Monmouth Town 3 Ton Pentre 4

ON a dull, dreary and damp January afternoon, Monmouth Town scored three goals but, for the seventh time this season, still lost to relegation rivals Ton Pentre.

The Kingfishers sat 11th in the Welsh League Division One with only five points separating them from the relegation zone. Manager Andrew Smith made two changes to his side that lost narrowly to Barry Town, bringing in Rob Laurie and Dan Macdonald for the Palmer brothers. Ton Pentre meanwhile sat 12th in the league, trailing the Kingfishers by a point.

The game started scrappily with the pitch having a huge effect upon proceedings. Both teams struggled to create chances with both sides trying to play through the thirds despite the mud bath pitch. It wasn’t long until the Kingfishers took the lead against the run of play. When winger Elliot Ford cut in on his dangerous left foot, his shot was hit straight at the keeper. With the goalkeeper failing to keep hold of the ball, Richard Greaves scored a simple tap in.

The Town dominated the next fifteen minutes, playing their combination play and midfield rotations. Their dominance soon paid off when in the 20th minute Nick Harrhy won a free kick 25 yards out. Town danger man Dan Macdonald took advantage, curling his shot into the bottom corner leaving the keeper no chance.

The Bulldogs immediately replied from the kick off, playing a long ball up the pitch and finding their striker who won the flick and allowed the Pentre player to go one-on-one with Town stopper Keiron Blackburn. The Pentre player got the better of Blackburn, finding the bottom corner.

With the game tightly balanced, Ton Pentre grew in confidence, pressuring the town’s defence with their pace down the flanks. Ton Pentre’s resilience then paid off as they won a free kick in the corner after Elliott Ford committed a needless foul. The Bulldog player whipped a ball in and found a team mate who’s header flew into the top corner, leaving Keiron Blackburn no chance.

On the stroke of half time Rob Laurie came agonisingly close to converting a bicycle kick after Dan Macdonald beat his man, only for his effort to fall wide of the post.  

The Bulldogs started the second half positively, causing Monmouth’s defence problems. Their pressure immediately paid off when the Ton Pentre winger beat full back Aaron Davies with the winger finding a team mate in the box giving him a tap in.

In the 48th minute, the visitors found themselves down to ten men when their player pinned down Richard Greaves and didn’t let him up. The Town took advantage of this, playing their one and two touch football. They continued to attack Ton Pentre and got their reward when Aaron Davies floated a ball into the box finding Rob Laurie, who saw the keeper in no man’s land and dinked it over him.

Shortly after this the Town perhaps should have been rewarded a penalty when Rob Laurie got slide tackled but the ref waved play on. Both teams continued to give it their all in the last 10 minutes, attacking at one another with great intensity.

It was Ton Pentre who found the winner when their wide man beat Aaron Davies and Jack Alderdice and went 1v1 with Keiron Blackburn and the Pentre player placed it in the bottom corner. The Kingfishers continued to attack Pentre in the closing stages giving their all but couldn’t find a way through the solid Pentre defence.

Understandably disappointed about the final result, Town’s manager Andrew Smith described the narrow loss as embarrassing and a joke. In seven games this season, Monmouth have scored three goals but still lost, and the side will have to be better defensively to stay in the division.

The Kingfishers are next home to Aberdare Town on the 20th February, looking to end their bad run and escape the relegation zone.