A LATE penalty from ex-Ebbw Vale fly-half Shaun Connor robbed the Steelmen of a valuable win over Neath after an impressive second half fight back.

Vale made a dreadful start to the game as Neath's Wales Under-21 scrum-half Ricky Richards went over for two tries in the first ten minutes of his Welsh Premiership debut and Neath raced into a 14-0 lead.

Although finding themselves 24-8 down at half-time, Vale scored two second half tries to claw their way back before scrum-half Bryan Shelbourne landed a huge penalty just inside the Neath half to put them 26-24 ahead with three minutes remaining.

But referee Nigel Owens penalised Vale for not releasing the ball with injury time approaching and Connor slotted over the kick from 40 metres out to snatch back the lead.

There was still time for Vale replacement fly-half Mark Meenan to attempt a late goal which hit the post just before the final whistle.

So, in the end, it was a close game and Vale gave Neath a much harder game than their captain Gareth Llewellyn had unwisely implied earlier in the week.

Llewellyn went on the record to say that after losing to Leicester at Welford Road, Neath's trip to Eugene Cross Park would not be as taxing, but the swift exit he made after the game spoke volumes for the performance Vale produced.

Neath nearly went the same way as Swansea, Pontypridd and Llanelli who have all been beaten by Vale this season and they rested some of their key men including scrum-half Andy Moore and lock Llewellyn ahead of the Celtic League final against Munster this weekend.

But after the humiliation of being put to the sword in a brutal fashion in the 63-17 defeat by Pau last weekend, this was a much more spirited performance from Vale as their line-out was greatly improved by the return of Wales A lock Neil Edwards.

Between them Edwards and partner Peter Sidoli provided Vale with a steady stream of ball and even pinched a few from the Welsh All Blacks whose throw-ins struggled once hooker Steve Jones went off injured.

But there were no excuses for the start Ebbw Vale made which resembled the first ten minutes of the Pau match.

Neath's first try came after just seven minutes as their lock Lyndon Bateman took clean line-out ball and the pack drove over the line as Richards came up with the ball.

That was fairly copy book rugby, but poor defending round the fringe of a ruck allowed Richards over again for his second try in as many minutes with Connor adding the two conversions.

Vale fought back, as Shelbourne gathered his own neat chip over the Neath defence for a well-taken try and added a penalty before captain for the day Rowland Phillips crashed over for another close range try from a line-out.

Connor had earlier added a penalty and Neath were looking comfortable at 24-8 as half-time beckoned.

But Vale chipped away at their lead as Aaron Takarangi was put over by prop Adam Black for an unconverted try and Shelbourne added a key penalty to pull it back to 24-16.

With a hint of crossing in the centre, prop Adam Black was allowed to stroll over for a try from a ruck to put Vale right back in the game at 24-23, before Shelbourne's massive penalty gave them the lead for the first time in the game.

But Vale's fans had their hopes dashed when Connor thumped over his kick and Vale just ran out of time.

Ebbw Vale: R Davies, A Takarangi, N Wakely, E Binham. A Bevan, S Mitchell (rep M Meenan 69 mins), B Shelbourne, A Black, L Phillips, M Jones, P Sidoli (rep O Booyse 40 mins), N Edwards, C Billen (rep T Morris 40 mins), K Tuipulotu, R Williams (rep W Thomas 71 mins)

Scorers: tries: Shelbourne, Black, Takarangi, con: Shelbourne, pens: Shelbourne (3)

Neath: G Morris, K James, A Bateman, J Leyshon, S Marsden, S Connor, R Richards, P James, S Jones (rep A Matthews 17 mins), A Millward (rep A Jones 73 mins), S Martin (rep A Newman 27 mins), L Bateman, B Sinkinson (rep A Mocelotu 73 mins), R Phillips, J Ringer.

Yellow card: S Marsden

Scorers: tries: R Richards (2), Phillips, conversions: (3), penalties: Connor (2)