MONMOUTH Town crashed to an opening  day defeat at strongly fancied Taffs Well last Friday night in an incident- packed game.

The Kingfishers had travelled confident on the back of a rigorous pre season but with a number of players missing valuable game time through holidays and injuries. Manager Smith also opted for an unfamiliar midfield formation to stifle a formidable Taffs attacking threat.

Formations and pre season are, however, no match for a quicker, stronger, better equipped team and Town were simply outplayed and outfought in the first half with French and Bertorelli causing all sorts of problems for a defence missing former player Dan Clare who was putting in man of the match performance at the other end. Debutant Kareem was involved in a running tussle with Taffs enforcer Adie Harris that was getting increasingly fractious but Town struggled to get any passing going and another debutant Greaves saw little of the ball at the right end of the pitch.

 It came as no surprise when Taffs took the lead on 18 minutes as French and Bertorelli combined to bring a good save from Blackburn but as the ball was laid back across Bertorelli hooked it beyond the sprawling goalkeeper from what appeared to be an offside position. Just five minutes later an almost carbon copy move ended with Bertorelli needing no help as he placed a shot beyond Blackburn. At that time it seemed like a rout was coming but creditably Town held on and even managed a number of raids that at least made sure Taffs didn’t have it all their own way. Harris was booked for a foul on Kareem while Sam Palmer saw yellow for a late challenge.

 The second half was spicier than a jalapeño pretzel as the smouldering battle in midfield  ignited fully, Harris receiving a red card for an awful lunge on Kareem that sparked a melee and provided a lifeline for the Kingfishers. In a game crying out for width as Taffs retreated to protect their lead, Smith sent on Elliot Ford and 17 year old Jac Hardman and the effect was immediate as a number of attacks threatened the Taffs lead. Hardman in particular was taking the game to Taffs but his game was ended by a knee high tackle on the half way line that deservedly drew another red card for his assailant. By this point, Smith had used his full complement of substitutes so it was 10 v 9 in a frantic last twenty minutes and Town showed naivety in trying too hard to force the issue. A number of chances went begging before another off the ball incident saw a penalty awarded to the visitors. MacDonald converted but it was too little too late.

Monmouth sponsored by South Hereford Garages and Furniture Importers travel to title favourites Goytre FC in the first Monmouthshire derby tonight (18th August) before taking on Cambrian & Clydach next Saturday.