In appalling weather and a keenly contested match, Monmouth came second best to their visitors from Division 6 Central, Aberdare last Saturday.

At the start the normal strength of the local team, their forwards, was lacking and initially seemed to be treating the game as the friendly it was and therefore something demanding less concentration then usual, which was a pity because their three-quarters were on song and itching to show their pace.

The weather was perhaps the bigger factor and handling errors aplenty disrupted the flow of play but the pitch surface stood up well despite the soaking and incessant rain.

Playing down the slope in the first half Monmouth steadily found their feet and fly-half Croudace put them 6 points up in the first 25 minutes with two well taken taken penalties given the strong cross field wind.

The first set back came soon afterwards however when Aberdare broke on the blindside for an unconverted try, but the Monmouth wings were itching for the chance to respond and it was Gareth Morgan who took Monmouth further ahead with a long fast run down the left wing and almost around to the posts making the conversion relatively easy and the score 13-5. Aberdare quickly responded, playing to their strength and crashing over from a driving maul which Monmouth were struggling to defend against.

Relief was to come before halftime when Johnny Powell went over from a move started at the line-out.

18-12 was a debatable cushion given that the coach was having to stress the need for more cohesive forward play, but greater comfort was soon to come from an excellent personal effort by Gareth Morgan who, in running back a badly cleared Aberdare defensive kick, set up his opposing wing beautifully and then scorched past him on the outside. Croudace struck the ball well allowing for the wind but this time it suddenly died and the ball slid past the outside of the post for a 23-12 advantage.

Aberdare's fly-half now began to earn his corn using angled kicks to the corners and intelligent chips into space, to put the fading Monmouth team under increasing pressure. Using their forward power Aberdare drove over from a line-out followed soon by a quick penalty from which they again scored through admittedly fairly casual tackling.

At 23-26 Monmouth struggled to get clear of their line as the dominant Aberdare fly-half of the last 20 minutes of the game kept them pinned there.

All in all the Monmouth pack were inconsistent on a day when their backs looked to have the beating of the visitors which was a pity as they have the talent but need their confidence building for the more pressured league matches to come, such as Cardiff HSOB away next week.