Llanelli went top of the Welsh-Scottish League in a tense and often bad tempered 17-13 win at Stradey Park.

Four players, two from either side, were sin-binned in an affair spoilt by the whistle of referee Paul Adams.

It was a match which went down to the wire after a spirited late comeback by Newport, but in the end it just too little too late for the Black and Ambers and Llanelli moved clear at the head of the table.

After a scrappy opening, the Scarlets opened the scoring through a well-constructed try from international winger Wayne Proctor.

Newport enjoyed plenty of possession and territory, but were finding it hard to penetrate a determined home defence.

Fly-half Jason Strange, a former Llanelli player, slotted over two penalties before the break only to be sin-binned just before the interval.

It gave Llanelli skipper Stephen Jones, who had been successful twice before, a third opportunity which he took gratefully to give his side a half-time 14-6 advantage.

Tempers flared after the break and following a series of altercations between the sides, referee Adams eventually sin-binned props Phil Booth and Adrian Garvey, while an incident involving rival-international locks Chris Wyatt and Ian Gough could have prompted the same result.

Until the tense finale the only points of the half had been a fourth penalty by Jones as the game deteriorated as a spectacle with frustrations coming to the surface on several occasions.

Newport were given some hope with a late try by centre Andy Marinos after Llanelli number eight Dave Hodges became the fourth man to be shown yellow on the night.

And if replacement lock Mike Voyle had passed deep into injury time with two men outside him Newport would have sneaked the unlikeliest of victories in a match that will be easily forgotten.