Brecon RFC
63
The Watton
Brecon
Powys
LD3 7EL
Tel:
01874 624848
Fax: 01874 611719
contact@breconrfc.co.uk
Click
map to find us
Click to enlarge
Brecon Under 11
SUNDAY 4th October 2009
Brecon RFC 33 - Mountain Ash 19
The arrival of autumn has seen the backdrop to the setting of Parc de Pugh change dramatically over the last week, enhancing the ground's setting as one of the most picturesque in Wales. What remains consistent is the winning start to the season made by the Under 11s side, and the mild autumnal weather provided them with the ideal stage on which to produce what was, in coach Paul Amphlett’s words, “their best performance of the last three years”.
The visitors to Brecon were Mountain Ash who, like the hosts, had enjoyed an unbeaten start to the season. It was with great anticipation therefore that the teams and crowd gathered, with excitement levels high! Coach Paul was running solo this week, without his sidekicks Ernie Davies and Alan Witcomb, the latter last seen working off the effects of the previous night’s “chicken curry off the bone & chips” from Caroline Street in Cardiff. Paul made sure that the team was well prepared and focussed on the game before them, and reinforced the season’s message to the team, namely, to get their rucking and off-loading game working, and also keeping the tempo up.
The message has obviously hit home, for the squad, after the initial 5 minute period during which the teams sized each other up, then picked up the momentum and started to play with some real ferocity up front, allied to some great handling and running lines behind. This attractive, and hugely watchable, style of rugby saw Brecon start to stretch the opposition such that the spaces were bound to open up. It was after a particular period of some 6 phases of rugby, that fly half Gareth Price picked a weakness in the defensive line, and stepped his way over.
This galvanised the team and, with David Berrow leading the way up front with some great ground-eating charges, more scores soon followed, with good individual efforts by Dafydd Edwards and Jon Davies, being added to by perhaps the team try of the season so far, which saw the ball moved almost the full length of the pitch, through most of the players in the team and numerous phases, with, ultimately, David having the deserved honour of being the person who took the ball over the line.
The team maintained this intensity and pace throughout most of the game, and this led to a fifth try being added by Iwan Parry, who crossed for a popular score, after a determined run to the line. Extras were added by Gareth Price and Jon Davies and Brecon soon built up a score of 33 points. Following this, the foot came of the pedal slightly, and Mountain Ash showed why they had enjoyed success this season by coming back with some late scores. This gave the Brecon team a reminder that they need to keep on working hard, but also emphasised the quality of their earlier play against very good opponents.
The players, coach , and numerous supporters, were hugely encouraged by this great squad display, and emphatic win. The team is growing in confidence with every performance and are setting themselves positive standards in terms of their play, and their workrate. One of the features of the win was the discipline and control, as the opponents were a strong and physical team.
The coach’s words emphasised the quality of this performance, and Paul encouraged the team to use this as a base on which to build for the rest of the season. The number of players in the squad is giving him some real selectorial headaches
Match Reports U11 2009