Arwel Thomas supplied 22 points as Swansea defeated lowly Caerphilly to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Celtic League knock-out stages.

The fly-half scored a try, four conversions and three penalties to claim the man-of-the-match honours at St Helen's.

Shaun Payne, with a brace, and Sam Cordingley also claimed touchdowns but the Whites were made to battle hard by opponents who have not won a game this season.

For Caerphilly, Luke Richards helped himself to 24 points, made up of six conversions and two penalties.

The Cheesemen also scored late tries through wing Geraint Lewis and scrum-half Allen Chilten, which earned them a bonus point for finishing within seven points of Swansea.

They certainly deserved their consolation as Caerphilly led 15-13 at the break after a strong show, which saw them win a good supply of ball and show some nice touches behind.

But it was Swansea who scored the first try when debutant Johnny Vaughton brilliantly sent in Australian scrum-half Cordingley.

After the break, Thomas started to weave his magic as he crossed for a try and helped set up both of Payne's scores.

Swansea remain in the hunt to reach the last eight, but they will have to improve against Llanelli on Friday night.

Swansea: K Morgan; J Vaughton, M Taylor, S Gibbs (capt), S Payne; A Thomas, S Cordingley; D Morris, G Jenkins, B Evans, A Farley, J Griffiths, R Jenkins, R Pugh, J Thomas.
Reps: D Dorsey, C Balshen, D Thomas, J Slade, J Bater, R Jones, G Henson.

Caerphilly: Sione Tuipulotu; Geraint Lewis, Roddy Boobyer, Ryan Howells, Owain Ashman; Luke Richards, Allen Chiltern; Lee Manning, Feao Vunipola, Darren Sweet, Neil Watkins, Paul Jones, Gareth Jones, Joe El-Abd, Andrew Williams.
Reps: Nic Rouse, Mark Workman, Christian Ferris, Richard Skuse, Fionn McLaughlin, Robert Bilton, Jarrod Murphy, Sam Cox.

Referee: Phil Fear (WRU).