MONMOUTH's lack of fighting spirit from the bulk of their pack, combined with Chepstow's sheer determination had all but ensured victory for the home team by the half-time whistle.

In the opening minutes, after penalties for both teams with each penalised for holding onto the ball after tackles, Chepstow found touch from a long kick.

The maul resulting, from the line-out, was driven over for their first five points leaving the Monmouth pack looking bemused.

They recovered somewhat through good driving play of their own from their back row, but the cumbersome passing of the ball along the three-quarter line allowed Chepstow to close threats down quickly.

Monmouth had their chances though. First centre Roberts was unlucky with a kick at goal which dipped below the bar. Then wing Tabb and Roberts were away down the slope to the left, but an attempted grubber kick gave possession away when a try looked likely.

Chepstow's pack came back to the fore with yet another driving maul covering a considerable number of meters. When it fragmented, three men were left to drive the one remaining defender over the line to take the score to

10-0.

Monmouth's luck continued to desert them as the drop-out was handled first by Chepstow but play was called back to the centre spot for it having failed to travel the requisite 10 metres.

A later scrum was lost against the head and Roberts was again to fail with a kick at goal.

With 10 minutes to play before the break, Monmouth were unable to defend a maul from 22 metres out and the ruck which followed it.

This time the try was near the posts making the conversion easy and, despite a break of some 50 metres by full back Connors, all Monmouth could save from the first half was three points by Roberts from a penalty.

With the score at 17-3, the second half was always going to be quite a hill to climb, especially given the way some of the younger forwards were struggling to compete and with the slope against them.

Captain and number 8 Phillips continued to lead from the front though only to find himself in the "sin-bin" for diving on what he thought was a loose ball but the referee saw it differently.

Chepstow upped the anti and soon were the beneficiaries of a penalty try as they drove a collapsing scrum towards the line.

Defensive kicks from Monmouth played into the home team's hands as first tackles were missed but Monmouth clawed their way back into Chepstow's 22m area only to be turned over and find themselves back in their own 22.

The final straw came with a missed tackle in mid-field which allowed a Chepstow back to make an arcing run to score untouched and under the posts.

The final score of 31-3 will have done little for the team's morale prior to the key derby of the year against Usk on Boxing Day.

The traditional Boxing Day game is too important in the historic rivalry of the two clubs for anything less than everyone giving 100 per cent.