Monmouth Town - 3

Penybont - 1

Three goals in eight minutes either side of the half hour mark were enough to secure Monmouth's passage to the FAW Cup third round and a trip to Deeside stadium to take on Welsh Premier outfit GAP Connah's Quay Nomads on November 29.

This match sponsored by Atal UK was carried over from last week's washout and the first minutes suggested that Penybont were up for the fight having the better of the early exchanges while Monmouth's Kingfishers struggled to get the ball down and play on a sticky pitch.

Penybont struck a post direct from a corner and Jacob Guy made a crucial interception to a low cross as the Penybont strikers probed and looked to test Keiron Blackburn who went on to have solid game in Town's goal.

Dan MacDonald shrugged off an early injury scare coming off second best in a 50/50 challenge and it was his free kick on 27 minutes that struck the defensive wall. The ball rebounded straight to the striker and he waltzed past three challenges before putting the goalkeeper on his backside with a dummy and slotting into the empty net.

Just four minutes later it was Eliot Evans' turn to show some skill and a superb build up stretched the Penybont defence and a though ball found Evans with his back to gaol. A sublime turn and finish put Town in control of the tie. Ham then got some reward for his direct running as another assault on the visitors goal saw his shot deflected in to make it 3-0 and seemingly game over.

The second half started much the better for Town as Penybont looked shell shocked as in fairness the scoreline was no real reflection of the balance of play at that stage.

Monmouth however should really have been out of sight within ten minutes of the restart but they dithered in front of goal failing to get any shots away despite being virtually parked on the edge of the Penybont area. The introduction of Harrhy changed the complexion of the game and although Town were pushed deeper they kept the ball better and looked rarely troubled when Penybont did get within striking distance.

Penybont did get one back with seven minutes remaining and made for an interesting finale but it was too little to late and the Kingfishers will travel to north Wales in a fortnight knowing that they can cause an upset.

This Saturday The Kingfishers are back at Penybont with a league Cup match against Third Division outfit Cardiff Corinthians (kick off 1.30pm)