FOLLOWING a rocky period when players' commitment appeared in doubt and a threat to the survival of the newly formed Gwent Central 'B' team, the Mardy camp are pleased to announce that they will continue to field three teams in the foreseeable future.
Club chairman Malcolm Skinner told the Chronicle, "The committee called a meeting last week as to the viability of running three teams, because we have lost a whole host of players across the board in recent times.
"Obviously you can't play without players and it did begin to feel like that all the hard work and effort we were putting into running three teams was pretty futile when we were struggling to fill the positions."
The Mardy stalwart, whose club's first team plays in Gwent County Division Two, and whose second and third teams play in the Gwent Central League added, "A fair few things were ironed out at the meeting and consequently I believe the future is looking rosy for the club."
Skinner, who has been involved with the Mardy for the past 48 years, and has been persuaded to stay on until his 50th milestone before retiring, said, "On behalf of the club I would also like to pay tribute to three former players who recently died within six weeks of another. Gary Davies (51), Philip Jones (54) and Anthony Ellaway (42) gave a combined total of 60 years service to the club and the Mardy will remember them."