Monmouth were back to winning league ways in beating visitors Trinant last Saturday in a game kindly sponsored by Surridge, but it could so easily have been a 60-pointer if the passes had gone to hand; the advantage law had been more charitably refereed; and the home team had played out the game with a full side rather than lose their captain to a second yellow card with more than 20 minutes to go. ‘Eventful’ is putting it mildly as Monmouth scored five sparkling tries even if one seemed to all the crowd that it was a double movement whilst the referee thought otherwise. This added to four conversions by fly-half Dave Croudace and a penalty helped ensure a convincing win against a rugged side which made up for their lack of cohesion with plenty of determination and not a little skulduggery. On a pleasant autumnal afternoon and a good playing surface despite the preceding week’s rain thanks to the professionalism of the groundsmen, Monmouth were temporarily a man down to a blood injury to their full-back, inside the first minute. But although it took a while for it to be safely patched up, Brace, the early casualty, played the rest of the game and without any loss of his typical sharpness in both attack and defence. Monmouth were dominant in the early stages and it was no surprise to see No 8 Matt Hurst accelerate over following a scrum. Croudace’s kick into the wind did not have the legs to clear the bar but as this was in the fourth minute things were already looking good. Twelve minutes into the game Trinant got into their opponents’ 22 for the first time, but the Monmouth defence did not break and from the ensuing counter-attack in which hooker Ricketts, second row (and new Dad) Powell and flanker Ollie Gray, were prominent among the forwards, ever courageous even though the smallest player, full back Ben Berry popped the ball up when tackled for Hurst to rampage on for the thirty yards needed to score his second try. The easier kick this time allowed Croudace to make it 12-0. Frequent stoppages for seemingly perverse decisions affected the flow of the game badly but as Trinant were battling back, Monmouth captain Kelly Leheman was yellow carded for taking out a Trinant forward who was taking a quick penalty which had not even been awarded at that stage. The one following the dismissal was however, although it was significant that three points were taken from an easy kick when one would have expected the 8 visiting forwards to relish taking on the depleted pack only twelve yards out. Dawid Venter next threw back his head and scored in the left hand corner despite a desperate defending tackle and what might have been considered a double movement by him. Croudace converted a difficult kick to make the half-time score a comfortable 19-3. Monmouth began as they started following their half time breather and the coach’s wise words. Support play was all and the back row were setting Trinant back on their heels again and again. Lane in the centre had a dancing run deep into Trinant territory and Berry was taken into touch soon after whilst heading for the right hand corner. Trinant without their excellent tackling full-back would have been nowhere. But then disaster potentially struck! Leheman, leading by example throughout, had taken a physical pounding as one look at his face readily demonstrated, but he at last rose to the bait and was yellow carded for the second time, but this time for throwing a punch. Trinant seized on the reduction in numbers with the result that they soon scored a converted try in the right hand corner and at 19-10 with more than 20 minutes left, spectators had cause to fear the worst. But Trinant only knew one way to play and when they took out a centre in an attacking Monmouth move, their fly-half not only left the field for ten minutes, but Croudace stretched the lead from the ensuing penalty to 22-10 and gave Monmouth the reassurance they needed. Sadly though Gray who was having a fearsome game also had to leave the field following a nasty cut to his ear from a stamping incident which went undetected. Within a further three minutes though with Monmouth defending close to their line, scrum-half Gareth Morgan took off from the set piece following a crooked line-out throw to run a full 90 yards to score under the posts for an easy kick. Whether he might have passed to the supporting Brace to his right was questionable but the score of 29-10 confirmed the answer. Trinant were now wondering what else they had to do to get back into the game but Croudace answered the question by a scintillating try which he also converted. At 36-10 with five minutes to go Trinant were dead and buried and Monmouth moved on as a strong second in the league to Garndiffaith. The Autumn Internationals start with Australia next week and supporters are welcomed to help celebrate Monmouth’s current success by watching the game in the Club-house at 2.30 k.o?
|