WRU National League Division 3 South East

Saturday 29th March 2008

Bedlinog 24 - Brecon 3

In appalling conditions Brecon were defeated by undoubtedly the best team in the Division. Brecon travelled with hope that they could end the home team’s run of 40 consecutive matches without defeat particularly as the conditions were bound to have an effect. Although the worst of the rain had stopped conditions underfoot were treacherous. It was only the efforts of some hard working volunteers who forked the ground to clear surface water that allowed the game to take place and in such circumstances there is the possibility of an upset. Within the first twenty minutes it was clear that it was not to be.

Bedlinog started the stronger. They played a game that suited the conditions – kicking to gain territory and driving off rucks and mauls. Brecon needed to counter by upsetting their opponents’ rhythm. They had to be strong in the contact and fly up in the faces of their opponents. They failed to do so and early scores came quite easily.

The first came from a penalty kick to the corner. The forward drive slithered over the surface and when No 8 G Edmunds spun off the maul his burst proved unstoppable. The second score came after Brecon made their first inroad into home territory. The slippery ball was spilled and immediately was kicked down field. Brecon’s Dan Edwards made the difficult catch under pressure but was then engulfed, stripped of the ball and second row Grezelak was put over wide out.

Brecon learned from the early exchanges and gradually worked their way into the game. Dan Edwards kicked a good penalty to earn their first points and the game became a much more even contest with forwards Gethin Thomas, Ewan Williams and Andrew Davies right in the thick of things. Yet all this good work was undone by a clever piece of play and a lapse of concentration.

Bedlinog shortened a line-out some ten metres into Brecon’s half. Prop R. Rees caught the defence totally by surprise as he took the ball at the front of the line and ran 10 metres totally unopposed. From a distance it hardly looked as if the throw had travelled five metres but the referee was well placed. Rees finally confronted by some opposition threw an outrageous dummy which everyone bought and he surged through a yawning gap to score a converted try.

Worse followed as straight from the kick off Brecon’s defence was completely split in midfield allowing centre S. Giles an easy run in. Edmunds again converted.

A landslide of points looked on the cards particularly when Andrew Davies, a major player in the Brecon side this season, was taken from the field with a dislocated shoulder. Fortunately his replacement, Zack Lowther, performed admirably in the front row in only his second senior game for Brecon. The injury and the realisation that a humiliating defeat was staring them in face seemed to galvanise the Brecon team. Suddenly they became more confrontational and sharper on loose ball. Some good possession put them on the front foot and at last they disturbed the Bedlinog rhythm.

The second half was completely scoreless with Brecon being the most likely to break through. The change resulted from both a change in attitude and a change in tactic. Brecon suddenly started keeping the ball close. Scrum half Geraint Price tested the opposition with frequent darts around the fringes and he kept his passing short as did the reminder of the back line when in possession. The whole pattern of play became much more direct and consequently much more effective in the conditions.

By the end of the game the match was being played almost exclusively in the Bedlinog half with two mud covered teams giving all they had in spite of the conditions. To their credit both sides showed discipline and gave the referee an easy ride although that could hardly be said for the team trainers who spent most of their time trying to clear the eyes of players who had been buried in the mud at the bottom of rucks. Hopefully Brecon can look forward to better conditions next week when they face Penarth at Parc de Pugh in a match they desperately need to win.