Abergavenny were the opponents for Monmouth Druids in the Ivor Jones Cup on Chippenham The Druids had only three victories this season, the last ,way back in October last. Abergavenny are unbeaten in the league and beat the Druids narrowly in November on the same ground.

So despite the omens, the Druids ,who have under achieved this campaign, were in good spirits in the changing room,but a tough difficult struggle was anticipated.

The first half was inconclusive as both sides sparred and probed looking for openings without putting any points on the scoreboard.

In the second half with the low sun at his back, Outside Half Rob Frost, controlled events with some fine tactical kicking. The glue pot of a pitch was very testing for the players and the use of substitutes was important as it was necessary.

It was Robbie Frost who gave the Druids the lead with a 30 minute penalty goal, which crept over with the assistance of his newly acquired kicking tee.

The Druids had the better of territorial advantage and they started to put together some handling moves. Their forwards, despite having problems in the tight, were getting the better of play in the loose.

From a line out, 10 metres from the Abergavenny line Flanker Tom Homer, won good clean possession. A rolling maul was developed which drove hard over the visitors try line and the referee awarded the try to Flanker Stu Boylan. Robbie Frost kicked the conversion to give the Druids a 10 point lead.

Abergavenny showed they were far from finished and they launched a series of attacks to try and save the game.Some very determined defensive tackling particularly from the Druids backs and a missed penalty goal attempt by Abergavenny kept the score unchanged. The Druids rallied and put pressure back on Abergavenny.

A maul developed deep in the visitors half and Second Row Andy Scourfield picked up and moved the ball on the blind side to Prop Bob Prewett who in turn fed fellow prop Mark Ralph.

His nicely timed pass to Wing Mattie Morgan and he raced away around the covering defence to touch down half way out.Robbie Frost missed the conversion but the game was won 15-0.

A fine performance by the Druids against the odds. Their backrow of Tom Homer, Joel Price and Stu Boylan were outstanding.Fresh legs(albeit old) in the form of Andy Howells and Andrew Scourfield was a success and the fine tactical kicking of Robbie Frost was important.Another good feature was the tackling of the backs.

So out of winning the league this year, but the Druids are still in the Cup, so who knows.