Fixture

As the UK picks itself up after the impacts of storms Desmond, Eva, Frank et al, Brecon Youth were typical of many sporting teams in that they have seen very little on-field action since November. It was with some frustration and anticipation therefore that they took the road south over the Beacons, avoiding the numerous cars parked on the A470 as families took advantage of the change in weather to hit the sledging slopes, and headed for the Cwm Ogwr Fach to take on the competitive Gilfach Goch Youth XV on their home patch.

A claim to fame for the village of Gilfach Goch is that it was where Richard Llewellyn penned his famous novel "How Green Was My Valley", and the recent weather certainly ensured that the visitors were faced with a verdant landscape, and well grassed field, albeit the colder overnight frost ensured that the playing surface was very good and firm. Brecon's league, within the Blues region, had started with a couple of teams prominent, although recent events and results had seen greater interest emerging as other teams hauled themselves into the race for the title with improved performances.

With Brecon emerging as a team on an upward improvement in performance, coaches Martin Keylock and Huw Phillips stressed to their charges that other teams will now see them as a good scalp, and a team to beat. Having beaten Gilfach Goch comfortably in their earlier fixture in Brecon, it was clear that the return fixture would see the home side emerge with greater motivation to balance the books.

The coaches therefore stressed the importance of ensuring a positive start by the visitors, and the need to ensure that the home side were not allowed to generate any significant momentum. It became apparent that the recent lay off was not conducive to this, and it was the men in blue who took the early initiative and who enjoyed the ascendancy from the first kick. Brecon did not help their cause in this period as they made a number of errors, with their decision making not having the clarity of earlier fixtures.

Gilfach were able to take advantage of their initial supremacy by pressing hard and putting their visitors under increasing pressure. This further exacerbated the Brecon errors, and they were relatively fortunate that they emerged from the first quarter only having conceded three points from a penalty goal. Brecon composed themselves as time moved on, and they were able to become increasingly effective in creating more phased play, and putting the home defence under the pressure they had previously inflicted upon themselves. As is often the way in such circumstances, penalties followed, and full back Dafydd Edwards was able to convert these to give the visitors the lead.

Gilfach responded positively, however and, taking advantage of a Brecon error, they went through a controlled period of play with a number of phases form which their centre plunged over for a well deserved try that their influential outside half converted. This setback was well addressed by Brecon as they understood that they needed to reman composed and positive, and to keep their errors to a minimum.

This they achieved for the remainder of the first half, and it would be no disrespect to a strong home team to say that the visitors enjoyed a period of ascendancy that also saw the home discipline challenged. Brecon were able to keep possession of the ball in this period, and they also saw their line out become an increasingly effective weapon. It was from one line out, and subsequent picks and drives, that busy flanker Will Prosser drove over through a number of defenders to restore the visitors lead.

This lead of 11-10 was taken into the half time interval, and the latter period of the first half also saw the referee have the first of a number of chats to the respective captains, as the pressures of a fiercely competitive game became apparent in the actions and decision making of some of the players. The half time break saw the coaches emphasising the positives of Brecon's play, when they remained calm and composed, and focused on positive aspects of their own play. The template, and advice, for the second half was therefore more of the same, with the importance of the time honored rugby tenet of playing the game in the right areas being never more applicable.

It was with some surprise therefore that the coaches will have been disappointed with the visiting side's disjointed and error ridden first period of the second half. The effect of this was that the home side were able to establish early territorial advantage, which generated a positive attacking mindset that  saw them press for a deserved score. This came early in the half as they moved the ball through numerous sets of hands that eventually saw their centre crash over for a converted try. This itself set something of a pattern, and it energised the home team who allied their increasingly fluent attacking play to some ferocious defence, and huge physical commitment to the breakdown, the effect of which was to deny the visitors any momentum and fluency.

The lack of clarity in their attacking play, and the inability to generate quick ball to establish a platform in the right areas, saw Brecon resorting to attempting to attack from deep, and on the back foot. The effect of this was to increase pressure on themselves, and also to run the risk of increased errors. The inevitable duly happened as the hosts were awarded a kickable penalty that their effective out half landed to increase the lead to 20-11.

Brecon did rally and begin to press strongly, although errors and poor decision making still impacted upon their aspirations. Notwithstanding this, they were able to show glimpses of what they were capable off as they withstood some committed home defence to press closely to the Gilfach line. They were duly rewarded, after a number of phases, when No 8 Chris Gould was rewarded for a committed performance with an unconverted try.

Brecon sniffed an opportunity to get themselves back into the game, although mistakes did stop a certain momentum developing, and a further indiscretion saw a further three pointer landed by the home team to create a 23-16 buffer going into the closing phases. As the pressure increased on both teams, and both sought important scores, play and characters became increasingly fraught, such that the referee spoke to both captains again on a number of occasions. The effect of this was to increase the time left to play, but also made the game very much a staccato affair with Brecon's attempts to secure a score that would tie the game, being met with a great home team defensive effort. This led to a significant number of stoppages as weary tacklers pulled themselves back into the fray,.Throughout this period and, indeed, as has been the case through the season, the Brecon captain, Richie Davies, was a dominating force and influence. He carried the ball on at least a dozen occasions, and was always able to break the gain line.

This became the pattern of play for the final quarter of an hour, and while it was characterised by Brecon dominance, a striking feature remained the defensive effort of the home team. Brecon had opportunities to add to their score and, indeed, were pressing strongly to the final whistle. However, it should be acknowledged  that Gilfach Goch deserved the spoils, given the ferocity of their commitment, and their refusal to buckle under the pressure of the final periods. They had also shown positive attacking intent during the game, and their spirited reaction on hearing the final whistle was a reflection of what they felt and what, ultimately, they deserved.

Brecon will need to rally for the remainder of the season and, while the defeat is a blow to their title aspirations, the improving form of teams such as Gilfach will, potentially, see the second half of the season throw up some interesting results. Brecon will learn from this experience, and will understand that their obvious potential still requires them to work hard at training, to put in the extra hours of commitment to improve, and to realise the importance that a strong mental focus is needed to back up talents.