The Monmouth Dragons excellent start to the season continued with an emphatic away win at the Cheltenham Tigers. The Monmouth boys looked to use the glorious autumn conditions to move the ball at every opportunity and were rewarded early on when dynamic forward Owain Hughes went over after several waves of Monmouth attack. The forwards were providing the backs with ample ball to show their paces and fly half Ollie Vickers was the first to benefit as he side stepped over to give the Dragons a 10-0 lead. Forwards and backs were combining well and some great interplay saw Jamie Norman cross to give the Monmouth boys a deserved 15 – 0 half time lead. Cheltenham began the second period strongly and were rewarded with a try to bring them back into the game. With their forwards gaing parity at the breakdown, it took two superb cover tackles from Tom Baker and then Jamie Norman to ensure Monmouth kept their lead. After weathering the Cheltenham storm, Monmouth hit back strongly with further tries from the strong running Matthew Baker and Max Norman, ensuring an excellent 25-5 victory. Team: Morgan Brett; Owain Hughes; Ross Haines; Harry McCoy; Charlie Gowling; Ollie Vickers; Jamie Norman; Matthew Baker; Max Norman; Tom Baker; Matthew Biggs Monmouth U10 Griffins The Griffins produced the performance of the day against a vastly more experienced Cirencester team to record a 20-10 victory. The Griffins dragged themselves back from a 5-0 deficit with a length of the field try by eight year old Max Norman. Despite showing huge commitment and effort, Monmouth had their line crossed again on the stroke of half time for Cirencester to take the lead at the interval 10-5. However, the Monmouth boys had taken heart from an excellent first period. The second half saw the Monmouth boys start strongly and from a tapped penalty Max Leader put Max Norman into space for him to beat several tackles for another long range effort. The Griffins could scent victory and some outstanding forward surges by Owain Hughes and Rhys Longden set the tone for the rest of the game. Eventually, the Griffins broke down the Cirencester resistance with tries from Owain Hughes and Berwyn Robbie, sealing a great victory for the boys.
