CROSS Keys kept their Premiership title hopes alive after beating fellow contenders and great local rivals Newport by dominating tracts of this bruising derby which ended in high drama.

The hosts looked to be coasting to a comfortable 24-8 victory with just a few minutes to go until they conceded a late penalty try.

It came after replacement hooker Darren Hughes was sent off when Black and Ambers outside-half Matt O’Brien was kicked in the head as he looked odds on to pounce on the ball for a touchdown.

That late score not only gave the Black and Ambers a losing bonus point, but meant the Gwent Valleys club were forced to defend for their lives in the dying seconds as the city side went on the hunt for an unlikely draw.

But this defeat is another devastating one for Newport whose play-off hopes have been severely dented now by losing their last three league matches.

For Keys, it rounded off a great week after they won another derby on Tuesday by seeing off their other great Gwent adversaries, top of the table Ebbw Vale at Pandy Park.

Victory over Newport was also the perfect tonic for them as they look ahead to their Swalec Cup semi-final showdown with Carmarthen Quins at Aberavon on Saturday.

This was a typically edgy derby, especially with the stakes so high, but it was the Keys scrum which finally gave them the edge, strengthened when Hughes came on as a replacement for exciting prospect Ellis Shipp with just over 20 minutes to go.

The hosts had shaded the game until then, but the scores were deadlocked at 8-8 after Shipp had crossed for a converted try, cancelled out by an excellent individual touchdown by wing Jon Morris, O’Brien adding the extras.

Enjoying such dominance at the scrum in the final quarter, Keys were awarded two late penalty tries by referee Adam Jones as they destroyed Newport’s set piece.

The home side were also controversially denied a try the official had awarded when ever dependable scrum-half James Leadbeater crossed with a quarter of an hour to go.

Full-back Owen Howe was even lining up the conversion when Mr Jones performed a U-turn and disallowed it after it was then ruled that Keys had committed an offence at the scrum which had provided the platform for the try that never was.

Newport’s cause wasn’t helped by two yellow cards being given to back row forward Rhys Jenkins at the end of the first half and tighthead Tom Piper in the 58th minute, both for breakdown offences.

It wasn’t much of a spectacle but home winger Mathew Powell brightened the game at times.

He looks a real find and posed the visitors some problems, always looking to cause some damage.

Keys held on for the win, but it was touch and go in the breathless last few seconds.

Cross Keys: O Howe, M Powell, N Williams, P Williams (L Andrews 65), L Lewis (B Nightingale 54), J Prosser, J Leadbeater (O Leonard 79), L Garrett (G Carpenter 76), E Shipp (D Hughes 54), R Cornock (A Lott 79), S Williams (D Hodge 63, S Andrews, J Skinner (T Lampard 54), S Matthews (capt), I Jones.

Cross Keys scorers: Tries – E Shipp 30, Penalty try 72, 77, Conversion – O Howe 30.

Newport: L ap Myrddin (A Robson 50), J Morris, G O'Driscoll, H Palmer (W Cunliffe 22, A Jeffries 59-68), E Frewen, M O'Brien, R James (A Bidgood 76), J Lavender (M Prosser 60), W Evans (A Watkins 33), T Piper, D Partridge, A Brown (capt), R Jones, C Attwell (B Lampitt 50), R Jenkins.

Newport scorers: Tries – J Morris 34, Penalty try 79, Conversion – M O’Brien 34.

Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)