It was a victory that moved the west Walians into second place in the table as they completed their seven matches and they will now have to wait nervously this weekend as the teams below them fight it out for a semi-final berth.
Despite their defeat, the Black & Ambers are through to the final four, but they will host Cross Keys this weekend in a game that could earn them a home draw if they can get back to winning ways. Their visitors must win with a bonus-point to guarantee their place in the semi-finals.
They slipped to a surprise 33-0 home defeat to Cardiff as the Black & Ambers posted their first win of the Tier 2 campaign to give them a chance to move off the bottom when they travel to Bargoed this weekend. Swansea’s 32-32 draw with Neath left the Welsh All Blacks sweating on their qualification.
They host Bridgend this weekend in a fixture in which the winners are guaranteed a ticket to the semi-finals. All to play for on Saturday!
Wednesday, 3 May: Newport v Cross Keys
Friday, 5 May: Neath v Bridgend
Saturday, 6 May: Bargoed v Cardiff
Newport lost for the first time since the Premiership split as Llanelli dented their perfect record and improved their own play-off hopes in the process. The Black & Ambers had strung together five wins on the trot to lead the way at the summit of Tier 2 and a win against Llanelli would have seen them book a home semi-final berth.
But tries for the west Walians from Ryan Davies, Nathan Hart, Thomas Rogers and Dion Jones proved enough for them to secure a 26-9 bonus-point victory in the bottom tier and all but secure a top four spot.
Newport made the brighter start at Rodney Parade and went ahead through a Matt O’Brien penalty. But Llanelli responded well and heaped pressure on the hosts after the early setback. And that was rewarded when Davies crossed and wing Jones converted.
Newport, though, were not to be bogged down as outside-half O’Brien added two penalties in quick succession to put the hosts marginally ahead. Tom Phillips thought he had scored for Llanelli, only to be pulled back for a forward pass in the build-up.
After the break, Llanelli took a hold of the game and sailed ahead. Replacement Hart went over one minute after the restart and 20 minutes later Thomas Rogers touched down for the third.
They clearly had the momentum as Jones secured the bonus-point and converted his own effort for the 17-point advantage which they would not relinquish.
Neath remain on course for a Tier 2 play-off place after Ed Howley’s last-gasp penalty saw them scrape a thrilling 32-32 draw against strugglers Swansea at St Helen’s. The All Blacks had led by 12-points in the second-half and looked set to cruise to victory but Swansea marched back with Phil Jones and Howley exchanging final minute penalties to share the spoils.
Neath now face a crunch, winner-takes-all battle with Bridgend for a play-off spot this week. The visitors began brightly and went ahead in the opening quarter through Wales U20 starlet Reuben Morgan Williams’s try.
Swansea pegged Neath back midway through the first-half. Emyr Phillips scored their first score before Rhodri Wells dotted down with Ospreys academy full-back Jones converting both efforts.
Charlie Davies levelled with a try before Howley hoisted his team ahead with a penalty. Rhys Jones added Neath’s third try with Jones responding with three-points of his own before the break to keep it a seven-point game.
Neath appeared on top when Grabham found the fourth try on 55 minutes, but that seemed to click the All Whites into gear as they sought a turnaround. Ricky Guest crossed to close the gap to seven before Joe Jenkins battled over with Jones’ conversion dramatically tying the game.
Jones thought he had won the match in the final minute with a penalty, but Howley came to the rescue for Neath with a last-ditch three-points to level the match.
A brace of tries for hooker Joe Tomlinson helped Cardiff notch up their first Tier 2 win and put a dent in Cross Keys’ play-off hopes. Will Rees-Hole and Jonathan Edwards added to Tomlinson’s double to help the second-tier basement boys pick up their first victory since the split in January.
The visitors crossed after eight minutes with Tomlinson forcing his way over for the opening try. And the front row man bagged his second score 11 minutes later, with outside-half Jarrod Evans adding the extras from the tee.
His opposite number Josh Prosser got the hosts onto the scoreboard with a penalty only for Cardiff to grab their third try on the stroke of half-time as Rees-Hole crossed and Evans added the conversion to stretch their lead at the break to 16-points.
Cross Keys centre Barney Nightingale raced away for the first try of the second-half, with Prosser nailing the conversion to close the gap to nine. However, Cardiff began to pull away at the hour mark as Wales Under 20 outside-half Ben Thomas kicked two penalties to extend their lead to 15 as the match neared its conclusion.
And the match was settled when former Scarlets back-rower Edwards put the seal on the win with the bonus-point try. Thomas could not add the conversion but made amends with a penalty in the dying seconds.
Bridgend gave their play-off hopes a boost as they came away from Bargoed with a four-try bonus-point despite playing half the match with 14 men. The Ravens lost four players to the sin-bin, but still managed to run out emphatic winners in a pulsating match as centre Jamie Murphy kicked 22 points to send them up to third in Tier 2.
Matthew Edwards opened the scoring for the visitors after just four minutes as the wing crossed in the corner, before the hosts hit back through prop Rhys Morgan. Bargoed then took the lead for the first time on 26 minutes with a try through lock Bryce Morgan but the advantage lasted just two minutes as Exeter Chiefs bound wing Tom O’Flaherty crossed for the visitors, with Murphy kicking the conversion before adding a penalty three minutes later.
Outside-half Callum Jones gave Bargoed the lead once again with a try, before back-row man Ashton Evans tipped the balance back in Bridgend’s favour with a try of his own on the stroke of half-time. Murphy opened the scoring in the second period with a penalty before flanker Adam O’Driscoll dived over for the bonus-point score.
A penalty try for the hosts with 15 minutes left gave Bargoed some hope but two late Murphy penalties ended any hopes of a comeback.
