Jarvis' late penalty denies Leicester

Neath 16 Leicester 16

Leicester had their Heineken Cup final hero Austin Healey to thank for bringing them back from the dead once again in Wales as his try a minute from the end of normal time, edged the European champions ahead. However, Lee Jarvis' late penalty gave Neath a share of the spoils.

Everyone knew that Neath were going to throw the kitchen sink into this game and Gareth Llellewyn's men did not disappoint with their rugged and committed effort. It was stirring stuff that brought a wonderful response from their biggest crowd, 6,835, since they played the Springboks in 1994.

Healey found a new admirer from a surprising quarter at the end of the game when the Neath coach Lyn Jones heaped praise on him for his try. "Healey is a world class player and that was a bit of magic."

And until Healey's moment of magic, it looked as though they just might be able to hold on for a famous victory. With first use of the strong wind, they raced into a 13-3 lead, including a well-executed try from the Tonga international centre, David Tiueti, but two crucial moments eventually tipped the scales against a home win.

The first came in the third minute of first-half injury time when Neath forwards were caught offside at a ruck on their 22. Up stepped Tim Stimpson, and over went a superb wide-angled penalty. That gave Leicester real hope to take into the dressing-room at half time as Stimpson's kick brought them back to within one score of the lead.

With the wind at their backs in the second half, Leicester dominated completely and locked up Neath in their own half for the majority of the 40 minutes. They had an abundance of possession, but found the home defence brick-like in their attitude and application.

Stimpson added a third penalty after 55 minutes and it was not until Healey found a way to finally unlock the home defence from a five-metre scrum that Leicester were able to edge their noses in front.

Neath had every right to feel aggrieved at the decision of the Irish international referee Dave McHugh not to award them a scrum when a Leicester hand knocked on at the line-out. Instead, McHugh caught Patrick Horgan knocking on instead. From the scrum Healey ran into midfield, threw a few dummies and waltzed under the post for a try that Stimpson converted. There was just time for Neath to get back into Leicester territory and when the Tigers infringed at a ruck in their 22, Jarvis was able to kick the penalty that earned his side a draw and made it four away games in a row this season that Leicester have failed to win.

Neath: Try Tiueti; Conversion Jarvis; Penalty Jarvis 3. Leicester: Try Healey; Conversion Stimpston. Penalty Stimpston 3.

Neath: G Morris; K James, J Storey, D Tiueti, S Williams; L Jarvis, A Moore (P Horgan, 68); D Jones, B Williams, A Millward (A Jones, 75), A Newman (S Martin, 80, G Llewellyn, H Jenkins, A Mocelutu (S Jones, 80), N Bonner-Evans (S Tanby, 27-36, 50).

Leicester: T Stimpson; L Lloyd, G Gelderbloom (S Booth, 69), R Kafer, F Tuilagi; A Healey, T Tierney (J Hamilton, 62); G Rowntree (P Freshwater, 70), D West, D Garforth (F Tournaire, 17-24, 70), M Johnson, B Kay, L Moody, N Back, M Corry.

Referee: D McHugh (Ireland).