LUCTONIANS have insisted that their title challenge is not over despite being dealt a heavy blow by promotion rivals Newport (Salop).

Mortimer Park was left shocked on Saturday as the visitors came from 17-10 down to win 32-22, leaving Luctonians eight points behind league leaders Scunthorpe.

The outcome had looked very different earlier in the match as Aiden Cheshire held off several tackles to power over the opening try before Josh Watkins drove through to give his side a 14-3 half-time lead.

The power of the Newport attack showed in the second half as they drove over four tries before Drew Cheshire pulled a score back before full-time.

"The first half was very good and we managed to score two very nice tries," said Luctonians head coach Ryan Watkins.

"In the second half they (Newport) controlled possession while we only had two or three attacks and managed to score one.

"Ultimately it wasn't enough and we couldn't get the ball back. Credit to them as they played well and controlled the game at the tackle and the breakdown.

"There was a couple of big refereeing decisions which swung momentum and went against us and made it harder for us to get the ball off them.

"It was disappointing but not from a lack of effort. We struggled against the heavier pack and they are the only ones in this league of that size.

"We did show when we had possession how dangerous we can be with it as we only had 20 per cent possession."

Luctonians head to seventh place Nuneaton this weekend looking to return to winning ways while hoping their rivals drop points.

"We are getting into the realms of wanting other teams to slip up," Watkins added.

"But anything can happen as teams do have slips. We have got to get back to it and get a run together. A run of results can see us close that gap by sticking at what we were doing."