NEWPORT head coach Sven Cronk was full of praise for the character shown by his charges after they sneaked a precious Principality Premiership derby win at Ebbw Vale.

After heavy defeats to the strong pair of Carmarthen Quins and Pontypridd, the Black and Ambers were relieved to get their campaign up and running with a 25-22 success at Eugene Cross Park.

But Ebbw Vale discovered that bonus point wins aren't quite as easy to come by in the top flight as they were in the Swalec Championship.

Five-point hauls from openers against Llandovery and Neath represented a dream start for the Steelmen but they will have learnt plenty from a frustrating display against their old rivals.

It was a derby that didn't really hit the heights but Newport were worthy of a win that was earned by full-back Geraint O'Driscoll's trusty left boot and a pair of determined defensive efforts late in each half.

Ebbw centre Adam Jones looked set to race over to make it 21-13 when he intercepted on halfway in first half injury time only for O'Driscoll and wing Johnny Lewis to drag him down five metres shy of the line.

And replacement fly-half Iain Smerdon looked clean through at the death following back row forward Harri Keddie's impressive burst but Newport captain and openside Ollie Griffiths showed tremendous speed to put in the tackle deep inside his own 22.

They were key moments in a scrappy affair in which neither attack was at its most fluent.

However, Newport deserved the spoils for the way that they dealt with the Steelmen's notoriously strong set piece.

The visitors were under the pump at scrum time but did a number on the usually reliable Ebbw lineout with locks Adam Frampton and Adam Brown winning their battle against much-vaunted opposite numbers Damien Hudd and Ashley Sweet.

"The boys dug really deep and showed a lot of guts and character," said Cronk. "But the pleasing thing is that we won but know we can play a hell of a lot better."

His Ebbw Vale counterpart Jason Strange also knows there is plenty of room for improvement ahead of another derby against Cross Keys on Saturday.

"I'm frustrated, not so much with the result but our performance," said the former fly-half. "Our lineout didn't function and there was too much wrong with our game.

"We looked like individuals rather than a team, but looking at the bigger picture we needed to give players a chance and it will serve us well later in the season."

Just like against Llandovery and Neath, the Steelmen made a sluggish start and Newport raced into a 10-0 lead thanks to a well-taken try by wing Jon Morris with O'Driscoll following his assist with a conversion and penalty.

The Steelmen lacked creativity but worked their way back into the game thanks to the left boot of ex-Newport fly-half Ethan Davies, who cut the gap to 10-9 approaching the break.

The visitors had enjoyed a pretty good 40 minutes capped by centre Jamie Murphy banging over a smart left-footed drop goal to make it 13-9.

But Ebbw thrived in injury time and some shoddy defence enabled wing Wes Cunliffe to finish down the right to make it 14-13 before Jones' interception.

Had he made it over the whitewash then perhaps the Steelmen would have gone from strength to strength in the second half but instead it remained nip and tuck.

O'Driscoll banged over a super long-range penalty before nice (albeit possibly forward) offloading saw Cunliffe race over again to make it 19-16 to the hosts.

Three more magnificently struck penalties by Newport's number 15 put the Black and Ambers within sight of the spoils with quarter of an hour left.

But Smerdon booted three points with 10 minutes remaining and then Ebbw had their chances to avoid defeat, and even steal the points.

The fly-half sliced one effort, was then denied by Griffiths and then was wide of the posts with another potential leveller.

It added to the home frustration but in truth they could have few complaints, and 11 points from three games represents a strong return to the top flight.

Ebbw Vale: D Haymond, W Cunliffe, N Preece, A Jones (J Howells 73), O Williams, E Davies (I Smerdon 60), R Downes (C Thomas 60), J Lavender (R Jones 60), J Franchi (R Francis 60), R Sevenoaks (G Robinson 60), D Hudd (captain), A Sweet, R Clarke (A Harris 68), R Kynes, S Gibson (H Keddie 68).

Scorers: tries – W Cunliffe (2); penalties – E Davies (3), I Smerdon

Newport: G O'Driscoll, J Morris, J Murphy, D Franchi, J Lewis (B Nightingale 51), M O'Brien, A Quick (O Davies 62), D Pattison, D Rogers (W Evans 66), J Monck (A Jeffries 74), Adam Brown, A Frampton, B Lampitt (R Jenkins 40), O Griffiths (captain), S Feehan.

Scorers: tries – J Morris; conversion – G O'Driscoll; penalties – G O'Driscoll (5); drop goal – J Murphy

Referee: Martyn Lewis (WRU)

Argus star man: Adam Frampton