Monmouth Warriors (u13's) travelled to New Panteg last Sunday where the weather conditions had taken a turn for the worse. It was bitterly cold with a biting wind.

Nevertheless the Monmouth pack made a rousing start to the game with Will Korb, Joe Walters and Andrew Morgan prominent. The Warriors maintained their high tempo Rugby and after good passing by the backs Joe Bezani, Dan Dunmore, Morgan Paley and Liam Richards centre Max Senior dived over for the first try.

After the initial score the game developed into an even contest with first one side then the other attacking the try line. However determined defence by both sides kept their lines intact.

For the Warriors, Dan Musselbrook, James Hall and Dan Edwards were in the thick of the forward battles, but just towards the end of the half New Panteg equalised with an unconverted try.

In the second half the much taller and heavier New Panteg pack had more of the possession and after sustained pressure they took the lead with a corner try. The Monmouth half backs Jacob Webley and acting scrum half Ben Zorab were continually frustrated by the close attention of the New Panteg back row with their number seven looking suspiciously off side on several occasions.

In addition the Warriors suffered several injuries which disrupted the flow of their game allowing New Panteg to score their third try.

The Warrior backs had few opportunities in the second half but Pete Saran, Henry Orchart, Callum Sneddon and Will Fraser stuck manfully to the task of defending their try line.

With five minutes left the Warriors game gained momentum and the forwards drove forward with renewed vigour. Andrew Morgan, Sean McMahon and Oscar Hughes led the charge well supported by Josh Carpenter and Jonathan Clewes.

Their efforts were rewarded when Prop Sean McMahon forced his way over from close range. With little time left the Warriors were unable to gain the equalising try and New Panteg ran out winners 15–10, which, on balance they probably deserved.

However the Warriors can take great pride in their performance given the number of injuries and changes that were made and the sheer physicality of the New Panteg pack.

Forwards Man of the Match was Oscar Hughes for his all action performance and the Backs award went to Dan Dunmore for an awesome display of defensive tackling.