Gwent Premier League Premier Division

Wattsville 2 Monmouth Town 7

MONMOUTH Town went into half-time 2-1 down at Wattsville in their league opener on Friday night, but six second-half goals totally turned the game on its head.

The match featured a hat-trick from Dan Macdonald and a resilient comeback from the visitors to secure all three points to start the campaign top of the league.

Wattsville's Eduardo Santos gave the hosts the lead in the seventh minute, putting Monmouth behind against the run of play.

A corner in the 13th minute brought the game back level thanks to a Taylor Street header, meeting Macdonald's delivery at the near post to power into the net.

Town ramped up the pressure and their chances of finding a second goal looked even more promising when Wattsville's John Mbustshu was temporarily sin-binned for dissent.

However, moments before half-time, the Kingfishers' hard work was undone as The Ville capitalised on a free-kick, with Olaf Rutkowski scoring for a 2-1 lead to the hosts at the break.

Town had it all to do in the second half as they searched for a route back into the game..

But it did not take long for the scores to be level again, with Callum Uttley making it 2-2 on 52 minutes following another set-piece.

Macdonald's corner was delivered deeper this time and found Jack Meredith on the edge of the area.

And the latter’s effort fell kindly to Uttley, who calmly guided the ball into the net.

The Kingfishers then took the lead for the first time in the 68th minute after the hosts conceded a penalty, Macdonald stepping up and converting confidently into the bottom-right corner.

Ten minutes later, Monmouth's No.10 grabbed his second of the evening with an outstanding long-range volley that caught the goalkeeper off guard.

And Macdonald completed his hat-trick in the 81st minute to further extend Town's advantage.

Toby Prettyjohn then made it 6-2 in the 88th minute before Street rounded off the scoring in the second minute of added time to complete a remarkable second-half turnaround.

Team manager Mark Morris said: "I thought we played really well throughout the whole game.

“We had to dig in a couple of times after conceding a goal against the run of play to start with, and we didn't really deserve to go in 2-1 down at half-time.

"Our quality came through in the end and there were some really good goals in the second half, Macca's particularly.

“All in all, it was a good performance and a good introduction for Connor [Street] and Toby [Prettyjohn], who got a goal as well."

The Kingfishers were due back in action at Sifil on Tuesday, after the Beacon went to print followed by a trip to Marshfield this Saturday (August 15).

Meanwhile, the draw for the first round of the Gwent Premier League County Motors Challenge Cup which takes place on August 18, has pitted them away to Gwent Premier One outfit Brynmawr United..

Furthermore, Monmouth have been drawn against Taffs Well in the second round of the FAW Welsh Cup qualifiers.

Elsewhere, Chepstow Town have got off to a flyer in their Ardal South East League campaign, with three wins out of three – 4-0 at home to Undy, 3-2 away to Cwmbran Town and 2-1 at home to Tredegar last weekend.

They visit New Inn this Saturday.