AFTER a woeful start to the season which has seen them still yet to record a win in nine games, the Mardy have pretty much resigned themselves to relegation to Gwent County Division Two according to assistant secretary Malcolm Skinner.
"In the last two and a half years we've probably lost about 20 plus senior players from the club who have gone to play there football elsewhere," revealed Skinner.
"As a consequence we've had to fill our first team with a lot of youngsters from our Gwent Central side, and through no fault of their own they just don't have the necessary experience to grind out the results.
"It's a big ask for players to make a direct leap from playing Gwent Central football to competing at Gwent County Division One level, and it's proven a bit of a bridge too far for the club.
"When you have a team who are playing at this level of football with about eight players who are under-18 in the side, it's always going to be difficult against older and more experienced sides.
"Fair play to the youngsters, they've responded well, but there learning on their toes. In retrospect it probably would have been better if we dropped down to Division Two last season,
because then our youngsters would have had more of a fighting chance." explained Skinner.
It is however, not all doom and gloom for the club as Skinner said, "We've recently acquired a new goalkeeper in the shape of Philip Davies from Pandy and Owen Edwards and Chris Davies have joined us from Gilwern.
"And in as far as the infrastructure of the club is concerned we've got a great team in place responsible for managing and running the club, and the support and sponsorship we enjoy from Tony and Clare at the Belmont Inn has been fantastic.
"It looks almost definite that we will drop a division at the season's end, but we will rebuild, and bounce back."
Any players with Gwent County experience interested in aiding the Mardy's cause can contact either club secretary Jamie Woods on 01873 850893 or assistant club secretary Malcolm Skinner on 01873 855500.