Hereford Greyhounds 7 Monmouth Druids 34

MONMOUTH Druids experienced a new contest on Saturday, playing against Hereford Greyhounds for the first time.

On their journey to Hereford, the Druids may have felt quite confident about the upcoming battle on the racecourse. Monmouth received a warm welcome from the home side, with small glasses of port at half time and in the changing rooms after the game.

The weather that greeted the sides was less welcoming. Gale-force wind and persistent rain would test the skills of both sides. Who could raise their game to conquer the elements and the opposition?

The direction of the wind across the pitch made it difficult to establish an advantage but the kicking game would be very important. There would be no complaints against ‘the going’, soft but secure.

Before the kick off there was a one minute silence for Will Copley and Mark Ricketts. The former was a recent player for Monmouth and the latter the father of Rhys, a first team player. Both will be sadly missed.

The start saw the Druids show some supremacy although handling errors particularly by players who,in the past have not shown weaknesses in this facet of play. Some attempted passing by the Druids backs was flawed by miss-handling and good Greyhound tackling. Centre Dan White made the most of his opportunities by scoring two tries with clever and evasive running. The wind made kicking a lottery and both tries were not improved so the Druids had a 10-0 lead after 20 minutes.

At the latter end of the half a handling error by Greyhounds was punished by flanker Dan Ansty. He gathered the loose ball and sped over for a 15-0 lead to the Druids.

As the referee’s half time whistle approached the Druids scored their fourth try to stretch the lead. More pressure by the visitors saw full back Kris Gordon touch down in the corner. He converted with a fine kick from the touchline, into the wind to make the score 22-0.

The second period saw the Druids use their kicking game to good effect and again had territorial advantage. A converted try from Kris Gordon and one from prop Sean Oaten finished the visitors scoring. Hereford kept battling to the end and, following a line out close to the Druids line, they forced their way over for a converted try. The final scoreline of 34-7 showed the dominance of the visitors but the battling display of the Greyhounds should be recognised.

The try scorers in wet conditions were prominent but every player showed a thoroughly heart warming display.

The Druids next play away at Gwernyfed on 27th February.