Fixture

Match report

Saturday 24th January 2015

Brecon 17 Gwernyfed 11.

With bragging rights at stake, a large crowd turned out at Parc de Pugh to see whether Brecon could ‘do the double’ over neighbours Gwernyfed.

Both sides sought to dominate the opening exchanges as powerful runs met aggressive defense. A late tackle by Josh Davies earned a yellow card and, with 14 men on the pitch, Brecon’s phase play was comfortably managed by Gwernyfed’s organised defence.

Varied kicking from Gareth Dodds was Gwernyfed’s main tactic for securing a foothold in the Brecon half and it was from one of these incursions that Brecon conceded a ruck penalty which Geraint Williams kicked to secure an early 0-3 lead against the run of play.

From the restart and the resulting lineout, Brecon secure the ball and drove forward. Gwernyfed was forced to collapse the maul conceding a penalty. Brecon shunned the posts preferring to kick for an attacking lineout, a tactic repeated several times during the game. With Davies’ return form the sin bin, Brecon drove this lineout powerfully however, possession was turned-over and Gwernyfed was able to clear their line.

Brecon continued to pressure Gwernyfed however more errors, in part credited to a well organised and aggressive Gwernyfed defence, brought these attacks to an end and, with Dodd’s lengthy kicking, Brecon found themselves retrieving the ball back from deep positions. The second quarter was a stalemate, Brecon established good position, errors were made and Gwernyfed kicked long.

Brecon’s rhythm was also disrupted by indiscipline. On three occasions backchat to the referee resulted in penalties. On one occasion a penalty awarded to Brecon was reversed allowing Gwernyfed’s Geraint Williams to convert a simple kick in front of the posts to extend their lead to 0-6 at half-time.

From the start of the second half, Brecon attacked with more purpose and dominated territory and possession. However, mistakes continued enabling pressure to be relieved cheaply. Gwernyfed rarely entered the Brecon half during the third quarter and, on the one occasion they did, Brecon executed their best attacking move of the game. From a defensive scrum Gari Davies orchestrating a looping three-quarter move before hitting Jake Crockett with a long miss-pass. Faced with an on-rushing defense, Crocket showed great skill to take the pass and chip the defence before winning the foot race to touch an awkwardly bobbling ball down for a critical try. Davies converted and Brecon took the lead 7-6 for the first time after 50 minutes to the delight of the home faithful.

Brecon’s confidence visibly grew and from the kick-off they continued to mount attacks. The pressure eventually told with a Gwernyfed infringement at a ruck yielding a penalty. Unusually, Brecon elected to kick for the posts and Davies converted from 25m to extend the lead to 10-6.

As the game moved into the final quarter Gwernyfed began to break the stranglehold Brecon had established on territory and possession and there was an increasing sense that, with score at 10-6, there was every prospect that they might sneak a result. However, the nervousness of the home support was soon relieved when Gari Davies, under pressure, shrugged off two tacklers and broke into open space. With the Gwernyfed full back bearing down on him, Davies executed a pinpoint kick towards the try line and Crockett again won the foot race to collect the ball and secure his second try which was converted by Davies. Brecon moved into a more comfortable 17-6 lead.

This proved to be the decisive score. A consolation try by Gwernyfed’s winger Andrew Hill rewarded a spirit performance by the visitors featuring several young players. Brecon ran out deserved winners 17-11 and, with their league ambitions on track, they travel to bottom of the table Wattstown next Saturday