Gwent Premier League Premier Division

Pill AFC 0 Monmouth Town 5

THE Kingfishers hit five past Pill AFC in their Gwent Premier League top tier away fixture on Saturday.

With Monmouth playing their fourth-last league game of the season, every point matters in their quest for promotion back to the Ardal South East.

And their victory on Saturday keeps them in second place six points ahead of third-placed Marshfield, extending their unbeaten run in the league to 12 games.

It was a goalless first half, with both sides struggling to make an impact however.

The wind from Storm Dave had a say in preventing any fluid football from being played, but the second period saw much more action, especially in front of the home side’s goal.

It needed just a couple of minutes for Monmouth winger Robbie Atkinson to net his fifth goal of the season to give Town the lead.

And not long after the game reached the hour mark, Taylor Street scored against his former side to make it 2-0 to the visitors, with the assist coming from the ever-impactful Dan Macdonald.

Just four minutes later, Atkinson was involved again, assisting Brad Phillips as the win began to look almost certain for Monmouth.

And in the 70th minute, Pill crumbled further under Monmouth Town’s pressure, as the Kingfishers pushed forward and forced an own goal to make it 4-0.

After coming on shortly after Phillips’ goal, Jake Perrella scored the fifth and final goal for the visitors in the 76th minute, with Atkinson again providing the assist.

Following his impactful performance, which saw the English winger pick up one goal and two assists, Atkinson was named Man of the Match.

Back at the Monmouth Sports Ground the same afternoon in East Gwent One, the 2nds were also high-fiving it, with a 5-1 win over Chepstow visitors Thornwell Red & White Reserves.

Nathan Ward opened the scoring after 14 minutes and then doubled the advantage eight minutes later to give the Kingfishers a 2-0 lead at the break.

And in the second half, he completed his hat-trick on 52 minutes, before Jake Lewis netted a brace (66, 77) to cap off a dominant performance from the hosts.

The visitors’ only goal came from a Max Luff penalty conceded by Town in the seventh minute of added time.

Victory leaves the 2nds sixth with two games left to play.

Monmouth Town 1sts are next be in action in a midweek fixture tonight (Wednesday, April 8) at Cefn Fforest, before their penultimate and final home game of the season on Saturday, April 25, against Abertillery Excelsiors.

And they are due to finish their campaign away to Newport Saints on Thursday, April 30.

Newport Corinthians, who won 8-1 on Saturday at home to Lucas Cwmbran, are three points clear at the top with four games in hand, but the race for second could go down to the wire.

New Inn in fourth, who were 4-1 winners at Newport Saints at the weekend, are also in the mix with seven games in hand on Monmouth, although 13 points behind.

The Kingfishers seconds are next be in action on Saturday, April 18, when the club will be hosting its junior fundraiser, featuring food, live music, and a Parents v Coaches match.