Newport reached the last 16 of the Konica Minolta Cup, but they were made to fight with a battling second-half display by third division Pontycymmer in the Garw Valley. A mis-directed grubber kick squirmed its way through the home defence, and from the resulting line-out Sam Waldron charged over for a first-minute try. A stunned Pontycymmer never really recovered and found themselves defending desperately as Newport sought to kill off the tie before half-time. With Newport winning dead-ball situations at will, it was no surprise when Waldron touched down again after 15 minutes in a move which underlined the superiority of the visiting pack. Another forward move, the only way to play in the conditions, brought Newport their third try through Darren Davies on 20 minutes. The boot of Daniel Griffiths helped Newport to a 21-0 interval lead.
But if the first half belonged to Newport, then the honours went to Pontycymmer after the interval, who playing with the wind and rain, made Newport fight for every ball. A Neil Edwards try on 50 mins effectively ended the tie but Pontycymmer battled bravely to the end and fully deserved the applause as they left the field.
Newport Chairman David Watkins admitted his side had been in a game. He said: "We were obviously delighted to get through thanks to an excellent first half, but they certainly made a game of it in the second. I thought our forwards were excellent, especially in that first half."