Llanelli Star

Newport fightback means wait for a win continues

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WHILE the weather denied Newport County any action on Saturday, Newport RFC managed to get in a full 80 minutes of Principali­ty Premiershi­p action a day later at Rodney Parade as they got back to winning ways with a very wet triumph over Carmarthen Quins.

It was a fifth defeat in a row for Emyr Phillips’ Carmarthen side, who have slipped to ninth in the table and haven’t tasted success since they beat basement side Neath on November 8.

For the home side, it was a 10th win of the season and keeps them in sixth.

Carmarthen took the lead with a simple penalty after five minutes from the boot of Steff Marshall and then increased their lead to eight points on the stroke of half-time when Scarlets full-back Clayton Blommetjie­s stole away to score.

The South African came into the back line for a scrum just outside the Newport 22 and was given the ball in enough space for him to run in from 20 metres, with the home crowd baying for a forward pass.

That left the Black and Ambers – or rather the Reds on the day as Newport wore a change strip – with a mountain to climb as the conditions simply got worse and

NEWPORT ....................... 22 CARMARTHEN QUINS..15

worse as the game wore on. But climb it they did.

Three minutes after the restart lock Joe Bartlett slid in for a try and the comeback was on.

Five minutes later the momentum of the game shifted completely when loosehead prop Dan Preece charged over for a try that this time Matt O’Brien converted.

That made it 12-8 as the home side hit the front and there was more to come.

Chay Smith ran in the third try on 56 minutes and a second O’Brien conversion extended the lead to 11 points.

O’Brien gave his side some extra breathing space with four minutes left on the clock when he added a penalty.

It was just as well, because the Quins battled all the way to the end and were rewarded with a converted try at the death from lock Lee Taylor that at least earned his side a losing bonus point.

NEWPORT CARMARTHEN QUINS

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