Brecon RFC

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Senior Match Reports

SWALEC WRU National League Division 3 South East - Saturday 6th March 2010

Heol-y- Cyw 21 - Brecon 8

A series of good performances in recent weeks put Brecon in a good frame of mind as the embarked on the anything but easy journey to Heol-y-Cyw. However, by the end of their journey they faced mounting problems. Before they arrived they lost No 8 Ceri Morgan, who broke down on his way the match and failed to arrive. With a full team they faced the prospect of a stiff challenge from the home side with record of nine straight league games since they met Brecon in a drawn match at Parc de Pugh in October; now reduced in strength and still with little cover in the front row, Brecon needed to be at their best if there was to be any prospect of making the long journey home with some points in the bag.

Ultimately the fact that they failed to earn a single league point was to some extent a problem of their own making. They started the game well and scored the only try of the first half. However, they missed opportunities with three kickable penalties and a conversion going astray and as the game drew towards the close they spurned the opportunity of a bonus point by opting to take two penalty kicks to the corner rather than take the points which would have cut the eight point deficit to 5. With those chances wasted they then succumbed to a killer score right at the death.

That final score summed up much of what had gone on before. Brecon were pressing and strong runs by Tom Daley and Eurin Morgan offered much promise but they surrendered ground when an attacking chip was easily taken by full back A Jones. The Brecon chase was poor, as it had been all afternoon. Jones, as he did on many occasions, gathered the ball facing one chaser rather than an organised line of defenders. He easily beat the first man up and then the next to create space. From there it was not difficult for winger D Thorne to race away and score and increase the eight point lead to a 13 point winning margin.

The first half had looked so much more promising and there was no doubt that Brecon looked to be capable of puling off a victory. After A. Jones kicked a penalty to put the home side in the lead, Brecon fought back well and deserved to take the lead themselves after an excellent build up. Prop Jack Herring put in a great tackle which helped create a turn over. Jared Rees, Tom Daley and Wyn Davies then linked well to create a good position. With quick ball from the ruck Brecon went blind and Tom Daley showed great strength to break the defensive line and score.

As half time approached, Heol-y-Cyw restored their lead with a second Jones penalty.

The second half started brightly for Brecon. No. 8, Tom Daley, who was prominent in open play, broke down the left and gave wing, Aled Smith some space. He attempted to cut inside but was caught by a seemingly high tackle. The referee thought otherwise and when the ball was lost Heol-y-Cyw were able to clear to the other end of the field. There they imposed pressure which Brecon resisted for some time before scrum half P. Cooper managed somehow to ground the ball under the severest of pressure.

Brecon quickly reduced the deficit with a Gary Davies penalty but then fell further behind with a slice of cruel luck. A long concerted drive from a line out on half way took the home side to the Brecon 22. When the ball emerged it was untidy and C. Howe put in a speculative kick. Eurin Morgan chased back but the bouncing ball evaded him and fell straight into the path of the chasing Heol-y-Cyw wing as he dived over to score.

From that point on Brecon pressed hard but made too many mistakes. At a five metre scrum the ball shot out and was gobbled up by the eager home defence. Two five metre line outs failed to bring any reward as too often Brecon opted to charge straight at their opponents or tried to attempt risky, blind, pop passes. Finally they succumbed to the final long range score which hammered the nail in their coffin.

The team now has three weeks to regroup before they face league leaders, Penarth at home on 27th March.