Heart of Wales Cup Final Under 10

Brecon RFC 21 – Merthyr RFC 7

It is easy to lavish praise on a cup winning side. All too often the superlatives have little true meaning as cup competitions are often won by the side which copes best with its nerves or makes the fewest errors. In the case of Brecon RFC’s Under 10’s such pragmatic views would totally undermine what they have achieved, not just in the final itself but throughout the season.

On the basis of the consistent quality they have shown they probably came into the final as slight favourites but that in no way minimised their task. They faced a big Merthyr side playing on their own patch and in front of their own supporters. They laid down their challenge early in the game as they tried to use their big powerful forwards to soften up the Brecon defence. The tactic failed to bring any reward as Brecon although by far the smaller of the two sides coped effectively with the power game and for large parts of a scoreless first half exerted huge pressure on the Merthyr line with Tom Wood, and George Rees getting close.

The fact that Brecon coped so easily with Merthyr’s tactics caused anxiety amongst the home supporters. At one point a clear cry of, “Come on Merthyr, let’s get more physical,” motivated a Brecon supporter to respond, “Typical Valleys attitude.” However the home supporters point was well made, for although Brecon were finding it difficult to put width on the ball, they were gradually winning the physical contest; physical that is in the sense of power and controlled aggression. Alex Ryan and George Rees were in the thick of everything battling for every ball while Rob Wainwright added his greater bulk effectively.

Yet in spite of their growing authority they could not score. When Adam Wothers at last managed to get some ball in space his beautifully timed pass gave Mered Davies a chance which the elusive wing almost took but still the points would not come and at half time there was concern about how these young players would cope if after all their pressure they suddenly found themselves behind.

That questioned need not have been asked. In the opening ten minutes of the second half the game started to break up. Tudor Roderick made a great break in mid-field and when George Rees ripped the ball out of the following maul he almost made the line. Just when it looked that an opportunity had gone missing once again Steve Maggs whipped out a short pass to Tom Wood who burst through the final tackle to score and convert.

With the confidence of points in the bag there was no holding them. A great Mered Davies run on the right drew the defence and when the ball was handled neatly back across the pitch Tudor Roderick was given an easy run in for a try which Tom Wood again converted.

From the kick off Brecon increased the lead to a winning margin with a magnificent individual try. Dafydd Havard took the kick and then sliced through the onrushing defence. Once clear his pace took him away from everyone apart from his father who raced him every metre along the touchline as he celebrated his son’s outstanding score which was again converted.

Merthyr to their credit did fight back and scored a try as a result of some powerful drives but any thought they had of catching Brecon dissolved with an immense tackle from Alex Ryan who smashing his larger opponent backwards and sealed an outstanding cup victory.

While those already mentioned played a big part in the victory the remainder of the squad; Josh Davies, Will Prosser, Llyr Davies, Sophie Pritchard, Tomos Griffin and Dafydd Jones, were equally important in securing a this win for this is a team of all round stars. Some shine brighter on some days but it is together that they complete the picture of a great team which justly deserved its outstanding victory.