A warm Thursday evening saw Brecon Youth return, once again, to the Cynon Valley as they visited the ground of Abercwmboi RFC to take on the home Youth team. The midweek fixture was indicative of the fact that, with the timetabled season having finished, teams are looking to rearrange matches lost to the mid winter weather. This is particularly the case for Brecon as they looked to finish their league programme before focussing on the upcoming Breconshire Cup Final Having gained a reasonably comfortable victory against Abercwmboi in the earlier fixture, the team travelled south hoping that they could continue their recent impressive form with another win based on an all round team performance. The side was greeted by spring sunshine and, given that this was consistent with the recent fine weather, the visitors were pleased to note that the playing surface was conducive to them being able to play their free flowing game based on the fitness levels they have worked extremely hard to achieve. The side had something of a setback insomuch as their prolific centre Lewis Powell was rested following a recent injury. This saw the impressively solid Lee Parkinson moved into the centre, with Under 16 full back, Dafydd Edwards, given his first start. With Rhys Evans also starting at hooker, the coaches, Martin Keylock and Huw Philiips, were looking to give others experience prior to these players coming up to Youth level on a full time basis next season. Notwithstanding this, the team were still encouraged to play their fast game plan, and , following receipt of kick off they immediately ran at their hosts with purpose and pace. The initial period saw Brecon dominate possession and territory, and their hosts worked hard to live with the pace that the Brecon team played the game at. The team were looking to recycle the ball quickly and use the full width of the pitch, in addition to securing a string set piece base. Hooker Evans worked hard with his front row colleagues, with Richie Davies continuing his recent impressive return to form after injury, and Luke Millichap playing his usual quietly effective role. This was matched by second row Owain Williams, who continues to perform all the unseen tasks in a calmly effective manner. His colleague at lock, the powerful Chris Gould, was prominent in the loose in the opening exchanges, and helped establish the attacking platform from which half backs Huw Prothero and James Hellard sought to launch their pacy three quarters, The pressure exerted was, ultimately, going to be rewarded, and it was completely with the run of the game that one of the multi phased attacks saw full back Edwards feed free scoring winger Alex Edmunds who sped over in the corner to continue his current fine try scoring form. At this time, Brecon were playing with the greater fluency and the traveling support would have been forgiven for thinking that more reward would soon follow. This proved not to be the case however, as the visitors allowed a lack of precision to creep into their game, with mistakes being made and some decisions being taken in haste. It was from one of these that a Brecon kick was charged down by one of the Abercwmboi centres and he regathered the ball to touch down for the equalising score. This led to a period where the home team fought back into the game and put the visitors under pressure. This period saw Brecon being penalised for indiscretions at the break down and, from two of these, the Abercwmboi fly half landed penalties to take the home side into the lead, This proved to be something of a reality check for the Brecon team, and they realised that a return to their high tempo game would soon bring them back into the game. They duly did this to put the pressure back on the home team with, inevitably, opportunities coming to add to their total from this. Abercwmboi were themselves soon penalised whilst defending, and Edwards stepped up to land a three pointer and close the gap. This reinvigorated the visiting team and they pressed again to gain a foothold in the opposition half. Centres Parkinson and James Price were prominent in this period, running with power and elusiveness, and the tempo of the game rose again. From a period of play where Brecon recycled the ball on numerous occasions, Chris Gould again ran strongly although was stopped by a piece of foul play. From the resulting penalty, the visitors opted to kick for the corner to look to press with a driving line out. This was duly secured and the power and control of the pack was obvious as they drove at the home team line. After some pick and go opportunities, it was left to hugely impressive No 8, Rob Wainwright, to plunge over to restore the visitors lead. The first half came to a close with Brecon starting to reassert, and emphasise, their ascendancy, and the half time team talk of the coaching team would have been for more of the same. Some areas of the game had degenerated, with some petty indiscretions, so the coaches urged their team to up their tempo, and seek to utilise the whole of the playing area again. The advice of the coaches was clearly taken on board, as the second period was immediately characterised by Brecon dominance, and also the quality of their attacking play. Given the the speed and fluency with which they took the game to Abercwmboi, the Brecon back row, with their superior fitness, we're going to become more influential. This proved to be the case, as flankers, Andrew Hosie and Ioan Edwards, made significant ground with their running, whilst Wainwright continued his man-of-the-match performance. From a home team kick, Hosie gathered a loose ball, and proceeded to break the defensive line to run some forty metres, before releasing full back Dafydd Edwards to run in under the posts from some thirty metres out. This score seemed to break the home team spirit, whilst pointing the Brecon team in the direction of the game they needed to play. This involved maintaining their fluency, and also looking to release their quick outside backs, as Edmunds and Edwards, in tandem with the sharp Lauchie Rourke Davies, caused the home defence problems with their pace and angles of running. The visitors enjoyed something of a purple patch for the next quarter of an hour, and they ran in further tries from winger Alex, and fullback Dafydd, whilst the two of them also combined, from a quickly taken free kick in their own 22, to release dynamic centre James Price who embarked on a weaving run from the half way line to score under the posts for the best score of the night. At this stage, the coaches brought the strong bench into the game and, whilst brothers Ioan and Dafydd Edwards started the game, they were joined by Huw Wainwright playing alongside brother Rob in the back row, and Sammy Hellard coming on to join James at half back. Additionally, Will Prosser and young Tom Witcomb came on to add to the forward pack, with the former enjoying an influential ten minutes that included powering through tackles for a score of his own at the posts. The five tries scored in this period were all converted by Dafydd Edwards, and, with minutes remaining, Brecon enjoyed a comfortable 40 point margin. To their credit, the home team fought back with a further seven pointer of their own, and the game drew to a close with the game becoming more competitive as Abercwmboi sought to prevent any further Brecon scores. The final whistle drew the curtain on a fine visiting team performance, and a 48-18 victory margin, and the team can be proud of their continued success, which is a reward for the hard work they continue to put in at training. The season will now unfold with the focus on the cup final fixture, although however this evolves, the coaches will be hugely impressed, and also proud, with the efforts of their charges in the league this season, and also will have enjoyed the quality they are bringing to their rugby. This, allied to the strength in depth coming through the age groups, will see the work of the coaches continue to reap dividends in the new season.
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