Damage in the Box!: MONMOUTH TOWN (Chippenham Sports Ground)

There was a bonus of a Sunday game today and, as I happened to be in South Wales, it would've been awfully rude not to pay a visit!

I wasn't the only one who thought the same and there were lots of other groundhoppers present today.

Monmouth Town were entertaining Bettws in a Welsh League Division Two game at their Chippenham Sports Ground.

The ground is situated on the banks of the River Monnow, which was once a breeding ground for Kingfishers, hence the clubs nickname. There is also a very interesting tale as to why the Kingfisher nickname is quite pertinent to Monmouth, this is taken from the club's website

"Some local folklore has it that in about 1936 there were extremely bad spring floods on the Monnow and Wye which effectively wiped out all of the Kingfisher nests along the rivers. Until then Monmouth had been a magnet for ornithologists from all over the country to see Britain’s most beautiful bird in all its glory. Official government sources from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Timber recorded their alarm at the plight of the Kingfisher population and a detailed study was carried out to assess the damage. Amazingly the only surviving pair of breeding Kingfishers were found nesting in a deflated football that had floated down the Monnow into the Wye and lodged itself with its laces in some branches overlooking the river. It was in the days before the Magic Marker so it could not be proven that the ball had been lost in a game at the Town’s sports ground but it was deemed the obvious cause. And so ….one loose shot saved the entire Kingfisher population of the Wye and Monnow rivers"

The towns GBG entry,
The Kings Head.

The football club's rise has been rapid as in just seven years they have gone from the bottom tier (Division 3) of the Gwent League to the top of the Welsh League Division 2, where they stand on the brink of promotion to the second tier of Welsh football.

As it stands though, it is doubtful whether they would be allowed promotion to the top tier, should they want it, at their current home ground as there is no way it meets current licensing standard, being more or less a railed off pitch in a public park, with a small covered stand (no seats) and no floodlights. This is not a criticism as I actually liked the feel of the ground, especially today in the glorious Welsh sunshine.

The ground is also shared with the rugby club which, I'm led to believe, means the club want to move off this pitch to the adjacent pitch so the have a pitch all to themselves. If this is the case, then it makes today's visit even more worthwhile. A vulture job!

As touched upon, Monmouth are currently top of the league, whilst their visitors from Bridgend, Bettws, are languishing near the bottom of the table (currently 3rd from bottom). Given Bettws's plight it seems even more odd as to why this game is being played on a Sunday.

Talking to a fellow hopper at the game, he told me that Bettws did not want to travel to play Monmouth in a midweek, so they therefore arranged a more convenient time, which was today, but just 24 hours after they lost 2-1 at Newcastle Emlyn, which is one of Bettws's longer away treks.

Two games in two days was bound to take it's toll, and indeed it did, but Bettws did put up a good show in an even first half. They were actually undone by the awarding of, in my eyes, a dubious penalty after 11 minutes, scored by Elliott Ford. Bettws never recovered from this despite keeping it at 1-0 until the break.

The second half was a different story as every time Monmouth went forward they looked like scoring, as Bettws began to wilt in the scorching heat. Goals from Dan Spence (50) Jack Alderdice (58, the goal of the game, a stunning 30 yard effort) Craig Lewis (67) Elliott Ford with his second (79) and Rob Laurie (90) sealed a comprehensive win for Monmouth to leave the Kingfishers in control at the top of the league.

A top afternoon spent in top company.