Vernon Cooper charged over for a first-half try

It was taken with gusto by lock Vernon Cooper, who found himself outside fellow second row Luke Gross to take the scoring pass. Jones converted by make it 10-3.

But the likely Llanelli onslaught didn't come, and it was Ebbw who hit back in the 24th minute.

A fine movement saw lock Ockert Booyse pop up in the centre to crash over wide out, but Cull missed the conversion.

Apart from a break from Dwayne Peel, the try was a prelude to a purple patch for Ebbw.

They spurned a chance at a penalty close the the posts, while Paul Matthews and Llyr Lane also went close.

Eventually, Cull did kick his second penalty to give them a surprise 11-10 lead at the break.

Llanelli, warmed by a verbal blast from coach Gareth Jenkins, began the second period on top.

Try scorer Ian Boobyer is stopped by Tyrone Morris

They replaced Peel with Ireland scrum-half Guy Easterby, and the former Ebbw Vale player made an immediate impact.

From a scrum on the Steelmen's 22, Easterby darted through the Ebbw defence and touched down a simple try for Jones to convert.

Mike Ruddock's side were not down, though, and Cull fired over a penalty to peg the lead back to three points.

The former Bridgend three-quarter then levelled it with a superb 40-metre kick on the hour mark.

It was the signal for Llanelli to pile on the pressure. Salesi Finau and Ian Boobyer were held up, while Jones hit the post with a penalty.

The constant attacking had to tell and, after confusion between Booyse and Lane, it was Boobyer who pounced for the try for Jones to convert.

Llanelli lost Wayne Proctor to injury before putting the seal on the match with a late Jones penalty and a try from Mark Jones, which Jones converted.

Llanelli: Tries: V Cooper, G Easterby, I Boobyer, M Jones. Cons: S Jones (4). Pens: S Jones (2).

Ebbw Vale: Try: O Booyse. Pens: G Cull (4).

Llanelli: G Evans; M Jones, S Finau, L Davies, W Proctor; S Jones (capt), D Peel; M Madden, R McBryde, J Davies, V Cooper, L Gross, S Easterby, I Boobyer, D Hodges.
Reps: P Booth, M Thomas, C Wyatt, D Jones, G Easterby, G Bowen, T Selley.

Ebbw Vale: G Cull; R Shorney, M Ridley, P Matthews, A Wagstaff; M James, L Lane; I Thomas, L Phillips (capt), M Jones, O Booyse, N Edwards, K Tuipolutu, W Thomas, T Morris.
Reps: D Penisini, J Evans, R Williams, D Hudd, K Ellis, D Weatherly, A Takarangi.

Referee: Nigel Whitehouse.