O’Brien had missed recent matches due to his role as backs coach at the Dragons. In his absence the Black & Ambers were beaten at home by Ebbw Vale and away at Llandovery.
They were also losing 20-19 at the Brewery Field at half-time and in need of some inspiration at the break in order to get back to winning ways. And it was man of the match O’Brien who provided the much-needed spark.
The Ravens ran out of steam as Newport went on the rampage, running in five second half tries, the last of which was scored by O’Brien. The conversion of his own try made it 38 points in a blistering second half showing – and took his match tally up to 17.
“It was a great performance, and one we needed coming after two losses. It took us a while to get going, but it was pleasing in the end,” said O’Brien.
They may have been well beaten at Church Bank by the reigning champions, Llandovery, but after this performance, and with a fully fit squad, Newport have to be considered serious contenders for the title. Their next game will be crucial as they head to Pontypool Park seeking a double over one of their major rivals for a top four finish.
“Credit to the boys, they reacted to what we told them at half time because our discipline had been poor in the first half,” said Newport head coach, Ty Morris.
“We were very accurate in our attack and both our wings scored hat-tricks. It was great to have Matt back and his variation in attack was superb.”
Bridgend opened the scoring after 17 minutes, outside half Rhys Williams kicking a penalty. He then added the extras to the first of the game’s 12 tries, scored by home No 8 Jordan Collier.
That made it 10-0 to the Ravens midway through the first-half, but the first of Elliot Frewen’s hat-trick of tries eventually got the visitors on the board. O’Brien converted but couldn’t improve Ben Roach’s try shortly after.
That was the first of four changes of the lead in the closing 10 minutes of the first half. Williams landed a penalty for 13-12, Oli Andrew jinked over for another Newport try and O’Brien conversion to make it 19-13 to the visitors before home hooker Evan Yardley converted a driving line-out into a try which Williams converted off the touchline to make it 20-19 at the break.
The tries continued to flow in the second half as Newport went into overdrive. O’Brien sent Frewen in with a superb pass to secure the try bonus point, and the outside half then offloaded to Ioan Davies, who sent Andrew in.
O’Brien converted both scores and suddenly there was less jeopardy with Newport leading by 13 points after only five minutes of the second half. Jonny Morris was next on the score sheet, although O’Brien’s conversion attempt split the two touch judges before finally being ruled out by the referee.
Bridgend’s defiance continued when prop harry Olding bagged another driving line-out try, which Williams converted to cut the gap to 11 points, but that was as good as it got for the home fans.
The final quarter was totally dominated by the Black & Ambers. Andrew completed his hat-trick as he latched onto an O’Brien cross kick, and the half-century was raised when Frewen ran in his third try.
It was appropriate that the final score should come from O’Brien himself after he had put on such a masterclass at No 10.
Scorers: Bridgend: Tries: J Collier, E Yardley, H Olding; Cons: JR Williams 3; Pens: JR Williams 2. Newport: Tries: O Andrew 3, E Frewen 3, J Morris, B Roach, M O’Brien; Cons: M O’Brien 6.
