Gwent Premier League Premier Division

Monmouth Town FC 7 Cefn Fforest FC 1

MONMOUTH Town FC hit a magnificent seven past Cefn Fforest FC to grab their first home win of the season at the Sports Ground on Saturday, reports JAMES TOWNLEY.

After three games without a victory, the Kingfishers were looking to return to winning ways in their second home match, following a dramatic 4-4 midweek draw at PILCS, where they grabbed two goals in added time to share the points.

And they certainly achieved that at the weekend, with six different players on the scoresheet.

It was a good start for the hosts, with Ebrima Ndure grabbing the first goal on 15 minutes before Rob Laurie scored a second on 27 minutes thanks to an assist from Mitchell Palmer.

Nine minutes later, Iwan Mooney grabbed his second goal of the campaign and his first since his return to the Sports Ground, Ndure providing the assist for the winger.

The referee then brought the first half to an end with the Kingfishers three goals to the good.

But the first goal in the second half came from Cefn Fforest when they were awarded a penalty in the 54th minute, converted by Ewan Walkley, to make it 3-1

However, any hope the visitors had of getting back into it were dampened within three minutes by the Kingfishers, Luke Cleaves scoring his first goal for Monmouth in three years.

And a minute later, Ndure scored his brace for 5-1, with Fin Thorp providing the assist, which put the game firmly to bed.

Mathew Jones and Callum Uttley were then brought on for Palmer and Laurie to help maintain the hosts’ strong advantage, and in the 62nd minute, Dan Macdonald grabbed a sixth goal for the Kingfishers.

Three more substitutions were then made for Monmouth, as they brought on Lucas Harris, Lamin Ndure and Dan Spence for Jake Bevan, Ebrima Ndure and Jack Meredith.

And the seventh and final goal for Monmouth came in the 71st minute, with Jacob Perrella claiming his fourth goal of the campaign.

The referee finally put Cefn out of their misery by blowing the final whistle, with Monmouth claiming their biggest win since Coed Eva Athletic away at the end of last season, where they won 8-0.

It was also their biggest home win since Sifil in March, which again was 8-0, and lifts them to fourth in the table.

First team manager Sam Palmer said: “It was a good win that puts us back in the mix. Great to see us take our chances early, and you could see the lads grow in confidence, playing some really good stuff and scoring some great goals.

“A proper squad performance too; the subs came on and took the levels up again, which was really pleasing.”

Earlier in the week, the Kngfishers had pulled off a great escape at PILCS, after trailing 4-2 at the end of normal time.

Jacob Perrella had pegged PILCS back to 2-1 after 57 minutes, and Jake Bevan to 3-2 on 80 minutes.

But another PILCS goal looked to have sealed the result until four minutes into stoppage time, Rob Laurie fired home for 4-3.

And there was even more drama as Dan Macdonald then scored an equaliser with virtually the last kick of the game two minutes later.

The 2nds were also in action on Saturday, as they drew 2-2 away to Thornwell Red & White, Mathew Jones and Oliver Kennedy the scorers.

It was also a good result for the U17 girls on Sunday, as they beat visitors Cogan Coronation 2-0.

The Kingfishers 1sts visit New Inn on Saturday (September 20), while the 2nds host Caldicot Town 3rds.