NEWPORT fell to their third successive defeat in the Principality Premiership as they produced a disappointing performance against Bridgend Ravens at Rodney Parade, writes Jay Bayford.

The Black and Ambers made a nervy start and were guilty of frequent errors throughout as Bridgend’s recent good form continued.

The hosts gave away two costly penalties in the first 10 minutes as Joseph Scrivens kicked both to give the Ravens a 6-0 lead.

While the home side also invited pressure from Bridgend with a number of wayward passes and dropped balls as they failed to settle into the game.

Newport enjoyed a good period with possession and should have crashed over but they failed to take full advantage of a two-on-one situation.

Apart from that chance they didn’t really test the Ravens’ defence and after soaking up the pressure, the visitors countered well through Mike Powell and Ollie Evans to set up Marc Bennett to crash over with Scrivens converting.

Matt O’Brien was presented with a golden opportunity to get points on the board for Newport but he was off target with the penalty.

Scrivens then showed how it was done as he added another three points shortly before the break.

Newport continued to struggle to control the game and they fell further behind early in the second half when Scrivens booted another penalty but missed a similar kick minutes later.

The hosts were given a lifeline when Chris Williams was sent to the sin bin and substitute Arwel Robson took advantage immediately as he skipped past a number of challenges to crash over before adding the conversion.

With 10 minutes left, Newport tried to initiate the comeback but they failed to trouble Bridgend in the closing stages and the Ravens saw out the rest of the game quite comfortably.

The loss leaves Newport in trouble, one point above bottom club Swansea, who lost at 52-5 at Bedwas.

The Black and Ambers stay one point behind Bargoed following their 56-3 defeat against RGC 1404.

Newport: L Ap Myrddin (G O’Driscoll 66); W Cunliffe, T Riley, C Smith, J Morris (A Robson 55); M O’Brien, O Davies (R James 55); J Lavender, H Palmer, T Piper, D Mock, A Brown (capt) (K Tatson 64), R Jenkins, C Attwell, R Tucker (R James 64).

Newport – Try: A Robson; Con: A Robson

Bridgend: M Bennett; T O’Flaherty, J Gatt, J Murphy (R Evans 70), M Powell (R Griffiths 80); J Scrivens, W Baird (C Williams 64); O Evans (N Boyce 70), I Merriman, K Jenkins (C Lewis 64) , A Evans, O Lloyd (M John 75), Z O’Driscoll (capt), G Beer, A O’Driscoll (J Pope 64).

Bridgend – Try: M Bennett; Con: J Scrivens; Pens: J Scrivens (4)

Referee: Graham Well (SRU)

Argus star man: Arwel Robson (Newport)