Newport 29 v 18 Whites
07 Mar 2009 - St Helens
A late comeback saw Newport complete a maximum points double over Swansea. Despite leading 13-0 at one point, the All Whites were unable to hold on as two late yellow cards put paid to their hopes of extending their unbeaten home run to five matches.
Swansea began the match with a sting in their tail as a dart forward by Leigh Bevan and a drive by Huw Alford set up a perfect drop goal platform for James Dixon, but the fly half scuffed his effort under the posts. A strong run by winger Rhys Jones forced the Newport defence to dive over the top and Nicky Thomas converted the resulting penalty from five metres inside his own half.
The Whites’ opening try came after 15 minutes when Bevan sprinted past three defenders and linked up with David Watts who sent Thomas in for a touch down. The full back converted his own try. The home side extended their lead 10 minutes later with a Thomas penalty goal after the Black and Ambers’ defence killed the ball.
Soon after, things went from bad to worse for Newport when lock Mark Workman was sent to the sin-bin for handling in a ruck. To their credit, the Black and Ambers did manage to narrow the deficit to 10 points with a late first half penalty goal by Dan Griffiths after Swansea were caught offside in midfield.
Half-Time:- Swansea 13 Newport 3
The second half could have been mistaken for a totally different match as the Rodney Parade men stormed back into the game with intent. Scrum half Alex Walker began the comeback by pouncing on a loose ball before hacking it forward and collecting to score under the posts. Griffiths converted. Soon after centre Scott Williams was yellow carded for killing a dangerous Swansea attack.
The visitors came close to scoring in the corner after Thomas dropped a high ball but good work by Steve Taylor and Walker came to no avail as the support failed to arrive, allowing Swansea to clear. The Whites should have scored through Watts but he failed to spot Rhys Jones on the wing and went for glory himself only to be held up over the line.
Two minutes later, the ball was fed out to Rhys Jones from a scrum and the winger made no mistake as he crashed over in the corner. Thomas failed with the conversion. Crossing in midfield gave Newport a penalty and replacement fly half Mike Burke opted to chip to the corner. A powerful drive by Dan McShane was supported by Adam Frampton but he knocked on over the line.
Ill-discipline began to creep into the Swansea ranks as substitute prop Tim Evans was sent to the sidelines for handling in a ruck. The visitors almost made him pay straight away after centre Tom Riley spotted a gap in the defence and linked up with Walker to send Taylor towards the line only for the winger to be held up by a determined Whites defence.
Evans’ yellow card resulted in passive scrums and the visitors took advantage to create an overlap out wide with Burke sliding over to score. Taylor sliced the conversion well wide. Swansea were temporarily reduced to 13 men as Steffan Jones was yellow carded for killing a dangerous Newport attack. The Black and Ambers went for a scrum but Riley knocked on under little pressure and the home side were able to clear.
When attempting to clear, Thomas dropped the ball under pressure to give Newport a scrum five. With just three minutes of normal time left on the clock, Walker drew in the Whites defence to send Scott Williams over in the corner to take the visitors into the lead for the first time. Taylor converted. To make matters worse for Swansea, Newport captain Andrew Coombs was driven over for an injury time try, after a poor Rhodri Wells box kick, and this secured a bonus point for the Black and Ambers and ensured the Whites finished the match with nothing. Taylor converted.
Swansea will be extremely disappointed not to take the scalp of Newport considering their first half dominance. At least two of the visitors’ tries came from basis errors by Swansea and this won’t please the coaching staff. The squad must now pick themselves up for next Friday’s away trip to Bedwas.
Full-Time:- Swansea 18 Newport 29
Venue:- St Helen’s, Swansea
Weather:- Rain, 9C
Competition:- Principality Premiership
Referee:- Phil Connett
Swansea Scorers:- Thomas (2 Pens, Try, Con), Rhys Jones (Try)
Newport Scorers:- Griffiths (Pen, Con), Walker (Try), Burke (Try), S. Williams (Try), Poole (2 Cons), Coombs (Try)
Swansea Team:- 15 N. Thomas 14 Rhys Jones 13 C. Shelmerdine (rep: R. Payne (rep: D. Karauna)) 12 D. Watts 11 L. Bevan 10 J. Dixon 9 R. Wells 1 Roy Jones (rep: T. Evans) 2 O. Phillips 3 D. Matthews 4 H. Alford 5 R. Kelly 6 S. Kiley 7 D. Blyth (rep: P. De Snyder) 8 M. Popham (rep: S. Jones)
By Paul Hopkins
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