Newport pay perfect tribute to 'BJ' by beating Ebbw after emotional week

NEWPORT paid the perfect tribute to club legend Brian Jones, who passed away last week at the age of 89, with a resounding 40-14 win over Gwent rivals Ebbw Vale at Rodney Parade, . The fixture was one of the Black and Ambers’ picks at their spiritual home, where Jones graced the pitch as a player from 1953 to 1968, and there was a rousing minute of applause for him before kick-off. Skipper and No 8 Ben Roach powered over for two tries in the opening 11 minutes and then a penalty try made it 21-0 after 28 minutes.

To make matters even worse for the visitors, skipper Joe Franchi picked up a yellow card after the third try. Newport also fell foul of the referee before and after half time as they lost hooker Tyler Olding and lock Josh Skinner to yellow cards and close range tries from Ieuan Morris and Franchi briefly brought the Steelmen back into the contest. However, three tries in the final 10 minutes from George Young, Barney Langton-Cryer and a hat-trick score form the outstanding Roach to round things off meant Newport picked up six points with their 40-14 triumph.



“It's been an emotional week with BJ passing,” said Roach. “He was such a big part of Newport and the boys really wanted to do it for him and go out there and put in a performance. “That's what we did.

We started and finished really well. “Ebbw Vale are a top side and it's a rivalry so there will always be that niggle and to-and-fro, but I was proud of the boys after an emotional week to do that job.” It was a victory that also moved them up into third place in the table and put them within striking distance of Ebbw Vale in second.

The Steelmen have a two-point advantage with two games left to play – Aberavon away on Wednesday night and Swansea at Saturday on the final day of the regular season. They trail leaders Cardiff by seven points with a game in hand, so could still move to the top of the table with two big wins. Newport leapfrogged Llandovery into third the day after the Drovers beat Cardiff 48-43 at the Arms Park.

Cardiff complete their league programme at Pontypool Park on Thursday night. Pontypool saw their hopes of breaking into the top four dashed with a 26-24 defeat at Aberavon last week, meaning they will hit their road in the play-offs. Rhys Thomas, Ben Gregory, Luke Davies and Tom Mably were the Aberavon try scorers.

Charlie Thomas kicked two conversions and Ed Dunford one. Pooler’s tries were scored by Mike Herbert, Harry Jarvis and Evan Wood. Kieran Meek converted all three as well as slotting a penalty goal.

They will remain in fifth place in the table regardless of the outcomes in the remaining games which means they will have to travel to face whichever team finishes fourth in the table, currently Llandovery. The Drovers finish their season on Thursday at Bridgend so Newport will know what they need to do for third place when they take to the field at Carmarthen Quins on Saturday. Lose and it could be a Gwent derby with Pooler at Spytty Park in the quarter-finals.

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