CROSS Keys produced a late Halloween horror show at Neath, and fell to the shock Welsh Premiership result of the season, writes Tony Poole.

Though Keys were aware they could take nothing for granted against the five-time league winners, few predicted a first Neath win of the season.

And the Pandy Park club, who played with wind advantage during the opening half, squandered a 19-7-interval lead.

Having produced some high-octane performances during three British & Irish Cup encounters last month, a much-changed Keys side failed to cope with the rejuvenated Blacks during the second period.

During the third quarter, Neath scored three tries during seven minutes of mayhem to turn a 19-7 deficit into a 26-19 lead.

And they closed out the win with two late penalties from Welsh international Dafydd Howells after Keys had both replacement hooker Jon Howard and flanker Scott Matthews yellow-carded.

“Having fought hard to construct a 12-point lead with the wind, the players were aware it wasn’t enough to secure victory,” said Cross Keys team manager Mark Prangell.

He added: “But they thought the win was in the bag and ultimately, inaccurate passing and the contact area cost us the game.

“In fairness to Neath they grew off our mistakes, and three quickfire tries turned the course of the game.

“But the players must realise this kind of display is unacceptable and regroup ahead of the Friday night visit of Llanelli.’’

A ninth-minute collision - involving Neath fly-half Luke Price and Keys full-back Ryan Lee – resulted in Price exiting with a broken tibia.

It led to a 10-minute delay and on the resumption, ex-Neath No 8 Adam Powell claimed a pushover try that fly-half Dorian Jones goaled.

Keys were then gifted a try from a Neath overthrow at a five-metre lineout with flanker Scott Matthews the benefactor.

Once more fly-half Jones converted and five minutes into stoppage time, Neath had centre Lloyd Phillips binned.

But the 14 men registered a try against the run of play from an 80-metre breakout, resulting in wing Jamie Davies touching down and replacement James Thomas converting.

But in the final minute of an hour long half, Keys centre Aled James glided through a gap to make it 19-7 at the break.

But for whatever reason, the Blacks found something during the second half that they’ve failed to produce for sometime.

It was triggered by a 53rd-minute try from flanker Callum Thomas that full-back Howells converted from the touchline.

That got them going and three minutes later, wing Davies collected a second try to tie the scores on 19-19.

And on the hour, replacement scrum-half Tom James signalled a return from injury with a try close to the posts that fly-half Howells improved on.

That formed a killer blow and during the final quarter, Keys failed to make any kind of impression.

Handling errors and ball retention proved a massive problem, and Neath closed things out with two late penalties from full-back Howells.

And worryingly, a third league defeat in five starts dropped Keys down to ninth spot in the table.

MATCH DETAILS

NEATH: D Howells; J Davies, R Evans, L Phillips, A Evans; L Price (J Thomas 9, J Leyshon 58), R Cole (T James 52); L Elliott (A Coundley 44), S Crocker (I Dobbs 52), O Jordan (D Hopkins 52), G Evans, J Locke, L Ward (A Humphrey 63), L Beach (capt), C Thomas.

Scorers: Tries – J Davies (2), C Thomas, T James; Cons: D Howells (2), J Thomas; Pens: D Howells (2).

CROSS KEYS: R Lee (E Jones 37); N Williams, A James, L Andrews (capt), P Uhi; D Jones, J Leadbetter (L Jones h/t); L Garrett (R Cornock 62), D Hughes (J Howard 62), A V Lott (C Gould 75), S Williams (T Lampard 62, D Hughes 74-84), D Hodge, R Tucker (J Condy 69), Adam Powell, S Matthews.

Scorers: Tries – A Powell, S Matthews, A James; Cons: D Jones (2)

REFEREE: Andrew Davies (Ceredigion).