JD Welsh Cup - Monmouth Town 1 Brecon Corries 0

A LATE goal from Jake Robinson was enough to earn victory for Monmouth Town against Brecon Corries and see them progress into Rround two of the JD Welsh Cup after a tough encounter in the Monmouth sunshine.

Playing on an unfamiliar Sunday afternoon, Monmouth Town made hard work of breaking down a resilient hard working Corries defence with Robinson striking seven minutes from time.

Manager Andrew Smith shuffled his pack after the previous 4-2 loss to Haverfordwest which resulted in Jake Robinson moving to left back in place of the unavailable Alex O’Leary, Dan Spence returned to centre half in place for the holidaying Rob Laurie and a first start was handed to recent signing Sam Manful on the left side of midfield. Kazeem Kareem also returned to the side with Mitchel Palmer moving to right back.

Town started brightly with Elliot Ford and Sam Manful looking to attack from wide areas early on but despite getting into some useful attacking positions, they struggled to create any real openings. Although it was Monmouth doing most of the early pressing, signs of a dent in confidence were certainly evident as attacks broke down, and the visitors looked dangerous themselves on the break.

It wasn’t until the 23rd minute when the town created the first real chance after Mitchel Palmer and Elliot Ford linked up well down the right, Ford fired a delightful half volley across the six yard box but Harrhy was just unable to convert. Dafydd Jones and Manful both stung the visiting keepers hands but both efforts were too close to the keeper to cause any real trouble for the Brecon stopper.

The decent sized crowd had little reward in terms of goal mouth action. The town actually worked some decent openings but poor decision making, or a touch too many, resulted in the visiting defence able to sniffle out or block any attempt at goal.

The second period started much the same as the first ended with Monmouth enjoying more of the possession and looking the most threatening but, the back door always being open when Brecon looked to break.

On 56 minutes, Elliot Ford headed goalward but, as the keeper dropped on the ball, he went down injured, resulting in a lengthy delay to the game. The town seemed to come out of the blocks following the break in play with Ford, Manful and Harrhy thinking they may have done better when shooting at goal. The Corries team certainly gave their all and threw bodies in the way at every opportunity the town created but they were evidently tiring in the heat as the game wore on.

Monmouth again forced several corners that came to no avail and many were left thinking that it was going to be another frustration day for the Kingfishers. As the game entered injury time, the Town still looked to probe and win the game in normal time but often lacked the composure to pick that final ball.

On 95 minutes, Manful and Jones linked well down the left and Jones put a pin point cross across the goal for the energetic Robinson to burst into the box and slide home the opening goal of the game. With just five minutes of the added time left to play, Town kept the ball better, although the Corries may have snatched an unlikely equaliser at the death.

As the full time whistle sounded, manager Andrew Smith was relieved, but still left a frustrated figure. “Obviously we are delighted that we are in the hat and avoided a potential banana skin but, if I’m honest, we’ve still underachieved from what we are capable of achieving.,” he said.

“Had we scored early, I think we would have gone on and won comfortably but, to their credit, Brecon threw everything in front of us.

“At 0-0 you’re always concerned that the other side may snatch one, especially with the clock ticking down no matter how on top you are. We look a little fragile at the moment and the boys seem frightened of making errors. But, we’re through and we look forward to the draw for the next match.”

The Kingfishers have been drawn against Welsh League Division Three side Ynysygerwn FC in the second round, with the game to be played on 5th November.

Monmouth travel to Afan Lido next Saturday in Division One with all kick-offs now at 2pm.