Fixture

With the sun shining and the ground perfect for running rugby, everyone anticipated an attractive match as Brecon faced a formidable Penallta XV. Penallta have had a good season although they will look on it with some disappointment. Placed second in the league, just behind promoted Bedlinog, they cruelly lost the SWALEC Plate final at the Principality Stadium to the same opponents. In that final, played the previous Sunday, they were only denied a trophy by a drop goal kicked with 83 minutes on the clock. Having resisted tremendous pressure towards the end of the game they finally lost the match with that last kick. With Brecon having secured their future in division one, with two wins in their previous league matches, both sides were free to play rugby and that is precisely what they did. They served up an afternoon of 10 tries, with some of the scores being length of the field affairs. The disappointment for home supporters, however, was the fact that Brecon only contributed two of those tries.

Brecon’s much changed team from the previous week started brightly and in all honesty should have built a good lead if they had taken the opportunities they created. Within the first 15 minutes they created cahnces only to see them frittered away because of a failure to control the ball at the contact situation. Within sight of the line Brecon lost the ball or failed to support the ball carrier and allowed Penallta to turn over or slow possession. Possession was plentiful with Andrew Hosie doing some great work at the line out, either winning his own throw or disrupting the opposition’s line out. Yet in spite of all the creative work the only tangible result was a Jake Newman penalty.

Against a side of the quality of Penallta Brecon could not afford to fail to take every opportunity and as the game moved towards the end of the first quarter that message was clinically rammed home. Brecon broke at a scrum on half way but were penalised at the tackle area and Penallta took a quick tap which caught Brecon cold. At pace they whipped the ball wide and their left wing was able to cross the try line and run under the posts to make the conversion simple.

Brecon quickly fell further behind when Penallta’s heavy weight outside half displayed some wonderful handling skills. His delightful inside pass put his centre clean through for the second try.

Brecon responded well with young and inexperienced scrum half James Price looking both lively with ball in his hand and linking well with the Brecon backs. For the first time in the match they created a chance which they finished it brilliantly. Centre Cameron Gardner, who had a great game both in attack and defence, cut through the Penallta on half way. He was finally run down five metres short of the line but, as opposed to previous occasions, support arrived at just the right time. Second row Danny Howe did a brilliant job in being first to reach the breakdown and securing the ball. With the Penallta defence already splintered Davey Herdman latched onto the final pass and ran in under the posts. Newman converted to reduce the deficit to just 2 points with ten minutes of the half to be played.

In that ten minutes Brecon should have taken the lead some great play involving Davey Herdman and Ewan Williams created an overlap and what should have been a scoring pass was ruled out as it marginally drifted forward. As so often happens, particularly against a good side, failure to take opportunities invariably proves costly and this was to be no exception. Instead of heading to half time with a lead Brecon fell further behind with the last move of the half. The Penallta scrum half, who caused problems with his pace throughout the afternoon, broke and then a succession of missed tackles allowed him to score.

Brecon started the second half well but in a threatening move they lost wing Joey Morgan through injury. Penallta broke out of their half and scored at the other end of the field. Although there was plenty of time to go this score seemed to break Brecon’s spirit. Penallta picked up another try after a loose ball struck the referee and fell into the hands of their wing who ran in unopposed for their fifth try.

Brecon fought back with Davey Herdman working very hard with ball in hand and with Jonathan James beginning to show great power in the drive and at the breakdown. Now, however, Penallta’s tails were up and they ran everything. Two long range tries were conceded by the wilting Brecon defence before Brecon hit back. Cameron Gardner made the initial break and this time Brecon maintained continuity allowing Jonathan James the opportunity to drive through the tackle and touch down. Newman converted.

For the remainder of the game, Brecon pressed and yet the final word rested with their opponents. Once again a Brecon move broke down in their opponents 22 and once again Penallta broke away and scored at the other end of the field. With just one more league game to come against League and Cup winners, Bedlinog, Brecon will be hoping to be able to finish, what has been a hard but ultimately successful season, with a notable result.