Caerphilly 81-7 Monmouth
Saturday January 28
Caerphilly RFC steamrollered Monmouth at Virginia Park’s Constructaquote Stadium on Saturday January 28, putting 13 tries past their opponents in the WRU National League Division 3 East A.
Caerphilly could easily have topped 100 points and, but for a late try, the away side could have faced heading home with no points on the board.
Setting their stall out early, the Castlemen took the lead through man-of-the-match, full-back Tom Candy, as he weaved through defenders to touch down. Matthew Hurley added the extras as Caerphilly started brightly.
Minutes later, and flanker Tom Axenderry broke through the Monmouth line to go under the posts, and Candy soon had his second of the afternoon after persistently chasing a kick and benefitting from a defensive slip to touch down.
Despite dominating proceedings, the home side had to wait until the half-hour mark for their bonus-point score.
Scrum-half Jac Jonathon burst through with some quick thinking to score Caerphilly’s fourth, and that was added to almost immediately by second-rower Damien Corns, who crossed out wide.
Corns was again on hand to score just before the interval, and Hurley’s success from the tee left the scores at 36-0 at half time.
There was no let-up in the second half as centre Chris Thomas crossed the whitewash within two minutes of the restart, selling a dummy pass to the Monmouth full-back as he ran clear.
Winger Will Worthington scored as the floodgates opened, with three scores in ten minutes, Worthington’s try making up for a disallowed one in the first half.
Thomas grabbed his second on 50 minutes, while Corns secured his hat-trick shortly after with a great run from the half-way line cutting the Monmouth defence with ease.
There was brief respite for the away side, as Caerphilly were reduced to 14 men after Matthew Hurley was sin-binned for a no-armed tackle.
While No8 Josh Hayward increased the lead, Monmouth did finally manage to rack up their first points of the afternoon, scoring from an intercepted try.
Caerphilly had the last say, however, as captain Gareth England led by example and crossed on the stroke of full-time. Hurley added the conversion once again as the whistle blew on a rampant 81-7 victory.
• Match report and photography by Mark Tamplin of Caerphilly RFC.