Fixture

Brecon Youth resumed league duty on the final Saturday in October, with a trip to the lower reaches of the Rhondda Valley to take on the improving Tonyrefail youth XV. With Halloween looming, coaches Huw Phillips and Alan Taylor were keen to not see a repeat of a bit of a horror visit to these parts earlier in the season. To that end, and considering that an earlier fixture against Tylorstown had seen the Brecon squad come out of the blocks very slowly, all involved were keen to ensure that the visitors played with their usual tempo and commitment from the very first whistle.

Following the initial kick off, on a dark autumnal afternoon, albeit with a relatively firm surface upon which to play, Brecon received the ball and immediately sought to build a controlled phased game, with the emphasis on ball retention. The negative to this was that, in the face of an initially hugely committed home defence, the option of securing good field position, from which to launch their strike runners, was not immediately taken on board.

The upshot was that, in the event of any turnover, the home team would have been able to attack from within their opponents' half, putting the visitors under unnecessary pressure. This worst case scenario came to early fruition when, following an error in contact , the Tonyrefail fly half was able to use the turnover to launch the ball deep into the Brecon 22 where, courtesy of a awkward bounce, the home team winger was able to plunge over in the score for the first try of the game, this then being added to with a fine kick from the touchline to add the extras.

It was to the credit of the Brecon squad that they didn't panic under these circumstances, and that they had learned lessons from previous fixtures and also from their own actions in this game. They proceeded to dominate the remainder of the first half by playing deep in he home team half, and using the touchline very sensibly. Brecon enjoyed significant periods of possession in this time, although they will have been disappointed that this didn't translate into greater opportunities to cross the whitewash. A couple of try scoring chances were not taken, due to some rushed decision making, although the commitment of the home defence was significant in this regard. This commitment was demonstrated by a couple of nasty injuries being picked up by the influential home team flankers, and there was also a greater pressure arising in terms of home team indiscretions, notably at the breakdown and pushing the offside line. This allowed visiting fullback Dafydd Edwards a couple of shots at goal, and he duly obliged by adding two penalties to open the Brecon account.

The remainder of the first half was significant in that it highlighted a couple of areas that, ultimately, were to prove decisive as the game wore on, namely a dominance at the line out, where Rowan Starkey in particular, enjoyed a very productive afternoon on both his own, and the oppositions' throws, and also improved ball retention that enabled more positive attacking phases to be constructed. Winger Oli Price was one of a number of the visiting team who was prominent in this period, and he showed improving form as the game moved forward.

This is a message the visiting coaches would have strongly impressed upon their charges, and also the need to maintain the pressure on the home team defence that was infringing more and more.

Brecon turned around for the second half and were to enjoy the benefit of the sloping pitch, which they used to good advantage as they sought to kick the ball deep into Tonyrefail territory. The visiting play was far more composed in the second half, and, given the pressure the home team were under, the referee was soon awarding more penalties as home infringements increased. Brecon kicked intelligently to touch to launch attacks from their dominant line out platform, and Dafydd Edwards was able to add further scores from the kicking tee.

The increasing fluidity of the Brecon play was further rewarded when the increasingly influential fly half, Gareth Price, made a half break from which he was able to off load to centre Tudor Roderick, who showed his innate ability to sense where the try line was by stepping and turning out of tackles to plunge over under the posts, for a converted try.

Brecon enjoyed a period of comfortable superiority as the half wore on, and the referee's frustration with the home team indiscipline eventually led to a yellow card for their captain and second row. Brecon's captain Wil Prosser was also increasingly involved, continuing to carry the ball strongly, making significant yardage and, with an improved off loading , this is an area that Brecon can build on. The composure of the visiting team attacking play was evidenced by a further score where, following a number of driving phases, with forwards and backs involved, some quick hands saw Tudor Roderick release full back Edwards who outpaced the home defence to score a fine team try.

Brecon had the opportunity to add further scores but had to settle for the 24 points that they had already added, and they will look at this as an area they can develop, in terms of being more clinical in finishing off chances. It was to the credit of the home team that they came back with the final play of the game where, Brecon won a well deserved ball against the head at a scrum, although this caught all by surprise as the ball squirted out quickly to enable the home team scrum half to dive on the ball to score.

It is to the credit of the Brecon squad that they all contributed to the winning performance with players such as Dafydd Havard and Fraser Thomas being prime examples in the unassuming way they effectively go about their tasks.

It is a good sign when a winning result can still prompt debate about areas of improvement, and the improving maturity of the Brecon squad enables them to identify such areas, and also express disappointment about the scores conceded. The season now moves into a period of cup rugby as tough opponents, in the shape of Abercynon, will be visiting Parc de Pugh on the evening of Friday the 4th November for a Heart of Wales cup tie.