Monmouth U 14's rugby squad took on the might of St. Joseph's in wonderful rugby playing conditions - 4 degrees, sunny and so boggy pigs would have required snorkels.

Hallam started off the try scoring with a strong run which he kicked on and his pace got him to the ball first.  St Joseph's got the next try and it looked liked the game was going to be a close affair. 

Liam got the next after taking the blind side from the scrum in St Joseph's 22 - his usual speed and strength got Liam over the line. 

At this point in the early stages of the first half Monmouth were dominant in most areas.  The scrum performed well and the line out was perfect with the boys even stealing some of St Joseph's line -out ball. 

Hallam had the next score with another of his trade mark strong runs - only allowed, however, by the slick passing of the Monmouth boys inside him. 

The next try was an absolute beauty as Monmouth were under huge pressure from the larger St Joseph's pack who were camped on the Monmouth try line - a huge defensive effort lead to a 22 drop out as St Joseph's could not penetrate the Monmouth defence. 

This was quickly taken by an intelligent Hallam who saw space, Fergus collected and had a strong run and off loaded the ball to Camereon who himself off loaded the ball to Mr. Palmer who gracefully dived over the line and into the mud to score.  

It was great to see such strong support play from the forwards in this move which took us from one end of the pitch to the other- well done indeed.  Joe Christopher had a very strong game at full back and his collection of a kick, strong run put Hallam into space for a try. 

The next try came from Ted who looked very good again today under difficult playing conditions ( the ball was always wet and covered in mud ). 

George made a strong run and passed onto Ted who created some lovely footwork to go under the posts - a future appearance on that dance program a strong possibility for our Ted one thinks !!  Joe Paley converted. 

It was St Joseph's turn to score two tries in quick succession which were almost identical.  They used there forward power and put the ball up the jersey and got over.  Hallam once again got over the try line after some great scrummaging from the boys put St Joseph's under real pressure - good all-round play - well done again. The final score was 37-22. 

 "Everybody in the squad had a strong game today ( and all deserve a mention ), it was only that we played at the top of our game we got this great result" The Beacon was told.