NEWPORT RFC have set their sights on lifting the Premiership next season after ending an 18-year trophy drought.

The Black and Ambers won the Premiership Cup but fell agonisingly short in the league.

A late and controversial defeat to RGC and the failure to get a late score for a pair of bonuses against Merthyr ultimately proved to be their undoing.

That left the door open for Cardiff, who enjoyed a perfect finish to the campaign to clinch top spot last Thursday.

That meant Newport's trip to Carmarthen Quins on Sunday was a dead rubber but they still finished on a high.

Tries by centre Cam Lewis, hooker Henry Palmer and captain and centre Matt O'Brien earned a 28-19 success out west.

Cardiff and Newport finished with identical records of nine wins and a pair of defeats but the Blue and Blacks edged it by 46 points to 45.

The Black and Ambers ensured they got something from a terrific campaign by edging out Aberavon in the Premiership Cup final at Principality Stadium and are hungry for more.

"It was a fabulous day and there is no doubt that those memories will stay with a lot of people, but winning the league is the one that we want," said head coach Ty Morris to S4C.