Newport claimed the runners-up spot in the last ever Welsh/Scottish League match with a 38-29 win over Bridgend on Saturday evening.

Llanelli's win at Cardiff on Friday had meant the title was out of reach of the Black and Ambers by the time they came to play the Ravens.

But that didn't stop Newport from treating the Rodney Parade crowd and departing coach Ian McIntosh to a display of commitment and adventure, while Bridgend also played a full part in the spectacle.

However, on occasion, slap-dash play revealed that this match amounted to no more than an end-of-season jolly, although theoretically Newport should gain a more favourable draw in next season's Heineken Cup by finishing second.

Despite the lack of gravitas, both sides started cagily and Bridgend's forwards - often out-muscled by their Newport counterparts - seemed intent on killing the ball.

Shane Howarth converted all three of his penalty kicks within the first quarter of the match, while Shawn van Rensburg's sin-binning was the inevitable result of Bridgend's constant infringing.

A sneeky tug on Simon Raiwalui before the Newport skipper was about to receive a scoring pass was spotted by referee Hugh Watkins, who awarded a penalty try that was easily converted by Howarth.

Bridgend hit back when John Devereux, playing his last game for the club after being released, broke through midfield, off-loaded to supporting flanker Richard Bryant, who in turn put Dafydd James in under the posts.

Cerith Rees added the conversion to pull the visitors back to 16-7, but then gifted Newport a try with a loose pass that Jason Forster gathered and then cantered 25 metres to score under the posts.

Bridgend should have hit back soon after with a try of their own but Devereux dropped the ball with a two-man overlap waiting.

However, Newport had strayed offside in the build-up and Rees at least added the consolation of a penalty to make it 23-10 at half-time.

Soon after the break, more Bridgend loose ball was scavenged by Joe Powell who drew the last line of defence before giving the scoring pass to prop Adrian Garvey to score.

Howarth's conversion made it 30-10 but then Bridgend hit back with two quick tries to keep the pressure on the home side.

Newport: M Pini; E Lewi, M Watkins, S Williams, B Breeze; S Howarth, L Lane; R Snow, J Richards, A Garvey, S Raiwalui (capt), M Voyle, P Buxton, J Forster, J Powell.
Reps: C Jones, P Young, I Gough, A Powell, Rowles, J Strange, M Thomas.

Bridgend: A Durston; Daniel Jones, D James, J Devereux, R Mustoe; C Rees, H Harries; C Loader, G Williams, J Thiel, P Clapham, K Stewart, G Dean, R Bryant, S van Rensburg.
Reps: J Hewlett, Lake, Warner, A Joy, A Griffiths, O Lloyd, J Ringer.

Referee: Hugh Watkins (WRU).