Monmouth Under 15s made the journey to Longlevens rugby club again missing a few key players.

With only 16 players available, the coaches had to 'shuffle the pack' and play a few of the boys out of position and include both Luke McDonald and Morgan Brett from the U14s.

Both are becoming regular fixtures in the team which can only help their development.

In the last fixture between the two sides, Monmouth were heavily beaten by a 12-man Longlevens side which included several players from the Gloucester academy, so they knew they were up against it this time around playing against a full team.

With captain Zak Williams leading from outside half instead of his usual back row position, the mood during the warm up was positive and you could tell that the boys were very much focused on the job in hand.

Playing with the wind in the first half, Monmouth received the kick off which was taken by Conner Mills, who immediately set off on a charge up the field to put pressure on the Longlevens defence.

A tight first 15 minutes saw both teams playing some excellent rugby in a game where neither team could break down the opposition defence and in which there was nothing between the sides.

With the home team getting more and more frustrated their ill-discipline started to show with several off-the-ball incidents taking place, the referee, who was having a good game allowing the play to flow, was having none of it and awarded Monmouth a penalty which was narrowly missed by Zak when he attempted to get the first three points of the game.

As the half wore on Monmouth were starting to get the better of their opponents up front, where many of the boys were playing their best games to date in a Monmouth shirt, winning not just their own scrums but plenty against the head and even though English rules do not allow lifting in the lineouts, James Howe jumped as if he had springs in his boots and managed to get his hands to just about every throw from either team.

Toby Duncan was having his usual 'storming' game, this week playing at No 8, winning ball after ball on the ground and tackling everything in a red and white shirt but it was his picking and driving from the base of the scrum that really caught the eye.

It was from one of these moves that he got the first score of the game, which again was narrowly missed by Zak to make it a deserved five-nil to Monmouth.

Credit must be given to the front row of Jordan Holder, Morgan Brett and Jamie Marchant for putting the opposition scrum under pressure allowing quick ball at the base of the scrum.

You could sense the confidence and belief rising in the boys and they carried on where they left off with Conner again taking a magnificent take from the resulting kick off and starting off another attack.

With the backs running much more direct than in previous weeks and without the usual handling errors, Monmouth really looked as if they meant business and only a strong defence stopped them adding to their score.

A very tight finale to the first half saw the ref blow his whistle at f--ive-nil.

Longlevens came out of the blocks as expected in the second half and after some good approach work they scored a try under the posts which was duly converted to make the score seven-five.

With every Monmouth player desperate for a win they were all looking to get their hands on the ball, and on one occasion Jonno Davies went past and through several opponents on a 30 metre run only to stopped just short of the try line.

Conner thought he had scored in the corner only to be pulled back for an apparent foot in touch on his way to the line. The breakthrough came after another good scrum from the pack and another great pick and drive by Toby, who carried at least two players over the line with him on his way to Monmouth's second score, which was converted by Zak to make the score 12-seven.

Discipline was proving a problem for the home side and the referee had no alternative but to send off their replacement prop after he 'short-armed' Morgan who, to his credit and like the rest of his team mates, did not take a backward step and concentrated on letting their rugby do the talking.

Ash Murphy, playing out of position at flanker, showed he has the ability to play in several positions and provided the link between forwards and backs beautifully.

The back three of Pete Saran, Ruarie Davies and Chris Cornfield-Huint all had excellent games and deserved to get on the end of at least one scoring pass.

Chris would have been away if Felix Lindsel-Hales had spotted him on the outside after another trademark run through the middle.

This aside, his partnership with Jordan Thomas in the centre is proving so strong in both attack and defence and they compliment each other brilliantly.

Every player deserves a mention and a pat on the back for a brilliant display, Toby was rightly voted the man-of-the-match but it must have proved a difficult decision for the coaches.

The smiles on the faces of the boys and the parents after the final whistle were huge but nothing less than they deserved.