A lovely day away at Nantyglo resulted in sunburn all around, (or was it windburn?), and saw quite an entertaining game but not the result that Monmouth sought. Commitment there was a plenty from a side that was only partly recognisable from the normal squad due to injuries and unwelcome drop-outs but Nantyglo were organised and solid and by the second half were winning comfortably. But not so in the very beginning when playing down the slope and with the wind Monmouth went ever so near following a break by captain Andrew Davies but came away without any points for their trouble. Their hosts responded by working their way out of danger and back into the visitors’ territory. Both sides tested and probed each other’s resolve and defences in the early stages and Monmouth certainly gave as good as they got bit eleven minutes in and Monmouth lost the ball in a move and Nanyglo capitalised with a succession of rucks moving the ball left where they had an overlap and scored their first five points. Monmouth rallied with scrum half Gareth Morgan who was back to his nippy best being held up as he all but scored. Within barely another minute he was again escaping the grasp of the vigorous Nantyglo flankers with a looping run from which he scored at the second attempt near enough for full back Dave Brace to add the conversion to take the lead and this on a day when place-kicking was very much a lottery. Nantyglo responded with vigour and having won a scrum against the head one was surprised to see how well Monmouth’s defence held firm. But again the right flank became too thinly defended and wingman Ben Smith was left to gamble on an attempted interception which spectacularly failed allowing Nantyglo the try they probably deserved for the pressure they were exerting at that stage. Monmouth dug deep now though and even drove the Nantyglo pack at a rate of knots whilst defending the line. The referee however was giving them little seeming a little pressured by the vociferous home crowd but on balance the teams were equally matched overall during this first 40 minutes. Monmouth welcomed the break but were disappointed to see Julian Powell leave the field with a neck injury given the front row strength he brings. With earlier tackling and better protection of their ball at the breakdown the game was still there for the taking although the Home team would now have the benefit of the still strong wind. The drop-out start went direct to touch for an inauspicious start and the pressure came on from the heavier Nanyglo pack. Fringing at the rucks was apparently condoned all the more but Monmouth never seem as cute as other sides in playing the referee at his own game so one cannot complain. Pressure through driving mauls grew and ten minutes into the second half Nantyglo increased their lead to 17-7 only to see Monmouth rally once again. Their forwards dogged away and left wing Gareth Jones made a good distance upfield before being scragged, His attempt to keep the ball alive failed and Nantyglo were able to re-group. The pressure was returned and Nantyglo gained their fourth try from a push over which was questionably knocked on in the process as it evaded the clutches of flanker Grey and scrum half Morgan but justice was partly done when the conversion hit the upright limiting what was to be the final score to 22-7. Things improved paradoxically as scrums went passive when the replacement prop Bland also unsurprisingly left the field with a neck injury which was not surprising given his having also played in a tough Druids encounter only 48 hours earlier. This certainly diminished the ability of Nantyglo to drive Monmouth back but their excellent line-kicking achieved the same effect and Monmouth despite continuing to try hard found it difficult to get out of their half to redeem themselves a little. Home games to come should at least improve the prospects of a much needed win as would the repair of some lingering injuries which Monmouth can currently ill afford irrespective of the considerable effort of the replacement players in the squad. At least it is honing the resolve of the younger members of the team for future challenges to come.
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