Neath wing Shane Williams' comeback for a serious ankle injury was spoiled by a virtuoso performance from Llanelli skipper Scott Quinnell.

Quinnell saved Llanelli as they found the road back from Europe a tricky path to tread.

They were shaken as battling Neath overcame their disappointing European Shield performances to lead 28-26 with 10 minutes to go.

"It is a bit disappointing as that was the best we have played away all season," Williams said.

"We made Llanelli look quite ordinary, but having said that they still won," he added.

Quinnell took a decisive hand as he fastened on to a loose ball after Craig Gillies had charged down Cerith Rees' kick and galloped 35 yards for a memorable try.

Quinnell had also scored a try after 11 minutes of the second half, in response to two tries from Neath scrum-half Patrick Horgan, which had made it 16-16 at the interval.

Quinnell's first try also came with help from lock Gillies, whose line-out take enabled his skipper to scamper clear from 25 yards out.

But Neath, who played Rees on permit from Swansea and saw him collect 13 points, were not done.

Full-back Gareth Morris showed his juggling skills to hold on to a pass from Dave Tiueti to go over between the posts, after Horgan had scored his second try.

It gave his side the sniff of a famous victory - until Quinnell showed his class.

Llanelli fly-half Stephen Jones added 21 points including a brilliant try when he wriggled free of three defenders to cross under the posts.

Scorers - Llanelli: Tries: S Jones, S Quinnell 2. Cons: S Jones 2. Pens: S Jones 4.

Neath: Tries: G Morris, P Horgan 2. Cons: C Rees 2. Pens: C Rees 3

Teams - Llanelli: M Cardey, M Jones, D James, N Boobyer, S Finau, S Jones, R Moon, P Booth, R McBryde, J Davies, C Wyatt, C Gillies, D Jones, I Boobyer, S Quinnell (capt)
Replacements: G Evans, A Lawson, G Easterby, M Madden, Willock, E Katalau, M Buckingham

Neath: G Morris, D Tiueti, J Storey, T Davies, S Williams, C Rees, P Horgan, D Jones, M Davies, A Howell, A Jackson, G Llewellyn, N Bonner Evans, B Sinkinson, K Tuipulotu
Replacements: A Booth, John, S Jones, R Francis, S Martin, P Jones, A Jones

Referee: C Thomas (Bryncoch)

Attendance: 4,000