Newport keep hopes alive

Newport came within one score of running up a century as they outclassed a poor Stafford side to notch an astonishing 95-0 victory in Midlands 2 West.

The hosts scored a stunning 15 tries without reply on the way to the biggest victory of the season.

But while their points difference column was given a significant boost, they remain outside the play-off position with just three games to go.

That was down to Burton's win at Barkers Butts, the Staffordshire side holding a one-point advantage in the promotion race.

"It is very difficult to pick any holes in a performance when Newport scored 15 tries and Stafford did not get on the score board at all," said spokesman Chris Bristow. "However poor the opposition are, the points still have to be scored."

The Fishes were in irresistible form, even though it did take them 18 minutes to get on the board. Tomasi Tanumi was the man to go over and break the deadlock, and Newport took control from that point onwards.

Further tries for Watsioni Leqeti, Marc Millward (2) and Michael Woodhouse (2) stretched the advantage to 38 by the interval, with Jamie Simpson having kicked four conversions.

Newport had the slope and the wind in their favour in the second half, and that only helped them to stroll away with matters.

Skipper Steve Dolphin soon went over and Millward completed his hat-trick with more than half an hour still left on the clock.

Leqeti added his second try before Tanumi went over twice more to become the second Newport player to register a hat-trick.

Steffen Brotherton, who had come on for Millward then scored the try of the match, before Will Martin, Dolphin again and then Tanumi with his fourth ended the rout.

Closed

Simpson kicked six more conversions to take his personal tally for the match to 20 points.

Bridgnorth closed the gap on Barkers Butts to three points by holding Newbold to a 19-19 draw at the Edgar Davies Ground.

The All Blacks play Butts in their next league game, but have a tough job to overhaul them as their last two fixtures are against league leaders Kenilworth and third-placed local rivals Newport.

But coach Bryan Smallman saw this latest point as another sign of their increased confidence in recent weeks. "It was definitely a point won," he said. "It was a good performance and we've had those for four or five weeks in a row now.

"Whether we survive or not, the most important thing is that the guys now realise they can compete with these big teams."

Bridgnorth opened up a six point lead with two Charlie Ralph penalties before conceding 12 unanswered points. They then replied with a converted try from Mike Preece to take a 13-12 interval lead.

Newbold added a converted try of their own soon after the restart, but two late penalties from Ralph rescued the point.

Both sides then missed penalties in the closing minutes as the result remained in doubt right to the death.