Pontypridd’s impressive 24-11 win over Swansea on Saturday means they leapfrog the All Whites to go to the top of the Principality Premiership.
With six wins from their eight games played, they lead Neath – who share their record- by virtue of a solitary losing bonus point.
Swansea may have been hit with injuries to key players but that didn’t stop coach Paul John from describing the performance as “superb”.
The home side scored three tries as they inflicted a first defeat of the season on Swansea, who still have a game in hand over the leading pair.
Their nearest rivals, Aberavon, did their championship challenge no harm at all as they thrashed Ebbw Vale 46-7.
They recovered from conceding a fifth-minute interception try to run in three first-half tries by their backs and three second-half tries from their pack. Matthew Jarvis kicked seven goals from eight attempts to hammer home each try.
It was a one-sided affair and Aberavon backs coach Nicky Lloyd beamed: “We were delighted with our performance.
“Our set-piece was splendid and the back row were outstanding. I was very pleased in particular for our youngsters, particularly Ben John in the centre.”
Neath are in second place after seeing off Cross Keys 24-13, largely thanks to fly-half Gareth McCarthy who scored one of the quickest try hat-tricks in league history.
The former Cardiff, Glamorgan Wanderers and Pontypridd player was sin-binned in the 37th minute, with the Blacks 13-3 down.
But, returning early in the second half, McCarthy showed a positive side to his game as Keys were down to 14 men after the yellow-carding of flanker Tom Lampard, and his loss allowed McCarthy to make hay in the Gnoll sunshine.
His first try in the 44th minute was a blinding solo effort and two minutes later he ghosted through another gap to score.
The hat-trick arrived on 49 minutes, when he motored over for a short-range try that hoisted his league tally to 27.
He also converted all three tries to place alongside an eighth-minute penalty for 24 points.
Llanelli and Cardiff both kept in touch with the pace-setters in the division by beating Glamorgan Wanderers and Carmarthen Quins 30-28 and 27-16 respectively.
Pontypool got the better of Bedwas 31-25 and with both teams struggling the result could be viewed as significant in determining who drops down and who remains in the Principality Premiership.
Twenty five points from the boot of home fly-half Gethin Worgan proved the key to success, two penalties to win the match coming in the final eight minutes.
Lee Pearson’s try on the stroke of half time gave Bedwas a psychological 16-11 boost but only Worgan’s contribution fended off Pooler tries from Sam Pailor, Dan Robinson, Dan Connolly and Nicky Blake.
