Monmouth RFC - Two More League Losses

Midweek games are now commonplace whilst trying to catch up with missed fixtures, but the weather was so atypical when Monmouth visited Risca last Tuesday that the referee was seriously considering refusing to allow play to commence for fear of harm in the pools of standing water.

The local Committee worked hard with squeegees and there followed one of the most entertaining and vigorous games of the season although the spectators struggled to see much of the detail because of the downpour.

Two early and relatively ‘silly' tries were conceded Monmouth after missing two penalty kicks in the first 15 minutes which made for a formidable task for the visitors possibly compounded by an early injury to scrum half Morgan.

First, lively replacement scrum half Matt King and 2^nd Row Will Copley made inroads and then No 8 Dave Morgan with only a minute of normal time of the first half to go reduced the deficit to 14-7 at the interval.

Risca commenced the second half shakily making more mistakes than Monmouth in the bad conditions, giving Monmouth confidence to run the ball with their backs. Left wing Baker made diagonal ground across the field and when it reached centre Dewi Lane he wrong-footed the Risca defence, cutting back and through the middle for an unconverted try and a 14-12 difference.

Risca rallied though through their forwards and their driving mauls which they executed well and suited the conditions best. First a penalty replied to by King with a 40 yard kick kept the gap to two points but then two ‘flop-overs'  from mauls near the line seemed to take the game out of Monmouth's reach at 29-15 but a fighting come-back saw Dave Morgan again cross the line with Brace adding the points and securing a losing bonus point.

The drive and cohesion shown in appalling conditions deserved a draw but the early lapses in concentration proved just too big a challenge.

Abercarn last Saturday was likely to prove a similar challenge and so it proved. First the referee was again dubious as to whether the game should proceed because of standing water on the pitch and Monmouth were again slow to fire.

The first ten minutes was rather to and fro as things settled down with Monmouth prone to kick away what opportunities they had and then a sucker punch at the end of the first quarter when Abercarn chipped ahead down the right wing leaving Monmouth's defence stranded and absent while their winger gathered the ball's kindly bounce to set the visitors 7 points back.

Territory was re-gained only to be set back by a careless off-side and then Abercarn crept further ahead with another penalty for the same offence. Monmouth rallied immediately but sadly went the wrong way with an overlap on offer but before half-time it was their turn to convert a penalty courtesy of full back matt King.

The team spirit of earlier in the week was somewhat lacking with some individuals not firing until well after the opening whistle possibly because of the strain of playing two games in the week but occasional bickering between some and set piece deficiencies exaggerated  by some pernickety officialdom had not helped either.

An early missed penalty perhaps set the scene as ten minutes into the half Monmouth were reduced to 14 men with the award of a yellow card for what seemed a fairly innocuous handling of the ball following a tackle. Abercarn saw their opportunity and raised the tempo of their game to exploit apparent gaps and some weak tackling to score two good tries within ten minutes, one of which they converted.

Monmouth now began their fight back but in the twenty minutes remaining although they raised their game considerably they now had a confident and rampant side to overcome.

Some substitutions helped although why potential match winners should appear to be removed from the field almost by rota raised some questions amongst the supporters. Certainly Monmouth played with an increased vigour and Abercarn succumbed to some good driving play before the end with (now) hooker Matt Ricketts scoring an unstoppable try which fly-half Dave Croudace converted.

Sadly it was a case of too late for the losing bonus  point that was beckoning but at least the team's rally and closing try in the 22-10 loss should bolster spirit for next Saturday's game against New Tredegar with Talywain to follow closely on Tuesday 13 April.