Brecon RFC

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SWALEC WRU League Division 3 South East Saturday 7th March 2009

Brecon 30 - Old Illtydians 9

While Brecon have shown signs of returning to their best form with the two one point defeats in their last two matches against good opponents they have failed to register a win since 3rd January. A win in Saturday’s match against lowly opposition, Old Illtydians, was an absolute must if some momentum was to be generated in the end of season run of matches.

They achieved all that they wanted with a bonus point win and a clear margin of 21 points ahead of their opponents. Yet the result hardly tells the story of the game. Brecon were clearly superior particularly in the backs when they brought Owen Morgan into play from full back. He had an outstanding game and bagged a hat trick of tries. However, for long periods Brecon were bogged down by the simple, but effective, pick and drive tactics of their opponents who battled hard throughout and made life difficult for the home team.

Old Illtydians got off to a good start. From the kick off Brecon were penalised and outside half Matthew Munder struck the ball sweetly to give his side an early lead. That lead was short-lived as Brecon’s response came quickly and emphatically. Left wing Gari Davies hoisted a kick into opposition territory and his chase was good, enabling him to make the follow up tackle. Isaac Greer and Robbie Herdman, not the biggest back row pairing but very effective, stole the ball. Play first moved left and then when halted was switched right to expose a huge overlap. A good final pass from second row Steve Covington put Owen Morgan away for an unconverted score.

Soon afterwards a try scoring opportunity seemed to have been spurned when after a great counter-attack Owen Morgan’s final pass was adjudged forward. However, Brecon put the home team under great pressure and once they made an error Owen Morgan dived on the loose ball to score. Daniel Edwards hit a great conversion from near the touch line.

Old Illtydians came back with Maunder’s second penalty but Daniel Edwards restored the nine point lead with a neatly taken drop goal before Brecon committed an error that could have proved to be very costly. Attempting to take a quick drop out on the 22 all they succeeded in doing was to place the ball straight into the hands of their opponents and it took a great cover tackle to prevent the try although they gave away a penalty at the ruck and Maunder narrowed the gap with his third penalty on the stroke of half time.

With the wind at their backs Brecon started the second half very brightly. Paul Williams, at last restored to fitness, combined beautifully in mid field with Chris Wilton to release Owen Morgan who swept through to the line for his third try. The lead was further increased when the pack won a ball against the head and Dan Edwards struck his second drop goal.

The game looked easy for Brecon at this stage. They had a comfortable lead, looked capable of cutting their opponents through mid-field and they had the wind at their backs. However, their opponents were not prepared to give up so easily. They mounted a sustained attack in the Brecon 22. Their tactics weren’t pretty as they drove through their big forwards and denied Brecon any real possession or territory for almost twenty minutes. The fact that they failed to score was due to some great defence around the fringes where Scott Edwards and the rest of the pack were outstanding.

In the end it took a wonderful Scott Edwards break off a dominant scrum to relieve the pressure. Once Brecon gained a foothold in their opponents half, they suddenly found their early match form. A lovely Isaac Greer break was well supported by replacement scrum half Rob Price and created a promising position. From the resulting scrum Scott Edwards almost made the line. Finally the score came as replacement outside half Mark Withey, returning to Brecon colours after a long period away, made the half break and popped up a pass to the very promising young prop Jack Herring. Jack showed good hands and pace to finish off the move under the posts. Gari Davies converted to give Brecon a clear and much needed home victory which takes them back to fourth in the league.