Monmouth showed the drive and sparkle they have possessed all season but not always displayed in beating visitors Lydney 39-10 on Chippenham last Saturday. In scoring seven tries to two and at times having to defend desperately, they gave themselves the best preparation possible for the pinnacle of their season - their final and crucial league game of the season away at Trinant this coming Saturday. In fact if they had kicked all of their conversions despite the blustery winds and had a little more luck, they could well have scored another twenty points or so! Within a few minutes of the start, flanker Michael Griffiths weaved his way through grasping tackles to crash over on the left and despite the angle Dave Brace kicked the first conversion of the day. Lydney’s pride was hurt by this early reverse and from pressure of their own they forced a line-out near the home line and then drove over from a maul to reduce the difference by an unconverted try almost by return. Monmouth immediately bounced back into the left hand corner of the field, with clever inter-passing between Griffiths and Leighton Phillips rounded off by 2 nd Row Kelly Lehemann who was supporting well. Despite the missed kick Monmouth were now on fire and dominated possession for a lengthy period to see it turned into further points when scrum-half Gareth Morgan ran almost the length of the field, and then for Griffiths to win the ball at the ruck to feed the lively Morgan to score to make it 17-5 within a mere 18 minutes of the start. Now with a spell of bad luck, first right wing Dave Brace broke clear over a long distance only for the move to peter out for lack of support, followed shortly after by a Gareth Morgan burst and a kick ahead which sadly ran over the dead-ball line as the following Matt Hurst dived on it a fraction late. Lydney were on their uppers at this stage and it was Griffiths who was to make the score 24-5 after again supporting his team mates well. The Monmouh pressure continued and Lydney next lost a player to a yellow card for foul play which may well have been a full sending off for use of the boot had it not been a ‘friendly’, but despite moving the ball too and fro well there was no further score before half-time. Lydney were seriously rattled because although they suffered some late drop-outs, there is some considerable rivalry between the two clubs and their pride was hurting. They began to gain more territory and Monmouth were having to attend to their defence which was no bad thing given the pressure they are bound to face next Saturday, but rather than a score for their troubles Lydney were to again see the back of the pacey, Brace this time running in from a full 80 yards to increase the lead to 29-10. The relatively easy kick was missed as was his next, but with hindsight perhaps too much was being expected of the kicker given the lung-bursting nature of his try scoring exploits. Flanker Dave Morgan and Hooker Leighton Phillips were exploiting the gaps that were opening before them but the pace of the game in general was now preventing the same degree of support being on hand to convert eye-catching breaks into actual scores. Lydney were stirring and with Monmouth momentarily tiring, some slack tackling on the left saw Lydney’s right wing boost his team’s confidence a little with an unconverted try halfway out on the right to bring the score to 29-10. Breath regained, Dave Brace, next had a mere 40 yards to go to score again with two minutes to go, and then to really rub it in, he completely bamboozled the retreating opposition from almost halfway to the goal line for his hat-trick. Matt King this time was unsuccessful with the kick but at 39-10 there was no doubt which had been the better team. Readers are urged to make the journey for a 2.30 kick off at Trinant this Saturday to give the local boys all the support we can muster for the victory that will be vital to their ensuring Division 4 East rugby next season. One winner already is Keith Jones who forecast the most 6 Nations results correctly, 13 out of the 15 games in the Series. The Club Committee is most grateful to all those who tried their skill in prophesying the results, but pass on the unsurprising lesson learned, that those who allowed their hearts to rule their heads particularly as far as Wales results were concerned did least well. Heart and heads will both be needed this Saturday though.
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