WRU East One

Abergavenny RFC 13 Monmouth RFC 49

WITH the previous game having been called off after 51 minutes because of a fracas, Friday evening’s rearranged basement battle loss leaves Aber with a mountain to climb at the foot of the table.

Victory for Monmouth was a giant step towards them staying in WRU East One, leaving Abergavenny 14 points adrift, albeit with three games in hand.

The game this time was expertly managed and became an entertaining evening, at least for the visitors.

The hosts struggled upfront somewhat, although their backs combined well and speedily to keep themselves in the game up until they lost a forward to a yellow card near half-time.

Monmouth fly-half Rhys Jones converted a penalty after no time at all and the visitors extended their lead with a converted try at the end of the first quarter, courtesy of scrum-half Ollie Scriven and a quick penalty.

Much slick handling was on display by the visiting three-quarters, but Abergavenny were still in the fight at this stage, converting a penalty of their own followed by a converted try five minutes before the break.

But they then lost a forward to a yellow card, and the largely superior Monmouth pack chose to scrummage instead of kicking a penalty near the posts.

They drove over the line and No 8 Zak Alexander, who had a good game throughout, touched down just before half-time for a 10-17 advantage at the break

And with Monmouth now playing up the slope in the second half, they took total control after the restart to score a further six tries to only one converted penalty.

Centre Jordan Howells repeatedly showed his class after coming on as a substitute by scoring two tries, the first of which came after picking up a pass off his toes without even a change of pace to score in the corner.

A combination of distance and the very sticky pitch caused Jones to miss the kick along with several others later.

Abergavenny clawed back three points from a penalty which turned out to be their only score for the remainder of the game, as Monmouth then cut loose.

Substitute centre Will Dudman used his pace to cross to extend the score to 13-27, before the visitors cracked open the defence again after seven successive phases of play near the line, when second-row Shaun Hobbs crashed over.

Right wing Matt Tabb was next to shine with an exceptional break which gained a good 40 metres.

When he cut inside and was tackled, the ball went loose and was moved out to Dudman to score yet another try.

Howells was next to up the pressure with another good break and a long grubber kick through, with Dudman again involved and wing Liam Churches completing the score .

And with 10 minutes left to play, Howells was again on the scoreboard with an unconverted try assisted by centre Dan Dunmore.

Abergavenny kept plugging away and at least prevented the score reaching 50 points despite Monmouth’s efforts.

Elsewhere, Usk’s recent run of success was halted 10-24 by visitors Cwmbran on Saturday, but they stay third in E2 ahead of a visit to Abercarn this Saturday

Abergavenny visit Newport HSOB on Saturday, while Brynmawr host Bedlinog, Nantyglo host RTB Ebbw Vale and Forgeside go to Hollybush