Gwent County Senior Cup 2nd Round

Monmouth Town 3 Newport Corinthians 3 (3-4 on penalties)

THE Kingfishers were knocked out of the Gwent County FA Senior Cup in the second round on Saturday, losing 3-4 on penalties in a rain-soaked match.

It was originally set to be played at the Monmouth Sports Ground, but was moved to the 3G pitch at Caldicot Leisure Centre due to the Sports Ground being waterlogged.

The match started with a scary moment for Town who were lucky to avoid an early goal, as Jake Dymond found himself in front of goal with the net gaping.

But great defending from Jack Meredith and others at the back quickly defused the situation, ending the early threat.

The Kingfishers then won a free-kick on the edge of the Corries box, and the ever threatening Dan Macdonald stepped up, looking to emulate the many successful set-pieces he has converted before.

But unfortunately on this occasion, his shot hit the wall and went out for a corner.

Monmouth then had another great opportunity as Fin Thorp played a great ball to Macdonald on the wing, whose low cross found Lamin Ndure in front of goal.

However, a great intervention from a Corries defender snuffed out the danger, tapping it out just before the winger could make contact with the ball.

As the game neared half-time, Corries then won a penalty, which 18-year old Jayden Ward stepped up to take.

But in just his second game for the Kingfishers, goalkeeper Luca Hughes-Evans saved the shot low down towards the bottom right, and the score remained level at 0-0 going into the break.

After the restart, Tyrell Kenton went close for Corries with a shot, before his former Pill teammate Taylor Street finally broke the deadlock at the other end to give Monmouth the lead in the 57th minute.

The Kingfishers maintained the pressure, as Corries keeper Jack Jones was forced to make an impressive double save after consecutive shots from Street and Macdonald almost made it 2-0.

But in the 83rd minute, Ward made up for his first-half penalty miss, capitalising on a poor touch from Meredith who gave the ball to the young Welsh forward in front of goal to fire home for 1-1.

And worse followed in the 88th minute, when Kenton found the net to give the Corries a late lead, placing the ball into the top left corner from just inside the box.

It looked like a killer blow as the rain poured, but they replied straight from their kick-off, with the returning Josh Maksimovic making the most of a poorly cleared ball to tap home and send the game into extra-time.

After a goal-less first 15 minutes, it was Maksimovic again five minutes into the second period of extra-time who gave the Kingfishers the lead, which looked to be the decisive goal as the clock ticked into the final minute.

But right at the death, Samuel Beckett latched on to a Kenton ball into the box right in front of Hughes-Evans and he made no mistake making it 3-3 to take the game to penalties.

And in the shootout, Corries keeper Jones made two saves before teammate Lewis Brown scored the decisive spot kick for a 4-3 Newport win, sending Monmouth out of their final cup competition this season.

Still top of the Gwent Premier League Premier Division, Monmouth will now turn their attention to their remaining nine league games this season.

This Saturday, (February 14), the Kingfishers host Newport Saints and there will be no love lost between the sides in what is bound to be a fiery encounter.