WRU East One

Monmouth RFC 18 Brynmawr 25

Brynmawr beat Monmouth 75-14 earlier in the season, but had to dig deep at the Sports Ground on Saturday to keep their winning run going, reports PETE WALTERS.

They knew they were in for a battle when after five minutes, a move left along the line and a few winning rucks saw hosts’ centre Morgan Jeffs break through tackles for the opening score.

The wind was going to be an influential factor as the precursor to Storm Isha was already blowing strongly corner to corner.

From the start, kicks upfield were prone to ballooning in an uncontrolled way, although an attacking asset for those who knew how to use it in the downhill direction.

And so it proved when the first attempted conversion by Monmouth failed badly, and WRU East joint leaders Brynmawr were soon to gain a 70 metre touch by riding on the wind.

Once in the home 22, Mawr’s pressure was intense and whilst the hosts did well at defending the repeated rucks and mauls near their line, it was not always legally.

And inevitably, a quickly taken penalty saw an unstoppable driving maul, with Adam White going ove and Liam Butler adding the extras for a 7-5 lead.

Monmouth then engineered a good break and from a scrum on halfway, a penalty kick found touch in the right corner.

A few winning rucks then saw the hosts’ second row Shaun Hobbs use his size and power to drive over for a try converted comfortably this time by full back Matt Tabb for a 12-7 lead to the Wyesiders.

Mawr responded vigorously but had a try disallowed, possibly for obstruction, although the referee’s signalling may have meant one of several possibilities.

Monmouth scrum-half Oliver Scriven was adept at making good ground as well as stoutly defending and with the aid of Hobbs’ mauling, Monmouth then secured a penalty which was kicked to touch deep on the right followed by a strong carry by prop Tom Green.

When stopped, Monmouth won a penalty for going in on the side, converted by Tabb to stretch the lead at half-time to 15-7 against the elements and slope.

Fired up by their ‘talking to’ in the break, Brynmawr then came out firing on all cylinders, and despite being frustrated by dogged defence, a penalty by Butler for not rolling away after the tackle narrowed the score to 15-10.

Brynmawr became a stronger side following substitutions, with even burlier forwards coming on. And despite another good Hobbs carry out of defence for the hosts, another succesful Butler penalty for holding on gave the visitors a further three points, albeit responded to quickly by a penalty of Monmouth’s own from some 40 metres distance, making it 18-13.

Tempers became frayed at this juncture but Monmouth’s Tabb this time pulled wide a further kick at goal from some 35 metres out.

The game was turning somewhat now, though, and despite good harrying by Monmouth wing Harvey Thomas to force a line-out, it was lost and a sharp move on the blind-side saw Brynmawr’s speedy left wing Scott Gibbs fed for a runaway 60-metre try, eluding a last-ditch attempt at an ankle tap by fly-half Dan White.

All square at 18-18 now with some 10 minutes left to play, a scrum saw Monmouth sliding back as the Maer pack turned the screw.

A decision soon after to substitute both tiring the hosts’ props might have been a game saver at this point, but a yellow card offence by one of them almost immediately for ‘too many penalties’ despite having just arrived was to prove disastrous.

Leaving 14 men to hold out against the continuing pressure from Mawr was going to be difficult.

And Brynmawr’s strength at the set piece finally prevailed when another strong drive saw David Croft go over the line, converted by Butler, to secure a 10th win in 10 games and stay unbeaten for the season.

None of the other local teams saw match action at the weekend, but this Saturday (January 27) scheduled games include – Abergavenny v Pontypool United, Blaenavon v Bedlinog, Senghenydd v Brynmawr, Usk v Caerleon, Crickhowell v St Julians HSOB, Forgeside v West Mon.