Newport paid the perfect tribute to club legend Brian Jones, who passed away last week at the age of 89, with a resounding win over Gwent rivals Ebbw Vale at Rodney Parade.
The game was moved to the spiritual home of the Black & Ambers, where Jones graced the pitch from 1953-1968, and there was a rousing minute of applause for him before kick-off. Once the action started it was almost one-way traffic from the start.
Skipper and No 8 Ben Roach powered over for two tries in the opening 11 minutes and then a penalty try made it 21-0 after 28 minutes. To make matters even worse for the visitors, skipper Joe Franchi picked up a yellow card after the third try.
Newport also fell foul of the referee before and after half time as they lost hooker Tyler Olding and lock Josh Skinner to yellow cards and close range tries from Ieuan Morris and Franchi briefly brought The Steelmen back into the contest.
But three tries in the final 10 minutes from George Young, Barney Langton-Cryer and a hat-trick score form the outstanding Roach to round things off meant Newport picked up six points with their 40-14 triumph.
It was a victory that also moved them up into third place in the table and put them within striking distance of Ebbw Vale in second. The Steelmen have a two-point advantage with two games left to play – Aberavon away on Wednesday night and Swansea at Saturday on the final day of the regular season.