WRU National League Division 3 South East

Saturday 8th December 2007

Brecon 15 – Treorchy 10

After struggling for so long at the start of the season Brecon’s fortunes have now taken a remarkable turn the better. Saturday’s victory against a strong Treorchy XV was their second consecutive win against opposition placed in the top four of the league. The fact that it was achieved in poor weather says something about the desire and fortitude of the Brecon side. The team is proving itself to be as resilient as the Parc de Pugh pitch which took everything that the weather could throw at it during the course of the week and yet still stood up remarkably well, to provide a good playing surface. Brecon’s 1st XV, in the same way, took all that a Treorchy side, eager to prove it credentials as possible promotion candidates, could throw at it and survived to deservedly win a hard fought game.

Conditions were far from easy. In spite of the fact that the worst of the rain had abated the pitch was wet making the ball slippery. The game was also played in a howling gale which swept down the pitch favouring the team at the town end. Brecon had the dubious advantage of playing with the elements in the first half. They earned a ten point lead which they held almost to half time and then they conceded a converted try with the last move of the half. At the time it seemed that this score would provide Treorchy with enough of a platform to comfortably win the game, considering the advantage they would have in the second half. The fact that Brecon held out was a credit to the whole team and a number of outstanding individual performances.

Andrew Davies from the front row of the pack exemplified all that was good about the front five effort. He put in big hits and worked tirelessly around the fringes of rucks and mauls as well as helping to provide a solid scrum base which was vital in these conditions. During the second half when Brecon faced the elements the scrum was just able to nudge forward allowing No 8 Owen Davies to pick and drive forward. Time and time again he did it, providing impetus and good possession. This was vital for Brecon’s survival as the conventional scrum ball for the half backs to kick to touch was valueless as no ground could be gained into the wind. For his efforts Owen was deemed to be the man of the match, although the whole team were heroes and deservedly received the plaudits of the home support.

With scrum half Geraint Price also having an outstanding game and scoring both the home side’s two tries Brecon stole a win which seemed hardly credible at half time.

With wind at their backs Brecon opened the scoring when Daniel Edwards kicked a penalty. They then put the opposition under great pressure but apart from a few missed penalty attempts failed to capitalise until Geraint Price intervened. He had already warned the opposition with a number of dangerous sniping runs but he still caught them cold following a scrum on the visitors’ ten metre line. The ball squirted out and in a flash Geraint claimed the ball and burst away from the defending back row through a split defence and showed enough pace to reach the line. Edwards converted.

Not for the first time this season, having gained the ascendancy, they made a hash of the restart. It gave Treorchy a foothold and from there they battered away until eventually they scored when centre Adam John took a neat switch pass to cross near the posts. Outside half Lee Stone converted.

Brecon made light of the elements at the start of the second half and indeed earned the first score. Geraint Price again picked up a loose ball and tore down the touch line only to be dragged into touch a metre from the line. Brecon were not to be denied. The forwards put their opponents under all sorts of pressure and after winning a turnover Price dived over from short range.

From here on it was a rearguard action of impressive proportions. Lee Stone kicked a penalty for Treorchy. Fortunately the kick was straight through the middle of the posts to spare the blushes of a well known home linesman, who was forced to signal from the touch line after being distracted by some attractive local support and failing to notice that a penalty attempt was taking place!

From there on Treorchy battered away at the rock solid home defence but to no effect. They will undoubtedly be disappointed as the defeat puts a dent in their ambitions. However, they can hardly argue that Brecon’s win was not deserved although they must rue a number of critical decisions which they made during the second half. They opted to take a penalty kick at goal from a wide angle and at least 55 metres out, rather than plant the ball into touch near the home line. Then twice, when they were comfortably in kicking range, they elected to take a quick tap penalty only to spill the slippery ball and lose the chances of a scoring.

Such mistakes by the opposition, however, should not mask the fact that Brecon through their own strength of purpose and commitment earned a vital four league points. Their display in their last two matches belies their lowly position in the league and they can now enjoy their Christmas break with the next league match not scheduled until they visit Gilfach Goch on 29th December.