Despite an excellent 18 points from the boot of Dave Croudace and a stirring forward display, Monmouth fell at the first hurdle in the first round of the Principality Cup away at Gorseinon by a five point margin.

The Monmouth pack was a cornerstone throughout, rocking the Division 4 West 'big-boys' back on their heals in both the rucks and set pieces, but there were two many mistakes in the loose. Several times Monmouth pressed their opponents' line only for the ball to be dropped allowing the opposition's faster backs to break away the length of the field. Several times tries were prevented only by last ditch defence, but it was clear that no space could be afforded to the classier opponents who were quick to seize any advantage.

Play commenced at a furious pace on a dry, hard pitch which undoubtedly contributed to the error count. Inside fifteen minutes Monmouth had lost lock Edwards and stand-in full back Frost to injury, and at the quarter the score was 3-3 with both sides having traded penalties.

The game now began to change with Gorseinon capitalising on a mistake and sweeping the length of the field to score their first try, but almost immediately Monmouth pulled back with a Croudace penalty and then went ahead 8-9 with another. Gorseinon then scored again in the same breakaway manner for another unconverted try, but Croudace came to the aid of the team again by half-time to lower the deficit to one point, 13-12.

The second half started with a setback, when after only a few minutes, Monmouth failed to clear their line decisively and allowed Gorseinon to run at them for the only converted try of the match. Croudace's boots then failed him as two penalty chances went begging before he got back into the groove and shared three penalties in the remaining 33 minutes as the game retained its excitement but legs began to tire.

The final score-line of 23-18 was probably a fair reflection of the game, given that the home side scored three tries, but it certainly showed that the difference in league standards is not that great. The Monmouth pack, and particularly Stockley the loose head prop, made their mark and were well supported by half backs Taylor and Croudace. How different things might have been with a full and uninjured team!

Next week it is back to basics with a tough home fixture against Crumlin, kick off 2.30 p.m.