Bridgend 36 Newport 38

Moments earlier the Ravens faithful had been celebrating a penalty try that had edged their side into a one point lead. The added bonus was a yellow card for Newport replacement hooker Dan Preece.

But somehow the Black & Ambers rescued the ball from the re-start, moved forward and earned themselves a penalty on the 10 metre line. Up stepped O’Brien and over went the penalty that brought a deathly hush to the Brewery Field as it won the game.

The victory ended a run of four successive defeats for Newport and allowed them to complete the double over Bridgend to ease their relegation worries.

The last time the Black & Ambers had tasted victory was against the same opponents at Rodney Parade on 9 November and their bonus-point triumph put them seven points clear of Bridgend and nine of the bottom of the table Ebbw Vale.

The first-half was pretty much one-way traffic as the visitors dominated against a Bridgend team that simply couldn’t get going. Part of that was down to five crooked line-outs feeds in the opening 40 minutes by hooker Iestyn Merriman.

Newport’s pressure finally told in the 10th minute when they opened the scoring with a penalty try awarded to them by referee Rhys Jones. A scrum penalty five metres out allowed them to kick to touch and a short line-out throw resulted in a good driving maul.

The Bridgend pack did all they could to resist, but prop Cai Lewis was caught bringing down the drive illegally and, as well as conceding a penalty try, the home side lost their tight head for the next 10 minutes.

Owen Howe kicked a penalty to get the home side on the board, but a debut try from lock Ben Carter and a short range effort from centre Jon Morris, both converted by Matt O’Brien, put Newport in firm control.

It didn’t take long in the second half for the bonus-point try to come. An inside pass from Harri Lang to the highly impressive Dafydd Buckland would have earned the scrum half a try had the referee not called the pass forward, but moments later flanker Kyle Tayler was driven over for another score improved by O’Brien’s trusty boot.

That score prompted three replacements from the home side and the energy provided from the Bridgend bench made a huge impact in the second half. No sooner had Rhodri Apsee arrived than he drove to within a few metres of the line and his skipper, Nathan Edwards, was able to reach the line in the next wave.

New outside half Jacob Chilcott added the extras and two minutes later the Bridgend fans were toasting another try. This time Chilcott acted as a link man to send wing Dewi Cross off on a mazy run and he used Stu Floyd-Ellis to send the scrum half over for another try.

O’Brien steadied the Newport nerves with a crash ball try that he also converted, but there was a grandstand finish from the Ravens as Ospreys and Wales U20 star Cross raced in for two tries that Chilcott converted.

They brought it back to a one-score game and then came the fifth try of a blistering second half recovery from the home team that earned them the lead at last.

Then came O’Brien’s last gasp heroics to snatch the victory from their grasp.

Bridgend: Owen Howe, Julian Mogg, Stuart Floyd Ellis, Nathan Edwards (captain), Dewi Cross, Jamie Murphy, Chris Williams, Owen Jordan, Iestyn Merriman, Cai Lewis, Jack Pope, Ben Jones, Dafi Davies, Joe Grabham, Morgan Strong

Reps: Garin Lloyd, Rhodri Apsee, David Fellows, James Little, Travis Huntley, Connor Tantum, Jacob Chilcott, Brad Roderick

Scorers: Tries: D Cross 2, N Edwards, C Williams, Pen Try; Cons: J Chilcott 3; Pen: O Howe

Newport: Dai Richards, Harri Lang, Connor Edwards, Jon Morris, Elliot Frewen, Matt O’Brien, Daffyd Buckland, Lewis Smout, Matt Dwyer, Tom Piper, Ben Carter, Joe Bartlett, Josh Skinner, Kyle Tayler, Rhys Jenkins (captain)

Reps: Dan Preece, Henry Palmer, Garin Harris, Andrew Mann, Josh Reid, Geraint Watkin, Geraint O’Driscoll, Adam Jones

Scorers: Tries: Pen Try, B Carter, J Morris, K Tayler, M O’Brien: Cons: M O’Brien 4; Pen: M O’Brien.

Referee: Rhys Jones

Star Man: Matt O’Brien (Newport)