Morris’ Black and Ambers have been a surprise package since the Premiership resumed after the pandemic and they now have six wins from seven in the competition.
Valiame Kotobalavu’s dramatic try won it for the visitors at Cardiff Arms Park as the hosts lost James Richards to a late red card.
Morris said: “It was a really good arm wrestle and we knew Cardiff would be very heavy around the contact area. I thought they won the first 20 minutes there and scored two good tries.
“In fairness to my players, they showed great courage to come back and we finished the game as we have done recently. The players never gave up and put their bodies on the line so I am chuffed to bits for them.”
The two sides were locked at 14-14 at the break.
Cardiff’s Theo Cabango – the brother of Wales and Swansea footballer Ben – opened the scoring with a stunning solo try. He collected a kick inside his own half and scorched to the line. Jacob Beetham converted but then missed a penalty.
Tom Hoppe made it two for Cardiff after Beetham intercepted a Newport pass and found his team-mate in support. Beetham converted.
Newport hit back through Jack Wright with Matt O’Brien converting. O’Brien then levelled the scores as he converted his own try.
Beetham kicked a penalty at the start of the second half, but O’Brien continued his fine evening with his second try which he again improved.
In a thriller, Beetham’s try and penalty put Cardiff 25-21 up, but Newport won it through Kotobalavu after they went through the phases in the final stages.
O’Brien converted for a bonus-point win and Richards saw red for a dangerous tackle just before Newport’s winning score.
Cardiff’s Beetham said: “I’m sure it was an exciting game to watch for the neutral, but it’s gutting for us to lose by three points. It’s always a hard loss to take when it’s a tight game but I enjoyed the match and hopefully we can get a win next week.”
Pontypridd got back to winning ways after a convincing 31-3 bonus-point victory over Ebbw Vale.
The game began in sensational fashion when Ebbw’s attempted clearance from their 22 was charged down.
The ball was passed to Dale Stuckey who touched down in the corner after just 11 seconds to give Pontypridd an early 5-0 lead.
Pontypridd went into half time 8-0 to the good after Ben Burnell slotted a penalty with 27 minutes gone.
After the break, Richard Powell provided a glimmer of home for Ebbw when he kicked what proved to be their only points of the afternoon.
An excellent Burnell strike from the tee resorted Pontypridd’s eight-point lead on 55 minutes.
A yellow card for Ebbw’s Danny Hill proved crucial in determining the outcome of the match with Burnell slotting home the subsequent penalty on 67 minutes.
A good spell of Pontypridd pressure saw replacement Llywarch Ap Myrddin score to make it 19-3.
On 74 minutes, Pontypridd were given a penalty try and their third score of the afternoon to make it 26-3.
Ebbw then found themselves down to nine men after Jordan Thomas picked up his team’s second yellow card of the contest.
Pontypridd made the two-man advantage count after a scrum in their own 22 and some crisp hands from the backs saw Stuckey score out wide for his second and a bonus-point score.
RGC 1404 came out on top against visitors Merthyr in a thrilling fixture in Colwyn Bay.
There was an exciting start as a Merthyr rolling maul resulted in a try by hooker Daniel Wall and the conversion was kicked by Gareth Thompson.
RGC 1404 were awarded a penalty on the 10-metre line which was kicked by Dion Jones who went on to have a fine game for the hosts. A home try came moments later after Rhodri King got the ball over the line. RGC were unable to capitalise on the conversion.
Soon after the restart, RGC grabbed another try thanks to Rhys Tudor after a scrum in the Merthyr 22.
Jones dispatched the conversion to give his team a 15-7 half-time lead.
RGC soon added to their first-half score as Harri Evans ran to the try line to make the score RGC 20-7 Merthyr. The conversion was missed.
Merthyr soon came back with another as Kelyn Williams touched down after the pack made it over the line.
Williams added to his tally with another try moments later leaving three points in it because the conversion was missed.
With 10 minutes to go, RGC put another three points on the board as Jones converted a penalty on the Merthyr 22. That was enough for victory as Jones completed an afternoon to remember.
