Monmouth gave a good showing of what they can do but despite having the best of at least fifty per cent of the game, fell short to lose 22-10 to league leaders Garndiffaith last Saturday. On a bright cold day, after only four minutes, a weak flip pass by a Monmouth forward, gave the ball to the opposing blind-side who broke three tackles in his run to the right hand corner, where the supporting number 8 ran in the first try of the game and the fly half converted from far out. Such an early try convinced the home team that the game was theirs for he taking and Monmouth had their hands full in quite a furious first quarter. Gradually ‘the Garn’s’ pace and vigour declined as the Monmouth pack got stuck in and aching lungs recovered enough for the visitors to begin to dominate themselves. It was clear the home team did not like the game being taken to them. Following a quick penalty for offside at a scrum and a refusal to let the ball carrier run for ten yards, Monmouth took the ball right up field and had Garndiffaith scrambling the ball away by a kick to touch. Monmouth’s pecker was up and centre Lane saw a half gap and was through for an unconverted try and a 7-5 score which began ten minutes of intense pressure before the Garn began to turn the screw in return again bringing the very best in tackling out of the Monmouth back row trio and centres. Scrummaging strength was beginning to tell as was Edwards scavenging on the floor and the balance again noticeably changed as half time approached and Monmouth made it back to the other end with Brace leading the way with a penetrating run. Another move and a tackler in an offside position brought a penalty, but kicking was more the forte of the home team and a chance to take the lead before half-time was lost. To score first after the kick-off was the challenge but this advantage went the way of the home team who exerted the greatest pressure and with a penalty which stretched the score to 10-5 after ten minutes. Fresh legs were brought on including those of New Zealander new ‘boy’ Lehmann, and signs were good as Monmouth continued to dominate the line-out as well as causing mayhem in the front row. A concerted lapse of concentration or perhaps an even more laissez-faire period of refereeing the loose play exchanges then critically combined with an overlooked but very significant incident of ‘crossing’, brought two tries for the home team in the space of four minutes allowing them the sudden comfort of a 22-5 lead with twelve minutes to go. Monmouth badly needed a win and threw everything into attack. Half backs Morgan, and now Berry were ensuring the ball moved about, causing the Garn quite a few scares. Time was running out when Baker charged for the left hand corner only to be held up over the line by the now desperate defence and then from the re-start the ball was flung around eventually resulting in right wing Brace crossing for a try in the corner that was to again remain unconverted. Monmouth had acquitted themselves well, almost matching their opponents for tries and certainly more than sharing possession and territory, but again there were no league points for their efforts. They need quite a few more and soon!
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