MARDY have enjoyed a fantastic seven days, with progress on possible ground improvements which could see Welsh League football in Abergavenny, followed up with a 1-0 win at Abercarn, to put the club top of Gwent County Division One.

Club representatives met with a sub-committee of Llantilio Pertholey Community Council last week to discuss plans for Mardy to build a temporary stand at their Mardy Fields home, necessary if the club is to be promoted to the Welsh League this summer.

First team coach Ben Bannon said: "It's all very encouraging at the moment. We need to get these plans done and submitted by February 17, they then go to full council and we'll know a bit more and can make the necessary steps."

But longer term, the club is proposing a move to land at Newport Farm, especially after a recent price hike in facility charges at Abergavenny Leisure Centre has left the juniors' section struggling for cash.

Club secretary Malcolm Skinner explained that the cost to the club of using the pitches two mornings a week is now £800 a month after Monmouthshire County Council quadrupled the charges.

Nobody at county hall was available for comment, but County Cllr Liz Hacket-Pain, of the Lifelong Learning and Leisure Select Committee, said: "I can't comment on exact figures, but if they have been put up it will be countywide across the board. I suspect these increases will have been proposed a while ago and won't be just a knee-jerk reaction."

Mr Skinner added: "The club's junior section began in 1972-73, with just one team but now we have sides from under-7s to under-16s, plus three girls' teams. They travel all over East Gwent for Sunday matches and the under-16s travel all around Gwent County for fixtures but now the club is not far from financial trouble.

"In Cardiff, the council allows all under-16s to use facilities for free. "We are now asking for Llantilio Pertholey Community Council to write to the county council to reduce the charges, otherwise we would have to charge each child about £7 a week - most families around here would struggle and if they've got three kids that's £21 a week."

Mr Skinner added: "But we are looking at drawing up plans for two fields on Newport Farm to submit to county hall, who will pass it back to Llantilio Pertholey. We could then put the seniors and juniors under one umbrella there, which is better than paying £800 a month."

On the subject of a potential move to Newport Farm, coach Mr Bannon added: "It's going to take at least two years to sort that out, so at the moment the temporary stand is the priority to secure Welsh League status.

"But we need to keep winning on the football pitch."