On Monday 13th January Monmouth's 1st team started the New Year with high hopes and positivity.

After narrowly missing out on a top half finish in the SEW premier division at the end of the first half of the season, Monmouth were keen to make an impression against their fellow bottom half opponents Risca B.

The last time the two teams met, the game ended in a nail biting draw, so Monmouth knew they had to up their game.

The first quarter began with high intensity, with both teams converting goals off every centre.

Strong passing between the centre court players Emma King and Kali-Jade Cross meant they were able to feed the ball to the shooters Lisa Small and Holly Hall, who converted when it was necessary.

A few mistakes led to Monmouth trailing by two goals at the end of the first quarter.

Monmouth kept the fight going throughout the second and third quarters.

The Monmouth shooters faced a challenge to find space around the Risca defence but nevertheless worked tirelessly and were still able to convert.

Many of the goals scored by Small and Hall were impressive shots from range.

Risca were very strong on any counter attack they were allowed from mistakes made by the Monmouth players.

The Monmouth defence continued to make it hard for the Risca counter attack with several impressive interceptions made by Laura Griffiths.

Mandy Davies made it hard for the Risca attack to find space in the shooting circle and Vanessa Ball read the game well to pick off several interceptions and rebounds.

Monmouth went in to the final quarter of the game 10 goals down.

Even though they kept up the intensity and all worked hard right until the end of the game, Monmouth were unable to recover the goals lost from mistakes made throughout the game.

The Risca team made very few mistakes which led to their overall victory, 51-38.