Neath comfortably accounted for neighbours Swansea as tries from Kati Tuipuloto and Richard Francis helped see them home at The Gnoll.

The victory extended Neath's unbeaten home record in the Welsh-Scottish League which stretches back to last October.

But the match was no great spectacle, with Swansea in particular looking out of sorts in front of Wales coach Graham Henry.

Tuipuloto pounced for his score on 15 minutes, driving over from short range after impressive work by the home pack.

Francis' try came towards the end after replacement James Brown had broken away down the blind side.

The Welsh All Blacks led 13-3 at the break after having much the better of the opening 40 minutes.

Binned again

The match had burst into life with barely 30 seconds on the clock as referee Gareth Simmonds sin-binned Dean Thomas for a high and dangerous tackle on Neath's Tongan centre Dave Tiueti.

The flanker was the fifth Whites' player to be yellow-carded this season, moving the club nearer to the 14 mark at which league points are deducted.

Neath used Thomas' absence to push into a 6-0 lead through two Williams penalties, before Tuipuloto surged over for his second try in as many games after his move from Dunvant.

Down 13-0, the visitors got on the score-sheet through the first of Cerith Rees' three penalties, but found the going tough against a fired-up home pack.

Despite having Wales centres Scott Gibbs and Mark Taylor in midfield, Swansea posed little attacking threat, though Arwel Thomas added a touch of sparkle after he came on as a replacement midway through the second half.

Garin Jenkins

In a frank interview after the game Garin Jenkins admitted Swansea were in a poor run of form, but he was not pushing the panic button.

He said there was no "magic formula" to solve their problems, but spoke of the strength of the league and the importance of playing at home.

"I think that the whole of the Premiership has improved," he said.

Jenkins was also unsurprised at finding his team playing with 14 men again - "I'm getting used to it," he commented.

Scorers - Neath Tries: Tuipulotu, Francis. Cons: S. Williams. Pens: S. Williams 4.

Scorers - Swansea Pens: C. Rees 3

Teams

Neath: Darril Williams, Delme Williams, D Tiueti, T Davies, S Williams, P Horgan, P Booth, D Jones, M Davies, A Millward, A Jackson, G Llewellyn, K Tuipulotu, R Phillips, R Francis
Replacements: G John, J Brown, S Jones, A Howell, P Jones, S Martin, M Perego.

Swansea: G Henson, S Payne, M Taylor, S Gibbs, M Robinson, C Rees, S Martens, D Morris, G Jenkins, B Evans, P Moriarty, L Jones, C Charvis, G Lewis, D Thomas
Replacements: D Weatherley, A Thomas, J Bater, Wells, C Anthony, H Jenkins

Referee: Gareth Simmons (WRU)

Att: 5,000