Former Ebbw Vale fly-half Shaun Connor sank his old club with an injury-time penalty to secure Neath the points at Eugene Cross Park.

Connor stepped up to kill off the Steelmen after they had battled back to lead 26-24 with time running out.

Aaron Takarangi and Adam Black scored second half tries for the hosts as a shadow Neath side struggled to hold on to their advantage.

For Vale, scrum half Bryan Shelbourne supplied 11 points, while Connor amassed 12 for Neath.

Match details:

Ebbw Vale Tries: B Shelbourne, A Takarangi, A Black Con: Shelbourne Pens: Shelbourne (3) Neath Tries: R Richards (2), R Phillips Cons: S Connor (3) Pens: Connor (2)

The win was a boost for Neath as they warmed up for next weekend's Celtic League final against Munster in Cardiff.

Playing with the wind, the visitors led 24-8 at the break after a keenly fought first half.

They claimed their first score on seven minutes when scrum-half Ricky Richards burrowed over from a close-range ruck.

And before Vale could fashion a response, Richards darted through a huge gap in the home defence to extend Neath's lead.

But Vale gradually began to up the tempo with lock Neil Edwards prominent in the rugged exchanges.

Shelbourne claimed a fine solo try from 15 metres only for Neath to counter through a score from Rowland Phillips.

Ebbw Vale: R Davies; A Takarangi, N Wakley, E Binham, A Bevan; S Mitchell, B Shelbourne; A Black, L Phillips (capt), M Jones, P Sidoli, N Edwards, C Billen, K Tuipolutu, R Williams.
Reps: D Penisini, K Crawford, O Booyse, W Thomas, T Morris, M Meenan, T Bagg.

Neath: G Morris; K James, A Bateman, J Leyshon, S Marsden; S Connor, R Richards; P James, S Jones, A Millward, S Martin, L Bateman, B Sinkinson, J Ringer, R Phillips.
Reps: L Jarvis, A Moore, A Matthews, A Jones, A Newman, A Mocelutu, B Davies.

Ref: Phil Fear (WRU)