PROMOTION-chasing Monmouth Cricket Club will travel to Ponthir this Saturday (23rd August) for their biggest match of the season – after a 10-wicket mauling of Monkswood. Jonathan Jones took a hat-trick and 12-year-old Welsh youth player Ben Davies snapped up four wickets as Monmouth thrashed Monkswood to seal a ninth successive win. In-form Josh Grey struck an unbeaten 81 and Monmouth's 20-point haul, coupled with Ponthir's win against Dinas Powys, has lifted Ben Turner's men into second spot. Ponthir are now third in Thomas, Carroll Glamorgan and Monmouthshire League Division Three and this weekend's showdown in Newport is a huge game with just two matches remaining. Jonathan Jones, who celebrated his 43rd birthday this week, polished off the Monkswood innings for just 123 in last Saturday's match at the Sports Ground. Monkswood appeared to be in a good position at 94-3 but slipped to 102-7 before Jones wrapped up the innings in the 36th over. Jones removed Rod Jones, Jamie Weller and then trapped Kevin Brooks lbw in consecutive balls to finish with 3-3 and secure his first-ever hat-trick. Fellow left-arm spinner Davies, fresh from a successful Wales Under-12 festival in Taunton, picked up superb figures of 4-30 from eight overs. Davies, who came on to bowl at second change, removed, among others, the prolific Matt Malson (39), the dangerous Gareth Trumper (14) and Monkswood skipper Mike Watkins. Former Malpas player Neil Smith bagged 2-37 from 10 overs, while Tej Saran took 1-25 from 10 and Richard Shaw also bowled a decent opening spell. Captain Turner held an outstanding catch, while Grey (2), Matthew Jones and youngster Davies all took good catches. Monmouth, sponsored by JD Wetherspoon, made light work of recording a league double by reaching the target in the 34th over. Openers Grey (81 not out) and Matthew Jones wrapped up the innings in the 36th over. Jones removed Rod Jones, Jamie Weller and then trapped Kevin Brooks lbw in consecutive balls to finish with 3-3 and secure his first-ever hat-trick. Fellow left-arm spinner Davies, fresh from a successful Wales Under-12 festival in Taunton, picked up superb figures of 4-30 from eight overs. Davies, who came on to bowl at second change, removed, among others, the prolific Matt Malson (39), the dangerous Gareth Trumper (14) and Monkswood skipper Mike Watkins. Former Malpas player Neil Smith bagged 2-37 from 10 overs, while Tej Saran took 1-25 from 10 and Richard Shaw also bowled a decent opening spell. Captain Turner held an outstanding catch, while Grey (2), Matthew Jones and youngster Davies all took good catches. Monmouth, sponsored by JD Wetherspoon, made light work of recording a league double by reaching the target in the 34th over. Openers Grey (81 not out) and Matthew Jones (37 not out) batted confidently and wore down Monkswood's bowling attack. Trumper delivered seven overs for just 15 runs but Grey, who cracked 10 boundaries, and Jones, who hit five boundaries, guided Monmouth home for an emphatic success. However, it was a different story in the second team fixture, with 10-man Monmouth Seconds crashing to a nine-wicket defeat against Monkswood Seconds at the Beaufort Arms. An excellent unbroken 45-run ninth-wicket stand between youngsters Josh Hughes (23 not out) and Freddie Oubridge (19 not out) was Monmouth's highlight in 2nd XI Division Three. Late stand-in Gordon Grey (44) and opener Matt Williams (32) led the way for a depleted Monmouth, who chose to bat first on a damp wicket and reached 156-8 from 45 overs. Simon Williams (3-22 from nine) caused problems for Monmouth's batsmen on a drying pitch, while 12-year-old leg-spinner Ollie Webb (2-19 from six) also bowled well for the hosts. After the interval, experienced duo John Jenkins (77) and Ian Kilmister (47 not out) led Monkswood to an emphatic win in the 27th over, in much-improved batting conditions. Grey (1-30 from eight) took the only Monkswood wicket to fall, with Gwent Under-15 player George Williamson (0-18 from five) and Freddie Oubridge delivering good stints. This season, Monmouth's second team campaign has been hamstrung by poor player availability and late withdrawals and the issues must be addressed for next summer.