Brecon RFC

63 The Watton
Brecon
Powys
LD3 7EL

Tel: 01874 624848
Fax: 01874 611719
contact@breconrfc.co.uk

Click map to find us

Click to enlarge

WRU National League Division 3 South East Saturday 24th April 2010

Fairwater 8 - Brecon 3

After a great win last week, Brecon were looking for another good performance to finally dispel any relegation worries. The weather was good and the ground firm, all of which should have suited Brecon against a team which had little ambition other than to grind out a victory to help pull them away from relegation. The only constraining factor was the narrowness of the pitch. That certainly had an influence but the fact that Brecon lost could not be attributed to anything other than their own failings.

For a large part of the season Brecon have struggled in the scrum. With the return of captain Andrew Davies that problem has been resolve only for another first phase issue to come to the fore. Brecon’s line out failed to function. Almost every throw went to the opposition and only rarely was any clean ball won. With Fairwater kicking to good effect Brecon were always struggling for possession. Even when they gained a foothold in opposition territory they were unable to sustain any serious pressure and as a result hardly looked as if they would score until the dying minutes when at last they generated some impetus and continuity. It came too late and a game against very mediocre opposition was lost.

The first half was a very dull affair. Neither side looked like scoring nor did they. Brecon certainly were the more enterprising but being starved of line out possession they failed to break the home defence. It would be easy to say that defences held the sway but to be honest neither defence was presented with any real challenge.

One area of the game favoured Brecon and that was at the breakdown. Flanker Tom Daley and props Andrew Davies and Gareth Owens stayed on their feet and managed to turn over possession or force a penalty. That should have given them a considerable advantage but too often all the good work was surrendered at the next line out or when they spilled simple passes.

After the break at least the score board did tick over. Fairwater took the lead through a penalty and Brecon quickly responded with a Gari Davies penalty. Then straight from the kick off Brecon gave away a needless penalty for a late charge. From a line out in the corner Fairwater kept the ball tight through numerous phases and eventually drove over to take an eight points to three lead.

Players such as Paul Williams did all that they could to lift the side and as the half wore on they began to keep the ball in play. This stretched the opposition but by now it was too late and Brecon fell to a disappointing narrow defeat.

Next week they have the opportunity of gaining revenge as they face Fairwater in a rearranged fixture at Parc de Pugh.