WRU National League 2 East - Monmouth RFC 10 Talywain 7

THE damp and cold were quickly shrugged off as both sides tore into one another, sustaining the battle right until the fairy tale end, that is, at least for Monmouth which keeps them top of the league, the only side unbeaten with five wins out of five.

Not that the Talywain supporters, who gave the referee stick throughout, will have been pleased, because until late on they may reasonably have expected to win, albeit closely, but fly-half Paul Emmanuelli wasn’t going to miss a late penalty from 20 metres and in front of the sticks.

The visitors were the most eager initially, assisted by a referee who rarely looked over his shoulder thus allowing frequent offsides to go unpunished, and, worse still, preventing the home team from crossing the gain line. Despite this it was a full eight minutes before they were able to enter the Monmouth half which showed their defence was equally good which was as well as the visitors put them under considerable pressure for a while.

Monmouth dealt well with most lines-out although some throwing in, not helped by an angular wind, went awry. Given the reliability though of most touch re-starts, Monmouth were content to play the touch-lines despite some penalties being kickable. Pressure results from such tactics especially near the corners, but on one notable occasion Talywain regained the advantage by kicking an immensely long touch out of defence.

Most territory gained by Monmouth was through the boot with left wing Kester Mobbs Morgan following up a deep kick being harshly adjudged to have high tackled the player he caught. In fairness, one slick passing move out of defence by the backs looked promising but for a rare knock-on by centre Amosa Nove.

Talywain’s strength was centre field carries and their vigour but a sin-binning for two successive cynical penalties ensured their steam temporarily evaporated. Monmouth suffered, too, when captain and prop Zen Szwagrzak went off with a hamstring injury, because strong though his replacement was, the mobility was markedly less so. This lull brought the half time break with no score to either side.

Refreshed, Talywain were soon near Monmouth’s line. A line out and drive brought a penalty and a scrum similarly attracted a further penalty but, playing advantage, the visitors nipped over for a seven point try with a full 33 minutes still to play.

The home team rallied and Mobbs Morgan atoning for some wayward passing in the first half was up to tackle a defender and was on his feet almost instantaneously to tackle another before support arrived. Play was now confined for a while to Talywain’s half with the ball being thrown around to even the scores. A quick penalty by new young scrum-half Josh Hughes fizzled out despite his pace and determination when a kick for goal may have been wiser but such tactics seemed to be the order of the day.

Impetus through rucks and from the scrums had appeared to grow with the arrival of forwards coach Ross Coombs forcing Talywain onto the back foot. Recourse to illegality in defence led to friction and the use of fists lost the visitors another player to a yellow card helping the local cause more.

With 10 minutes to go, a good Monmouth scrum in the left corner brought them a penalty which they scrummaged again and Coombs used his strength to drive over to level the scores with Emmanuelli the kicker.

The objections by some visiting players and even their support team led to a penalty for Monmouth from the re-start which fell short but when it was run back with vigour, Coombs was adjudged to have high tackled dangerously, earning a red card in the process.

Both sides were now playing flat out and second row Vitalani who had slaved away in the engine room had to leave the field injured.

Penalties were exchanged due to over eagerness but Talywain’s increasing back-chat to the official was not helping them.

A bold penalty attempt by Emmanuelli from the half way line missed but fortunately when running the ball out, another penalty was awarded 20 metres out for not releasing. The upset this caused brought a red card for further dissent but Emmanuelli kept his nerve and kicked Monmouth to a last minute 10-7 win which delighted the home crowd.

Hopefully next week’s trip to play Newport HSOB will bring more running rugby in a cooler climate, but this game will be equally keenly contested as they are currently fourth in the table and play well on their home turf.

Photos courtesy of Gareth Roberts