Wizards hold on in thriller

sandwiching one for wing Mike Evans to bring them back to within five points of their hosts.

Pontypridd then put their foot on the gas again, with two tries for scrum-half Hill and second tries for Smith and Stuckey, followed by scores for Alex Knott, Rhys Shellard and Joe Popple.

Ben Uphill claimed a consolation score for Neath.

“I thought first half it was very competitive,” said Neath head coach Simon King.

“There were a couple of decisions that went against us and Ponty are always very adept at taking advantage of that.

“We came out in the second half with a positive mindset and put ourselves right back into it, but in so doing the thinness of the squad was exposed.

“One crumb of comfort, we got a bonus point up here and scored 38 points.

“I don’t suppose there are many sides who will score 38 points against Ponty in Ponty.

“But that doesn’t paper over the fact that we conceded far too many points and we were easy to score against, which was unacceptable.” ABERAVON held off a late Newport comeback to win an 11-try thriller at Rodney Parade.

The home side struck first with a Jonny Morris try, but Aberavon responded through Will Price.

And the visitors profited after a missed tackle let Luke Davies in for a try.

A third Aberavon try came when Jon Phillips chipped for Iwan Temblett to pick up and use his pace to score, but Matt O’Brien darted through the middle to send Newport centre Chay Smith over for a well-worked try.

The visitors secured a first-half bonus point when Stef Andrews took a quick penalty and fed Temblett for his second try in the corner.

Aberavon pulled away from the Black and Ambers with a second Davies try, before the hooker set up Jac Morgan for a touchdown.

The Wizards were penalised for offside at the breakdown and O’Brien kicked to the corner. A short line-out saw Will Evans dive over for a try.

Two late tries for Tom Lucas and Geraint O’Driscoll weren’t enough to deny Aberavon.

– Tries: J Morris, C Smith, W Evans, T Lucas, G O’Driscoll; Cons: M O’Brien (2); Pens: M O’Brien (2).

– Tries: W Price, L Davies (2), I Temblett (2), J Morgan; Cons: J Garland (4).

NEWPORT ABERAVON