BROMSGROVE RFC slipped to a 22-17 defeat against Newport (Salop) as the Boars saw their second-half comeback attempt fall short.
Newport led by 10 points at the break and established a 17-point lead early in the second half at The Old Showground.
However, tries from James Gunther and Rhys Williams kept Bromsgrove in the contest after Ollie Ingram’s earlier score.
The Boars just ran out of time as Bromsgrove suffered their first defeat of the season but did come away with a losing bonus point.
And the result means the Boars sit sixth in the Regional 1 Midlands table.
Newport raced into an early lead as Billy Dinning crossed in the left corner after Elliot Dolphin cut through the Bromsgrove line.
And the referee awarded the home side a penalty try after Bromsgrove dragged down a rolling maul as Newport took a 12-point lead with just six minutes on the clock.
The Boars responded later in the first half as Ingram dotted down in the right corner.
However, Benny Elliot kicked a penalty for the home side late in the first half to leave Bromsgrove trailing by 10 points at the break.
And Newport crossed again at the start of the second period as Elliot intercepted a pass inside his own 22 and raced away to score under the posts at the other end.
Bromsgrove almost responded straight from the restart only for a Newport player to rip the ball out of the arms of Ingram as he went to ground the ball over the try line.
The Boars eventually cut the deficit when Gunther scored under the posts following sustained pressure on the Newport line.
And Williams then won the race to gather his own chip ahead and dot down to reduce the deficit to five points with 20 minutes left to play.
However, despite Bromsgrove applying constant pressure to the Newport line, the home side held firm with the Boars forced to settle for a losing bonus point.
