling Abergavenny at Avenue Road.

Ian Clayton made a marvellous 102 not out and Henry Lewis 51 as Usk amassed 345-5 with Asim Gillani getting 2-50 for Abergavenny.

Abergavenny never looked like threatening that total and were dismissed for 135. Bary Sharpe made 27 as Ollie James took 4-17 and Jason Cooke 4-43.

Stuart Roden scored a fine 115 and Sam Saunders 73 not out as Croesyceiliog reached 279-3 against Blackwood.

But Blackwood chased it down thanks to Kyle Dudde who made a superb 110 and Richard Matthews got 30. Ieuan Wakefield took 3-40 for Croesy and Rhys Jones 2-50.

Newbridge reached 214-6 against Tondu at Bryn Road with David Fortune scoring 70 and James Horton Jr 37. Richard Ready had 2-43 for the Waterwheelers.

In-form Tondu easily got the runs as Craig Townsend made a fine 118, Brett Wadlan 44 and James Hardwick 30 not out.

In other matches, Penarth won at Pentyrch and St Fagans thumped Pontypridd by 103 runs.

It wasn't a good day for top of the table sides as Division Two leaders Miskin Manor lost at home to Radyr but Malpas bounced back to form to win at Barry.

Steve Provis (27) was the pick of Barry's batsmen as they were bowled out for 129. Benito Carnavale took 3-7 and James Baker 3-36.

Malpas lost two early wickets but James Francis (65no) and Dave Martin (51no) then guided them home.

Sully lost to Creigiau at Burnham Avenue and Rogerstone had a welcome win at Brecon.

Brecon batted first and managed 134-9 with Andy MacDonald getting 20 and Tom Jones 17 as John Berry took 4-26 off nine overs.

Andy Harris made 22 and Alec Holdaway was 38 not out when Rogerstone got the runs for the loss of five wickets. Tom Jones tok 2-20 for Brecon and John Kenchington 2-32 from 10 overs.

The local derby at Pontymister went the way of the home side who beat Newport Fugitives by five wickets.

Richard Jones scored 69, Russ Thomas 49 and Matthew Evans 45 as the Fugitives reached 212-5. Mo Asif had 10-1-26-2 for Pontymister and Adnan Ghori 2-46 off 10 overs.

Abbas Asraf scored 46 and Zulfi Ali 26 but it was Mo Suliman who cracked 60 not out in 30 minutes, his 50 coming off 29 balls, who led Pontymister to a five wicket victory. Steve Durston had 7-1-37-2 for the Fugitives.

Pontymister are now looking forward to another local derby next Saturday against Rogerstone.

Ebbw Vale celebrated their first win of the season over third placed Welsh Asians 22hwo batted first and were bowled out for 164.

Captain Khalid Idris made 35 and Naeem Khan 27 while Ebbw Vale skipper Dave Windross took 9.5-2-30-5.

Waqar led the way for Ebbw Vale with 56, Dylan Morgan made 43 and Darryl Blake was 43 not out when they reached the target.

Uzair Rehman took 10-2-15-2 for the Asians and Mo Ilyas 2-29 off eight overs.

In Division Three, Cardiff Gymkhana lost to Lisvane, Dinas Powis beat Vale, Whitchurch Heath won at Llantwit Fardre and Machen went down to Monkswood in their basement battle.

Ponthir batted first at Monmouth and set a target of 249-7 ion which, Dave Wilson scored 60, Matt Dennehy 57, Aled Burkitt 45 and Gareth Burkitt 34.

In the early part of the Monmouth reply, a Ponthir fielder fell awkwardly and dislocated his shoulder. The match was held up for an hour awaiting an ambulance and that brought the Duckworth Lewis Formula into effect.

Monmouth were ste a revised target of 292 off 42 overs and they did it comfortably.

Matt Lovett made a sparkling 95 not out and was ably supported by Josh Grey with 73.