Fixture

After a table topping win at Mountain Ash the previous weekend, Brecon Youth travelled back to the southern end of the Cynon Valley to face another difficult opponent in Abercynon. The teams had met twice previously in the season and, whilst Brecon had been successful on both occasions, both fixtures had proved to be very challenging encounters that raised awareness about formidable opponents.

The team travelled south with a strong squad, and coaches Huw Phillips and Martin Keylock will have been pleased that they had the strength in depth to use a bench that has proved to be influential in the run-in to the end of the season. The teams were greeted by sunshine as they took to the ground, but also were faced with a brisk, cold, wind that was to play its part.

The game kicked off with the visitors playing with the breeze slightly behind them, although it was also blowing strongly across the pitch. Against a large set of home forwards, the Brecon pack played with an early pace and tempo that soon had their hosts blowing heavily, although they also rallied to start threatening the Brecon defensive line themselves. An early encouragement for the visiting coaching team was the dominance that their pack of forwards soon established at the scrum. The front row of Richie Davies, Roshan Gurung, and Luke Millichap were strongly impressive at this time, and this created a platform from which their colleagues could develop a wider attacking game. The breakdown was also working fluently with Owain Williams and Andrew Hosie hitting the rucks and mauls to free the ball quickly. The latter continues his recent impressive run of form, and was also prominent, along with fellow flanker Ioan Edwards and second row Chris Gould, with the ball in hand, making good yardage going forward.

The platform established allowed no. 8 Will Prosser to link with scrum half Huw Prothero, and the team enjoyed a period of play where they maintained their impressive tempo, and looked to put the ball through the hands. Fly half James Hellard took advantage of this fact to play close to the gain line to bring colleagues onto the ball in a dynamic way that threatened the home defensive line. Centres Lewis Powell and James Price ran with real conviction and crossed the gain line on numerous occasions. This created quick phase ball and the back three of wingers, Alex Edmunds and Lauchie Rourke-Davies, and full back Lee Parkinson thrived on the opportunities given. The latter, in particular, enjoyed a strong all round game, backing his powerful running with secure defensive duties.

The dominance enjoyed by the visitors seemed certain to bring its rewards, and it was no surprise that the pressure which the Brecon put on the home pack was rewarded by the ball squirting from a retreating scrum, and live wire flanker Hosie pouncing for a well deserved score. Soon after Powell continued his prolific season by crossing for a great score which he also converted. The second of these scores in particular, was a mix of individual skill and an all round team approach as Lewis was set free by quick hands deep in his own half. As he charged deep into home territory, a number of his colleagues ran great supporting lines that gave him the option of passing if necessary, but also had the effect of fixing defenders at crucial times. He eventually touched down after a great 70 metre run.

This should have generated a period where the the possession and territorial advantage that Brecon enjoyed brought some more deserved scores. However, a combination of the visitors relaxing, and the hosts being spurred into a counter, saw the first half end with no further scores being added, and visiting coaches being aware of the need to reassert the superiority that there team had enjoyed.

This was not obvious in the first part of the second half, as Abercynon played their own high tempo game, putting the ball wide and creating opportunities. This was also a period where the scrums became uncontested, and this took a clear attacking platform away from the visiting Brecon team. From one home attack, the host fly half took advantage of some defensive misunderstanding to ground the ball close to the posts. The conversion should have been relatively simple, although the influence of the wind was evident as it took the ball across the front of the posts for the score to remain at 12-5 to Brecon.

The defensive lapse saw a renewed vigour from the visitors as they secured early possession from the restart, and pressed strongly deep into the home team 22. There followed a period of play of total Brecon dominance, as all the team played effective roles, and they moved the ball through numerous controlled phases of play, to increase the pressure on their hosts, and to look to develop further scoring opportunities. A number of these phases occurred deep in the Abercynon 22, although the hosts did win the ball back on two occasions.

The pressure they had been under, the influence of the strong wind, and the form of the visiting back three, meant that defensive clearing kicks were rushed and fell in the welcoming hands of the visitors. From these Alex Edmunds gathered one to be able to speed in unopposed, whilst full back Parkinson collected a further loose kick to release Edmunds for a second soon after. The wind denied the opportunity to convert the tries, although the comfortable score line, and dominance enjoyed, meant that the visitors didn't look like relinquishing the victory.

Additionally, the arrival of Jamie Evans, Tom Wood, Rob Wainwright, Matt Tucker, Huw Wainwright, and James Hosie, saw the squad maintain their high tempo control on the game. Rhys Williams was also an important part of the squad and he was denied an opportunity to continue his comeback by the referee taking the coaching staff by surprise and blowing for full time.

The result was a well deserved reward for a team that is growing into the end of the season, and is showing increasing commitment, composure, and maturity. This is manifest in the way that they have reacted positively to certain game situations, where they may have conceded a score, or gone behind, and gives the whole squad a very strong base from which to see the season out to its conclusion.

As news came in from Pontyclun where the club's first XV secured a hugely well deserved victory to win the league title, it would be fitting for this Youth squad if they could emulate their senior counterparts with similar success. It would be nothing less than well deserved, and the team and coaching staff will be raising their efforts in the next few weeks to give themselves the best opportunities to succeed.