BBC SPORT | CELTIC | Swansea shatter Neath dreams

Swansea 20-16 Neath

Swansea destroyed the Welsh/Scottish League title hopes of yet another side as Neath's hopes were seriously damaged at St Helen's on Tuesday night.

Two late drop-goals from Gavin Henson put Swansea into a four-point lead that the desperate visitors were never able to claw back.

A win for the Welsh All Blacks would have left Llanelli needing to win their game in hand and score heavily in the try-scoring department.

Scoring details:

Swansea (11) 20:
Try: Morris.
Pens: Henson 3.
Drop goals: Henson 2.

Neath (13) 16:
Try: Jarvis.
Con: Jarvis.
Drop goals: Jarvis 3.

Att: 6,000

But now the Scarlets are back in the driving seat with their destiny in their own hands, needing to beat Cardiff away at the Arms Park on Friday to claim the title.

Cardiff and Newport, who Swansea have also beaten in a revitalised end-of-season, now know they also have a chance of being crowned champions.

Gavin Henson had an early opportunity to give the home side the lead but hit the post with his penalty kick.

Neath also had their chances, with Jarvis the pivot for everything good about the visitors' attacking play.

First the fly-half's wide pass sent Shaun Connor scything through the Swansea midfield, only for the full-back to pass behind Dean Dewdney on the left wing with the try-line at his mercy.

Jarvis then missed a penalty but more than made up for it after 12 minutes when he gathered his own chip through to race in under the posts, converting his own try.

The fly-half's next score, a snap drop-goal, broke the Neath record of points scored in a season previously held by Wales great Paul Thorburn.

Swansea were starting to reel, but the introduction of Mark Taylor for the injured Steve Wynn at centre helped steady things.

Swansea's Mark Taylor tackles Neath's James Storey
Neath's James Storey is dumped by Mark Taylor

The All Whites drove into the Neath half and their momentum was only halted when Neath skipper Gareth Llewellyn tackled opposite number Scott Gibbs high.

Henson converted the penalty and the home side were up and running.

Shaun Payne should have held onto the ball with the line at his mercy after good work by Hywel Jenkins and Kevin Morgan, but Neath were unable to clear their lines.

Swansea stayed patient, recycled the ball well and eventually found prop Darren Morris loitering on the left wing to barrel over the line.

Henson missed the conversion but made no mistake eight minutes later with a penalty to put Swansea into the lead for the first time, 11-10.

Both sides were putting in some huge tackles, none more so than veteran wing Brian Lima who was shaking forwards as well as backs with some big hits, Nathan Bonner-Evans in particular feeling the Samoan's power.

Deep into first-half injury time Jarvis got Neath's title hopes back on track with his second drop-goal.

Jarvis had an early chance in the second half to increase Neath's lead but missed a long penalty.

Opposite number Henson made no mistake with his first penalty chance to put Swansea into the slenderest of leads 14-13 after 53 minutes.

Neath's Gareth Llewellyn and Swansea's Sililo Martens clash
Defence was fierce from both sides

That signalled the moment for Neath coach Lyn Jones to send for reinforcements and scrum-half Andy Moore and wing Shane Williams - back in action after a lengthy injury lay-off - took their places on the field.

The changes lifted Neath and they took their fly-half deep enough into Swansea territory for Jarvis to strike his third drop-goal of the night.

Swansea, who had matched Neath every step of the way, then found their own drop-goal master in Henson.

The youngster in quick succession struck one three-pointer, had one charged down, then hit a second to put the home side 20-16 ahead with eight minutes left.

Neath's efforts became increasingly ragged as they saw their Welsh/Scottish League title hopes slipping away.

Centre James Storey was sin-binned deep in injury time for a late tackle on Morgan as the visitors' frustration boiled over.

Swansea: K Morgan; B Lima, S Winn, S Gibbs (capt), S Payne; G Henson, S Martens; D Morris, G Jenkins, B Evans, T Maullin, L Jones, G Lewis, D Thomas, H. Jenkins.
Reps: R Jones, N Witkowski, M Taylor, P Dunkley, J Marsters, J Bater, Tenconi.

Neath: S Connor; D Dewdney, D Tiueti, J Storey, K James; L Jarvis, P Horgan; D Jones, B Williams, A Millward, S Martin, G Llewellyn (capt), A Mocelutu, B Sinkinson, N Bonner-Evans.
Reps: S Williams, A Bateman, S Jones, S Tandy, A Moore, R Phillips, A Jones.

Referee: Gareth Simmonds (WRU).


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