The battle of the boots had looked like going the way of the visitors’ Giles Thomas as Carmarthen Quins led 31-30 at the end of normal time, but Griffiths had other ideas. Four minutes into injury time he got another penalty chance
and he hit the mark to make it eight wins and a draw in their opening nine matches. It was nip and tuck all the way, with the mighty Quins leading 28-24 at the interval.
Two tries from Emyr Jones and a third from Josh Freeman hoisted them into contention and the deadly accurate boot of Thomas did the rest. Thomas knocked over two conversions and added four penalties for a match haul of 16 points. Griffiths helped himself to 13 to back up Newport’s four tries. Outside half Lee Thomas helped himself to 20 points as Pontypridd beat Llanharan 50-20 at Sardis Road, while defending champions Pontypool pipped their biggest rivals Aberavon 8-5.
Swansea were overrun at home by Caerphilly, who emerged 44-34 victors at St Helens, while Neath beat Ebbw Vale 43-11 thanks to 18 points from Matthew Jones. Llanelli notched their second win of the campaign with a stunning 33-11 triumph at Bedwas, where centre Gavin Evans scored 15 points, and Cross Keys full back Darren Miles scored 19 points as he steered his side to a 39-24 home win over Cardiff.
