Fixture

With the Six Nations’ Championship looming Brecon 2^nd XV took the opportunity to welcome Merthyr to Parc de Pugh for a Friday evening Floodlight match. Having already played Merthyr home and away in the league the latest instalment in the close rivalry saw the teams face one another in this season’s Cup competition. Both the previous games had been closely fought with Merthyr claiming the spoils on both occasions but with winning margins of just two points. With that as the background the large crowd looked forward to a closely fought match. The match itself didn’t disappoint. The final result was in the balance right up until the last minute when Brecon, who were trailing by two points, were awarded a penalty in the Merthyr half. The crowd went silent as Kyran Dillon lined up a difficult kick from forty metres out and into a breeze. The game hung on his effort and as the ball hung in the breeze it was clear that the kick would fall short just as Brecon’s gallant effort did for the third time against their powerful opponents.

It was the Merthyr power which was the deciding factor in the game. There was little to choose between the sides in any area apart from at the scrum. There, the much bulkier and more mature pack, had the edge. That edge was critical when Merthyr were awarded a penalty inside Brecon’s 22. They opted for a scrum and won another penalty. From the second scrum Merthyr drove Brecon over the line to score the only try of the game.

It would be easy to surmise that if this was the only try of the game that it was a dour affair but that assumption would be far from the truth. Both sides tried to play expansive rugby but both defences were secure and the breakdown was very competitive. In the breakdown area Brecon were fortunate to have a back row which made light of the differences in stature. Josh Millichap, Iwan Davies and Matthew Williams barely missed a tackle, were dynamic in the carry and pressurised Merthyr at the breakdown. As a result, Merthyr, in spite of their physical advantage, were held at the gain line and were thus denied the opportunity of building up any match winning momentum. The trio’s effort allied to the work of the rest of the pack ensured that Brecon secured an equal share of the ball. Each member of the Brecon pack worked well in the loose and Ben Pritchard and Owain Williams were a regular source of good line out ball. Tommy Witcomb carried through the hard yards and at times showed lovely handling skills. Howell Morgan gave everything for Brecon’s cause as he always does and Luke Millichap showed remarkable resilience and appetite for work.

With an equal share of the ball, the backs were given opportunities and they looked threatening without ever completely breaking down the Merthyr defence. The half backs, Gari Davies and Hugh Prothero and their replacements Kyran Dillon and Sam Hellard all had good games. Gari Davies controlled the game well from outside half and scored Brecon’s six points. He was instrumental in the build up to Brecon’s reply to an early Merthyr penalty. He pounced on a loose ball on half way and kicked through. The move was finally halted illegally on the Merthyr 5 metre line and Gari drew the sides level. With his second penalty he gave Brecon the lead after a lovely run by centre Rhys Peters. For the remainder of the half the game was mainly fought out between the 22 metre lines. Full back Gareth Price and wings Jamie Price and Matthew Watkins had little opportunity in attack but their defensive work was excellent while in the centre captain James Hellard once again led by example with big hits and some lovely distribution.

The second half started with Merthyr gaining their scrum try to take a lead which they never relinquished. Brecon did all they could to regain the lead and in truth looked the more likely to score although opportunities in the Merthyr 22 were rare. The threats tended to come from deep where Kyran Dillan, Joe McDean, Sam Hellard, Hugh Prothero and Rhys Peters had some good runs but all floundered finally on the rock like defence.

Eventually time was up and as the last kick fell short, Merthyr celebrated their win knowing that it could so easily have been snatched from their grasp by opponents who matched them in almost every phase of the game.