Usk RFC 24 Monmouth RFC 0

USK beat Monmouth on Boxing Day to record their second successive win in the annual fixture.

While Monmouth’s Druids toughed it out on Boxing Day morning to beat Usk Seconds 15-12, the game between the 1st XVs had been labelled as a ‘grudge match’.

Both games commenced with a minute’s silence as a mark of respect following the sad passing of Ian ‘Sedge’ Seymour, a friend to all who knew him through rugby, before the traditional annual battles commenced.

From the start, Usk’s more vigorous game plan proved to be the better on the day. Monmouth often defended doggedly but when they gained possession they kicked far too much of it away, allowing the home team to counter-attack or use the pace on the flanks to make some telling scores.

Almost from the kick-off Monmouth conceded a penalty for not rolling away after a tackle, giving Usk the first kick at goal. Despite this chance, they missed from a relatively short distance and later hit the post from the same spot some time later.

Monmouth occasionally were able to break out of their half but were rarely able to retain possession long enough to put Usk under real pressure. As the first half neared its end, despite Monmouth’s flanker Shirlaw turning over possession at a ruck near his line, it was Usk that won a succession of rucks to create space enough to score through an overlap near the right corner. Despite the poor kicking earlier, this distant one lifted the score to 7-0 and within minutes, after Usk marked a rather aimless punt ahead, they won a line-out on the left and then a penalty and a yellow card for an illegal attempt to impede their progress. The pushover try in the corner and the difficult conversion were a seeming formality at the half-time 14-0 changeover, leaving quite a hill for the visitors to climb. The score was enough for a local old-timer, no slouch himself in his day, to laughingly suggest that Usk might need to drop the fixture because of their newfound dominance!

Monmouth set off determined to recover lost ground but in no time at all they were once again having to defend near their line. Despite doing so successfully, the pressure on them was maintained with Usk attacking from good positions and eventually repeated good support play caused their defence to crack.

Usk later scored another unconverted try near the end of the third corner, with Usk having a man sent to the ‘sin-bin’, presumably for an offence after the try was scored.

At 19-0, Monmouth rallied a little and a deep attacking kick gained much ground only to roll dead and when they tried to move the ball through hands along the line it was all too lateral.

Usk now came back to score an excellent try in the left corner, eluding a last ditch tackle in the process, but the conversion was too far out to add the extra points this time. 24-0 down was a deficit that was not going to be recovered and, try as Monmouth might, in their eagerness their discipline was to slip too, picking up two yellow cards along the way as their frustration showed.

Usk had shown the greater fire and cohesiveness on the day and deserved their win, so it was off to the bar to commence, or perhaps to resume their Christmas celebrations.

Next year Monmouth will hope to prove a tougher test, when the challenge will be to avoid the hat-trick!