Newport recorded their first ever Heineken Cup win, 28-17 at the expense of 1998 champions Bath, on a night of excitement at Rodney Parade.

Three tries before half-time put the Black-and-Ambers in control and they survived a second half sin-binning for former Springbok captain Gary Teichmann to claim the two points in Pool 4.

Roared on by a capacity crowd of more than 11,000, Newport raced to a 22-10 lead at the interval.

After six minutes Newport took the lead when fly-half Shane Howarth looped with centre Andy Marinos, putting Matt Mostyn clear in space, and Matthew Watkins completed the job.

Already without England centre Mike Catt, Bath were to suffer from the further loss through injury of fly-half John Preston, England centre Mike Tindall and flanker Gavin Thomas.

Howarth made a mess of the conversion of Watkins' try, and although Preston briefly reduced Bath's arrears, Newport added another quality try on 19 minutes.

Ireland wing Mostyn displayed all his strength and pace by powering outside his opposite number Ade Adebayo and Newport were well on their way. Howarth's re-taken conversion attempt, after an illegal charge-down by Bath, went over for 12-3.

Bath then lost Preston, but it sparked a period of concerted pressure that saw Newport produce tackle after tackle to keep their line intact.

Ten minutes before the break their resistance buckled when Bath No 8 Dan Lyle played in Welsh scrum half Gareth Cooper for Bath's try which Matt Perry converted.

Newport redoubled their efforts to finish the opening period on top.Howarth booted a huge 50-metre penalty and in injury time Newport's Ian Gough produced a crunching tackle, possession ran loose and Marinos was able to dart over and Howarth converted.

Having established a commanding advantage, Newport knew that the second period was all about preserving their lead.

After Marinos and Tindall had left proceedings through injury, Newport again performed heroics in defence and they emerged unscathed from the third quarter, gaining a bonus when Howarth kicked another penalty on the hour mark.

Facing a 15-point deficit, Bath were left with little option but to throw caution to the wind and the impressive replacement fly-half Shaun Berne rounded off a quality set-piece movement with the visitors' second try, again improved by Perry.

Teichmann's yellow card for killing the ball guaranteed a tension-filled finale for the Newport faithful, but when Bath infringed within striking distance of the posts, Howarth came up trumps with the game's final kick.

Newport next face French club Castres - beaten at Bath last week - over the next two weekends, while Bath look forward to a double-header with Munster hoping that playmaker Catt will soon return from a sciatic nerve problem.

Newport - tries: Mostyn, M. Watkins, Marinos; cons: Howarth 2; pens: Howarth 3

Bath - tries: Cooper, Berne; cons: Perry 2; pen: Preston