Brecon RFC

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Brecon
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SWALEC WRU Plate Round 2 Saturday 11th December 2010

Taibach 5 - Brecon 29

The severe early winter weather which caused the postponement of last weeks league match threatened to do the same to this week’s second round Plate match against Taibach. The match was scheduled to be played at Parc de Pugh but by Thursday with the ground still snow and frost bound it looked as if a second postponement was imminent. With a long winter still ahead and having played only once since 30th October, Brecon were desperately in need of a meaningful fixture. With the support and agreement of Taibach the fixture was switched to the coastal town where the snow and frost had not been so severe.

The welcome in Port Talbot was warm and the pitch was certainly playable but was very heavy and quickly cut up. However, both sides attempted to play rugby in spite of the conditions and an interesting and sporting match ensued.

Coming into the match both sides sported almost identical league records, both having played 9 matches won 5 and lost 4 in their respective leagues; Three South East and South West. The match, therefore, was an interesting test for both sides with neither having any prior knowledge of their opponent’s strengths or weaknesses.

The early exchanges were close and Taibach should have taken the lead if they had taken two eminently kickable penalty chances.

One of the worrying features of the early phases for Brecon’s travelling supporters was in fact the number of penalties the visitors were giving away. The failure to adapt to the referee’s interpretation of the breakdown proved to be a major handicap and on another day a count of 27 penalties against and 3 for, will surely be a recipe for a disaster. Quite how Brecon overcame such a massive disadvantage speaks a lot for the general level of performance but they will not in future want to face such a massive handicap.

Having survived the early exchanges unscathed Brecon opened the scoring with an excellent individual try. No 8 Tom Daley broke from the base of a solid scrum some thirty metres out. His pace took him outside and past the defending back row and he suddenly found himself in acres of space. With the cover unable to cut him off, he reached the try line with ease and Dan Edwards converted.

It wasn’t long before Brecon increased their lead. Taibach launched a series of attacks with No 8 Steve Oliver carrying the ball effectively. They looked threatening but Brecon countered brilliantly when Simon Pengelly turned over the ball at the break down. At first it seemed that an opportunity was wasted when a scoring pass was dropped but a strong Brecon scrum disrupted the home side’s possession. From the resulting ruck hooker, Alan Taylor, stole over for a try to make it a special day for him as he celebrated the birth of his second baby with an excellent all round performance.

The half finished with another Brecon score. Outside half Dan Edwards created the situation when he put in a beautifully weighted grubber kick through a flat home defence. Wing Ross Parry won the race to the ball and then showed great footballing skills in dribbling the ball over try line and eventually scoring in the corner.

With the ground getting heavier with each phase of play Brecon were forced to defend at the opening of the second half. Taibach realised that if they wanted to stay in the game they had to score next. Their forwards drove hard and they threatened but failed to break the opponent’s defence. In this phase centre Alun Davies and flankers Wyn Davies and Simon Pengelly were outstanding.
While for much of the game Alun excelled in defence he also showed a cutting edge in attack. His try virtually finished the game as a contest. A straight run split the home midifield on half way. He seemed to have a clear run in to the line when suddenly he was confronted by an injured defender who popped up onto his feet. Although shocked Alun retained his composure and calmly dummied him and scored under the posts. Dan Edwards converted.

Brecon’s fifth and final try soon followed. After captain Richard Galea was held up over the line he was quickly given a second chance when from a five metre scrum Daley broke. His feed inside to Galea opened up the defence and made sure of the score.

Although the game was over as a contest it was good to see the spirited way in which Taibach sought to restore pride. A series of drives eventually provided quick ruck ball and with the visitors defence up flat, lively scrum half Craig Whelan but in a delightful chip off the outside of his boot. Winger Gareth Williams re-gathered and raced in for a well deserved consolation try.

Next week Brecon hope to return to league action with rare home fixture against St Peters who are currently third in the table. This is an important fixture for Brecon as they will seek to build confidence prior to their local derby match at Gwernyfed on 2nd January.