Gwent County FA Senior Cup

Monmouth Town 8 RTB Ebbw Vale 1

THE Kingfishers dominated RTB Ebbw Vale in their first game of the year, advancing through to the next round of the Gwent Senior Cup in style, reports JAMES TOWNLEY.

The matchup was postponed twice due to ice freezing the Sports Ground, but finally went ahead on Saturday with Monmouth securing a thrilling 8-1 victory.

Returning Josh Maksimovic scored a hat-trick with a penalty 15 minutes from time, and there were also goals for David Elworthy, Rob Laurie, George Gouldingay and Dan Macdonald.

The opening minutes showed promise, and the first opportunity for Monmouth’s No 9 came from a mistake which allowed Maksimovic to break through on the left, only to see it cannon off the bar.

But the goal kick was then won by Luke Cleaves, who lobbed a pass to Maksimovic who dribbled past the keeper and tapped in for the opener.

Monmouth continued to dominate before winning a corner in the 25th minute when Macdonald's delivery was met by Maksimovic for 2-0.

And moments later Cleaves intercepted again, finding Macdonald who set up Elworthy for a neat finish and 3-0.

The pressure continued with another corner swung in by Macdonald poorly cleared by RTB keeper Jaroslaw Franczyk, and Laurie tapping home for the fourth.

The goals kept coming as Macdonald’s quick free-kick was played to Maksimovic on the left side of the box, who beat his man and crossed to the far post for Gouldingay to tap into an open goal for 5-0 at half-time.

Town carried their momentum into the second half, with Macdonald getting on the scoresheet after Elworthy found the No 10 right in front of goal to fire his first goal of 2025.

The hosts then used four of their five substitutes with the game beyond the visitors, Jack Meredith returning to the pitch for the first time since his hamstring injury in early November.

RTB’s Jamie Perrett then dashed hopes of a clean sheet for the Kingfishers, heading home from a corner after goalkeeper Daniel Keane narrowly missed claiming the ball.

But things worsened for the visitors when Callum Markey scored an own goal attempting to clear Macdonald’s cross into the box.

And the eighth and final goal came from the spot, Maksimovic claiming his hat-trick, as the 8-1 win secured a next round clash with Newport Saints.

First team manager Sam Palmer said: “The key was to start really quickly, because we’ve had a bit of a layoff over the past couple of weeks, so we said to the boys to start really fast and got the ball down and played really well.”

Defender Daniel Spence, in his first game since injury in November, added: “Especially the first half I think we were really solid,. To get the 8-1 result was a fantastic result, there were key players out there with key performances, and I think we could have scored more.”

The 2nds were also victorious in their East Gwent Benevolent Cup game at Underwood, winning 3-2, with goals from Lamin Ndure, Jake Lewis and an own goal.

The youth also had a big win against Sifil U18s, winning 9-0, with goals from Jack Turner, Lamin Ndure, George Gouldinay, Huw Morgan, Harry Wilson and Jake Lewis.

Monmouth Town host Wattsville FC in the league on Saturday (January 25), while the 2nds travel to face Undy 3rds and the youth visit Treowen Stars.