Principality Premiership

NEWPORT’S captain and fly-half Matt O’Brien stole the show with a great display that bagged him a haul of 23 points to propel his side to victory.

O’Brien crossed for two first-half tries, kicked two conversions and a hattrick of penalties as he orcehstrated victory.

Newport’s other points came from a 66th minute try by strong-running centre Tom Pascoe.

Replacement scrumhalf Ryan James and replacement forward Matthew Reed also injected additional pace and drive into the home team’s efforts in the second half as the Rodney Parade men pulled even further away from the relegation dogfight.

The visitors’ points came from tries by No.8 Dafi Davies, wing Mike Powell and Morgan while full-back Jamie Murphy kicked a conversion. The visitors trailed 18-12 at the interval.

Both teams were expecting a hard battle – and so it proved – as they sought a victory that would move them well clear of the dreaded relegation zone in the Principality Premiership table. Star man Matt O’Brien - Newport PONTYPRIDD closed the gap on second placed Ebbw Vale in the Welsh Premiership table after a hard-fought win.

Ebbw Vale took the lead on 27 minutes after Rhys Jones slotted home a midrange penalty.

Pontypridd chose to boot their next kickable penalty to touch and they were rewarded with a penalty try to make it 7-3.

Ebbw hit back after Rhys Jones kicked a second goal to reduce the gap to a point, but Gareth Smith mauled his way over the line in response. Ben Jones sliced the conversion wide but made up for it by kicking a penalty moments later.

However Ebbw addressed the balance on the whistle as Carl Meyer got three points

Ebbw regained the advantage early in the second half when Stefan Thomas stretched out for their first try of the game.

Two Ben Jones penalty kicks gave Pontypridd a 21-16 lead, but a Rhys Jones three-pointer for Ebbw reduced the deficit to two. But Ben’s successful kick for Pontypridd five minutes after that made the final score 24-19. Star man Ben Jones - Pontypridd