WRU East One

Monmouth1st XV 15 Brynmawr RFC 19

WITH such an important game as the season nears its end, and with fine weather to boot, it was surprising the crowd was not larger on Saturday to see Monmouth host Brynmawr at the Sportsground.

Most teams have games in hand over Monmouth, so for them any opportunity for a win is precious.

And the hosts set about this match with a great deal of intent and largely had the best of play throughout the whole of the first half.

Their first chance came within a few minutes when the ball was spread to the left wing but sadly resulted in a knock on.

Fly-half Rhys Jones however then struck a seemingly effortless penalty over the posts from near halfway for 3-0.

Given some space though, Brynmawr mounted a good attack of their own and from a penalty to the left-hand corner were over the line for an unconverted try to take a 3-5 lead.

Monmouth’s response was almost immediate, with centre Dan Dunmore at his elusive best breaching the defence and passing to full-back Lewis Bates to crash over for a try which wing Matt Tabb converted (10-5).

A further chance went begging however, when after a turnover in a maul, a move to the wing resulted in a ruck and another turnover..

Brynmawr had their chances but with some strong defence on their own line, Monmouth entered half-time ahead, with centre Harry Whelan and Bates having been most successful at breaking the line, whilst the pack largely held their own in the scrums.

Predictably, the visitors came out in the second half with great vigour, but Monmouth defended their line well on many occasions, although lucky to get a hand on the ball first to touchdown after a wild pass in the in-goal area.

Brynmawr backed themselves by choosing not to kick penalty chances at goal, aiming instead for touch in the corner, despite such attempts often proving fruitless.

Eventually though, this tactic worked when, from a touch gained from a penalty kick to the corner, the visitors drove the maul over helped by the added power of extra players joining in, with the converted try taking them to a 10-12 lead with 20 minutes to play.

Monmouth were giving of their best, but much of their possession gained little territory, as their play was increasingly lateral in the face of the opposing defence.

And from a turnover near halfway the visitors gained a penalty which they kicked to touch, leading to five successive rucks and a converted try to increase their lead to nine points (10-19).

Substitute Adam Roberts was notable in his eagerness following his return from recent serious injury, and soon the pressure was back on Brynmawr when a series of rucks near the line saw Bates again on hand to burst through.

Tabb this time unfortunately missed what seemed a relatively easy conversion, although with some crosswind to contend with.

The visitors dug in to protect their lead and despite the efforts of the home team, 15-19 proved the final score with Monmouth gaining just a losing bonus point.

With Six Nations games still in the offing. Monmouth‘s next outing is away again on the evening of March 13 at bottom side Abergavenny for a replay of their recently abandoned game, with much resting on the result for both teams.

Elsewhere, Usk secured a 37-17 win at Cwmbran to go fourth in WRU East 2, while Chepstow were also 31-14 home winners over Garndiffaith, leaving them fourth in East 3.

Usk travel to face Senghenydd this Saturday (March 7), while Chepstow visit Risca.