Last Saturday must have been the worst day of the season with ice-cold slippery conditions for hands and feet. As a result readers may be pleased to know that there is less to read than usual because of an inability to meaningfully note the action using a biro and paper in the rain and wind. It had been forecast that Monmouth would largely be spared the worst of the weather until match time, but visitors Tredegar Ironsides had expected the game would be called off given the appalling conditions they had already experienced up on the hills before departing. But Monmouth’s pitch is renowned for holding together well and the game was on just as it began to throw it down seriously. Monmouth chose to play against the elements and were rewarded for a good run upfield within ten minutes by left wing Tom Baker when the visitors transgressed trying to slow down the ruck and full-back Dave Brace kicked the first points of the game with a well taken penalty into the wind. But Tredegar were spurred by this and used the wind to gain territory and were soon frequenting the Monmouth 22 yard area and putting the home team under all sorts of pressure. However, the defence was good and the various forward exchanges were equalising one another out. In fact although Monmouth struggled to win any lines-out, their scrum was very strong winning several scrums against the head at least in the first half. The appalling slipperiness caused the first try as a Monmouth centre tried to run out of defence and his attempted pass to a colleague found its way instead to an intervening Tredegar hand and they went over reasonably far out so the conversion failed. Against deep kicks and strong forward driving mauls Monmouth manfully pitted themselves against Tredegar with the all fifteen players outstanding in terms of commitment and the back row in particular. Occasional forays out of defence achieved little particularly when possession was too often kicked away and one more promising one in particular was to prove expensive when from a grubber-kick through the ball rebounded off a defending leg. From the ensuing melee Tredegar won a penalty which despite the elements they converted mid-way through the first half. Despite the continuing Tredegar territorial dominance Monmouth dug in superbly holding the visitors to a 3-8 half time advantage. With the wind and rain behind their right shoulders and playing slightly down-hill, Monmouth hoped for a similar half but this time deep in their opponents territory but it was never to really be. Tredegar came out of the blocks initially the more determined and this may have given them the greater confidence but this did not mean the Monmouth conceded any quarter until following a slightly harsh decision, Monmouth lost second-row John Powell to a red card for illegal use of the boot making things an uphill struggle even down their favourite slope. More frequent use of deep kicks gained Monmouth ground until a particularly high and long one carried over the dead-ball line from well within the Monmouth half. The resulting scrum back put Monmouth under all kinds of pressure and winning successive rucks Tredegar won the day by outflanking Monmouth on the right for another unconverted try. The weather did not abate and despite a valiant struggle by Monmouth right to the end, the fractionally early whistle by the referee signalled the end to a fair result and that he was as perished in the weather as were the players and the loyal crowd. Away to Nantyglo next week is the next challenges but in the meantime the Druids play New Panteg away in the Ivor Jones Cup k.o 1815 which will decide whether their season is still on course. Why not be there if you can?
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