Fixture

The New Year could not have started with a sterner test than having to travel to the home of League leaders, Newbridge. Also, the game could not have come at a worse time or in worse conditions. Following a period of eight weeks in which Brecon had only played one match, they faced a team which had won all eight of their previous league matches and collected a try bonus point in each of those matches. Brecon were also unbeaten but with their game based on expansive rugby the wet heavy conditions and persistent rain were certainly not what Brecon would have wished for. However, the conditions were the same for both sides and in this top of the table clash it was anticipated that the outcome would depend on which side could adapt the best and could cut down on errors. On both counts Newbridge came out on top and emerged clear bonus point winners although the 36 points to 5 scoreline did not truly reflect the intensity of the battle.

The foundation of the Newbridge win was based on their simple accurate kicking game and aggressive competition at the breakdown. They possessed three players in key positions. The half back partners Matthew Davies and Simon Veal together with full back Robbie Turley kicked beautifully throughout the afternoon. They kicked long when needed or accurately when they had time and space and their kicks not only won territory but became attacking weapons. They regularly found the wet heavy ground with their kicks ahead. The chase was also effective and that put pressure on the Brecon defenders who struggled to gather and cleanly clear the wet heavy ball with equal distance or accuracy. Under pressure Brecon made mistakes and three of Newbridge’s tries came directly from a failure to gather and clear effectively. There could be no doubting that Newbridge won the kicking battle by some margin and that ultimately led to their emphatic victory.

The warning signs were on the cards in the first minute of the game. With possession from the kick off their bulky forwards drove hard at the Brecon defence on the half way line. When they found that their forward drives were repulsed by a strong defensive line, centre Jonny Paynter, put a grubber kick through towards the touchline. Brecon’s defence should have been able to deal with the kick even if it meant tapping the ball into touch and conceding a line out on the 22. Instead, two players attempted to control the ball with their feet. The attempts failed and wing Sam Watkins managed to twice get his foot to the ball, hack ahead and score. To compound matters Turley added the conversion with a brilliant touchline effort.

Seven points down after just two minutes play was not the start that Brecon wanted, particularly in the conditions. To be fair, however, they worked their way back into the game. Their line out functioned well both on their throw and on opposition ball. Ioan Edwards, Alwyn Lee and Logan McIntosh showed great hands in taking the slippery ball at full extension and they regularly threatened or stole ball on the opposition throw. The scrum was also impressive. Once or twice Newbridge gained the upper hand but for the most part the front row of Andy Nicholl, Aneurin James and Lewis Smout together with their replacements, Richie Davies and Iwan Dowling Jones had the nudge on their opponents and it was Brecon, who for the most part, had the go forward ball. It was in the use of the ball that the greatest contrast between the two sides became evident. By nature, Brecon wanted to keep their ball in hand while Newbridge worked space through forward drives and then kicked for position. Brecon’s ambition almost cost them a second try. Attacking down the blind side in their own half a pass was intercepted and only some good defence and a poor inside pass allowed Brecon to escape.

Apart from that incident, however, Brecon were now working their way into the game, although mostly held at some distance from the home try line. After twenty minutes they got the score they deserved. A great line out win on half way and powerful runs by Logan McIntosh, Alwyn Lee, Andy Nicholl and Ollie Lewis laid the platform. Geraint Workman delivered quick ball from a ruck and Morgan Price sent out a lovely long pass which Jake Crockett ran on to. He broke the defensive line but was ankle tapped. He managed to get the ball away to Sam Hellard who ran in at the corner. The conversion failed but with a quarter of the match gone Brecon were back in touch and the momentum was with them.

Brecon won a penalty at a scrum on half way and set up a line out on the home 22. For the Brecon support it was all very encouraging but a crooked throw led to a home scrum and a long clearance kick which was wickedly close to the touch line near the Brecon 22. Ryan Price gathered beautifully and passed inside. Unfortunately, in the act of gathering the ball, he touched the line and Newbridge had a platform deep in the Brecon half. They made the most of it with an almost unstoppable line out drive which was finally held up on the 5 metre line. From here Newbridge attacked, first through the forwards, and then they moved the ball wide with Turley entering the line and giving the scoring pass to Watkins. Turley again converted.

With time running out in the first half Brecon took play into Newbridge territory only for a catalogue of errors to allow Newbridge to extend their lead before half time. An attempted kick through the defence was blocked and the loose ball hacked up field. The ball slithered on the ground and an attempted fall on the loose ball merely popped the ball up into the path of the onrushing Watkins who hacked ahead again and won the race to score.

At the start of the second half Brecon had a mountain to climb. Chasing the game Brecon’s play became ragged with ambitious passes in the conditions failing to held. Newbridge won two penalties and from a five metre line out drove over for a bonus point converted try.

With the game now almost out of reach, Brecon did not give up. Ioan Edwards, Will Prosser, Alwyn Lee and Richie Davies all showed up well but the collective accuracy was not there and the game entered a long period of stalemate. Newbridge’s Thurley kicked a penalty and Brecon threatened after a great Carl Blacker 50 – 22 kick. Ollie Lewis and Sam Hellard almost created something but again Brecon were hit with a sucker punch. Brecon were committed to attack and when Newbridge were awarded a penalty in their half they took a quick tap and kicked ahead into open space. Centre Johnny Paynter got to the ball first and hacked on. As the ball neared the line Paynter and a Brecon defender dived for the ball. The ball bounced off the Brecon defender and over the line. Paynter was the quickest to recover and score allowing Thurley to draw the game to a close with a conversion.

The defeat, and the nature of it, is a set-back for Brecon. Now the priority must be to put that behind them and focus on a tough league fixture at Pontypool United next Saturday and the Cup match at Ammanford on 21^st. How well the season will now pan out is dependent on how well Brecon react to this reverse. Now is not the time for heads to drop. Now is the time to take the defeat, learn from it, by building on the strengths, eradicating the mistakes and to move on, better than before.