Fixture

Two weeks after the narrow one point Cup defeat at Ammanford, Brecon travelled away again for a league match against lowly placed Senghenydd. They came away a bonus point victory after scoring eight tries and sixty points while restricting the home side to a single try and penalty. This was an emphatic victory and yet there were some elements that disappointed. With the stop start nature of the season ever since the start of the Autumn Internationals in November, Brecon looked rusty and lacked accuracy, particularly in the early stages of the match. Handling, at times, was disappointing and as a result Brecon found it hard to pull away on the scoreboard during the opening 20 minutes, in spite of the fact that they dominated both scrum and line out phases. With so much ball and against a team which had only won one of their previous nine league matches, Brecon should have been capable of establishing an early match winning lead. That didn’t happen and after twenty minutes they lead by just ten points to three, a poor return considering the amount of ball they won. The second quarter saw an improvement with a penalty and two further tries. Then in the second half things started to become more fluent and Brecon added five further tries while conceding just one.

There were some good individual performances. Owen Morgan and Logan McIntosh threatened with ball in hand and both picked up two tries each. Ben Griffin, in his new role as full back, showed great pace when running out of defence and looked for work. The starting front row of Iwan Dowling Jones, Dewi Edwards and Andy Nicholl, was totally dominant at scrum time and Iwan, in particular, regularly carried the ball through the first tackles and made ground. Owain Williams made a season’s debut in the second row and performed well and deserved the reward of the try which he scored. Matthew Williams, back after a short absence, looked completely at home in his open side flanker role. He showed tremendous energy and commitment as he tackled, carried and won turn overs at the breakdown. It was also good to see Eifion Jones back in the centre after a long injury lay off and he too was rewarded with a good try. Also returning after a shorter lay off was outside half Dion McIntosh. He slotted into the role as if he hadn’t been away and although substituted early in the second half slotted three conversions. His half back partner, Carl Blacker, was sharp around the fringes, threatening with his half breaks and pressurising and spoiling opposition ball as the home side tried to deal with the retreating scrum.

With so many good individual performances and the impressive scoreline, it seems harsh to critical of the overall performance but it was in the linking play that the standard fell short of the high standards set by the coaching team and this is where improvements will be necessary in the face of stronger adversaries. This does not suggest that Senghenydd caved in and surrendered. They battled throughout with scrum half and captain Ryan Davies showing great heart, encouragement and leadership and it was good to see him score their consolation try.

Right from the kick off Brecon dominated territory. At the first scrum they won a penalty. At the next they drove their opponents back and won a second penalty and McIntosh opened Brecon’s scoring. Already Senghenydd were living off scraps and reverted to a pick and drive pattern of play which Brecon easily coped with and there was never a threat to Brecon’s try line. However, in spite of their dominance, for some time, Brecon failed to add to the early penalty. They threatened with good runs from Ollie Lewis, Owen Morgan and Carl Blacker but when a score seemed likely they lost the ball. That was until, at the end of their first period of genuine continuity, Dion McIntosh put Eifion Jones in space with a lovely flat pass and Eifion galloped over for the try which McIntosh converted.

From the kick off Brecon conceded a penalty and home outside half reduced the arrears. McIntosh responded in kind and the early pattern of play started to repeat itself. Again, the frustration was broken with a lovely sequence of plays starting on halfway. Logan McIntosh, Alwyn, Lee and Iwan Dowling Jones all made ground before some lovely handling, involving the centre partnership of Ollie Lewis and Eifion Jones, put Owen Morgan away. He scored in the corner and McIntosh converted from out wide.

As the game headed towards half time Brecon got their third try. Owen Morgan scored again after Ryan Price created space as he entered the line off the left wing and linked with Morgan on the right. Morgan chipped ahead and Price re-gathered to give Morgan the try scoring pass.

The second half started with similar fashion but now there was a evidence that the team were beginning to become more clinical. After some good driving runs by Owain Williams, Andy Nicholl and Logan McIntosh Brecon earned a line out on 5 metres. Ioan Edwards won the ball cleanly and the resulting maul drove over the line with Owain Williams claiming the try which McIntosh converted.

Brecon’s next try was probably the best of the afternoon as things started to click. Replacement wing Sam Hellard made a wonderful break and run out of his 22. Ben Griffin carried the move on before putting Morgan Price clear. He ran in the final 20 metres to score and convert. The next try was also beautifully set up. Matthew Williams won a great turn over and again the centre pairing of Ollie Lewis and Eifion Jones combined to put Logan McIntosh over, Price converted.

Brecon passed fifty points with the next try and Price conversion. Off a short line out to Owain Williams Lewis Smout drove over. Senghenydd then deservedly scored their first try after Brecon failed to kill a hack ahead and lively scrum half Davies hacked ahead again and won the race to the touchdown. Brecon had the final word when Logan McIntosh claimed his second try after Lewis Smout, Andy Nicholl and Ioan Edwards drove at the heart of the defence before Logan finished and Price converted.

Thankfully Brecon now have a game next week when they face fourth placed Bedlinog at Parc De Pugh. This will be their first home league game since they beat Penallta on 8^th October.