The visitors to Chippenham Mead, for Monmouth Druids, were Blaenavon Forgeside, who in the past have been very competitive, but the home side were quietly confident. For this encounter the Druids had a full squad of players and were quietly about continuing their winning run. From the start the Druids found Forgeside lively but lacking any real penetration. Scrum half Rob Frost became involved early and got his Druids backs moving. It was not unexpected that the Druids drew first blood when centre Ben Smith sold a dummy and on a curving run, cut through to score. Outside half Greg Wilding was again Mr. Reliable and kicked the conversion. The home side looked in control but it was a complete surprise when Forgeside brought the scores level. A Druids mistake at a line out on their five-metre line allowed a visiting forward to dive on the ball for an opportunist try. The Forgeside outside half kicked a fine conversion from near the touchline The restart saw the Druids hit back immediately when from the kick off the ball was gathered cleanly by a Druids forward and good interpassing and support play resulted in second row Andy Scourfield diving over the visitors line. Once again Greg Wilding kicked the conversion. This lead was further extended when from a three-quarter move down the left hand side, wing Sam Harding crossed in the corner. This time the conversion failed. The second half saw the Druids step up the pace and started to move Forgeside around the field. A cross-field kick by Wilding put the defending winger in a spin and flanker Joel Price quickly snatched the ball and raced away for a try, for Greg Wilding to add the points. The home side held the upper hand now and they pressed home their advantage. A rolling maul near the visitors line saw Andy Scourfield crash over. Surprise, surprise, Greg Wilding kicked the goal. Forge Side were reeling now and the Druids looked to complete the job. An attack started down the right was switched to the left and left wing Chris Taylor ran in near the posts for Wilding to convert. The Druids were still not finished and they scored a seventh and last try. Good three quarter passing gave wing Matt Churches a try near the corner flag. A rousing victory of 45 points to 7, gave the Druids much satisfaction. A steady first half was followed up by good solid rugby in the second by both backs and forwards. Props Dave Bland and Mark Ralph held up the scrum whilst Rob Frost and Greg Wilding guided play behind it.
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