Monmouth Town returned to winning ways with a four-nil victory over their nearest rivals Tata Steel in an incident-packed showdown at the Sports Ground.

The four-nil score line was somewhat flattering as the visitors were reduced to nine men before half-time, three of the goals came from the penalty spot and an Elliot Ford stoppage time winner completed the win as the Kingfishers again struggled to find their true rhythm in the Spring sunshine.

The visitors arrived on the back of a fine run of their own, cutting the Kingfishers' 15-point lead down to seven over recent weeks.

It was, in fact, the Steelmen who inflicted the Kingfishers first defeat of the season with a four-nil win of their own back in November.

The Town made numerous changes to the side that lost the previous week to Newport YMCA.

Ross Kennedy failed a late fitness test with his fractured nose, resulting in a start for Dan Spence at centre half, Aaron Davies returned to the right back spot leaving Dean Palmer to slot in at left back.

There was a full league debut for Rob Laurie, who replaced James Hughes in the centre of the park, and Matthew Bowen returned up front leaving Burns, Lewis, Ford and Luke Cleaves on the substitutes bench.

The Town started brightly and their shape looked much more solid than in previous weeks. The visitors looked to play the ball through the middle of the park early on but the Town rearguard coped with any flourish near the Town goal.

After seven minutes, Alderdice was clattered from behind in the box and Smith stepped up to coolly slot home for his second goal in as many games.

This seemed to rattle the visitors, who started niggling and getting involved in off-the-ball incidents, which would be costly as the half wore on.

On 20 minutes, Bowen chased down a lost cause and, as the ball was cleared, ended up in an altercation that resulted in both Bowen and the centre half rolling on the floor.

The assistant referee consulted with the man in the middle and confirmed that the centre half was the instigator by kicking the Town centre forward.

Bowen was booked for his retaliation while the visiting defender saw red. This made the game even more scrappy and needless confrontations appeared all over the park.

For the full report on this game, see this week's Beacon (14th March)