“We will not give up without a fight.” That was the call as Brecon faced fifth-placed Bargoed at Parc de Pugh, as they sought to stave off the spectre of relegation from the Premiership. Fight the squad certainly did, but in the end it wasn’t enough, as they fell to a defeat.

The reverse leaves them with four games to play and a requirement of at least twenty points from those remaining fixtures. Mathematically, it is possible if they achieve four bonus-point wins in their last four games and other sides gain no points at all. Mathematically it may be possible, but realistically it is now beyond them, and relegation has to be faced. However, the squad remains united and positive that they will end the season with their heads held high, having shown that they are capable of testing teams at this level and that they have made massive improvement throughout the season.

They certainly tested their opponents, Bargoed. That didn’t seem to be the case when, after the opening nine minutes of constant Brecon pressure, they made a mistake and conceded a converted try. Those early phases were all Brecon. They looked sharp and stretched the Bargoed defence to the full. They had opportunities as they were halted just short of the line a number of times. Then, when they created an overlap on the Bargoed 22, they put in a grubber kick rather than keeping the ball in hand, and the chance was lost.

It still all looked promising until an offload in the Bargoed half found the hands of their opponents rather than a supporting player. From there, Bargoed countered and accomplished full-back Dylan Williams carved his way through the Brecon defence to score, with Josh Prosser adding the conversion. The reverse was hardly what Brecon deserved, but within two more minutes they conceded a second. Again, a mistake gave Bargoed the opportunity. A really poorly directed kick found Dylan Williams in space, and again his running caused problems. Finally, he linked with powerful wing Ashley Norton, who scored in the corner, and Prosser converted from wide out.

Fourteen points down after eleven minutes was not what Brecon’s opening deserved, but their errors had been costly - and it didn’t end there. On twenty minutes, Brecon again suffered from a poor kick which gave Williams time and space. He initiated a threatening attack from his own half, and it was halted with a deliberate knock-on which resulted in a penalty and a yellow card. Bargoed kicked for the corner and Brecon were penalised again, shown a second yellow card as the Bargoed maul was pulled down. Bargoed opted for a scrum against Brecon’s depleted pack, and when the scrum collapsed, the referee had no option other than to award a penalty try.

After twenty minutes, Brecon were 21–0 down, but they regrouped. Bargoed failed to add to their score and, indeed, it was Brecon who created the chances. Joel Price made good ground off the kick-off, and what looked like a Huw Jones score was ruled out for a second movement in the act of grounding. Huw then made a great break, only to see his potentially scoring pass dropped. Half-time came with Brecon still 21 points down.

The second half could not have started worse for the home side. After a good attack, Williams again sliced through the Brecon defence before giving wing Lewis Bates the scoring pass, and Prosser increased the Bargoed lead to 28 points. Much to Brecon’s credit, they now showed great resilience. After a period of good play, they earned their first score, and it was beautifully executed. Wing Chad Davies and impressive young flanker Rakhat Clarkson created the platform. Off a line-out on the 22, Rhys Davies delivered a miss-pass and Huw Jones broke before putting full-back Jake Newman away for a try, which he converted.

Within minutes, they claimed an equally well-worked second try. Rhys Davies broke, and then Llewelyn Brown delivered quick ball to flanker Matthew Williams, who put supporting scrum-half Geraint Workman in for a try, which Newman converted. Brecon were back in the game.

From here until the closing minutes, play was evenly balanced. Bargoed were always dangerous, but Brecon matched them, with Rhys Davies and Chad Davies prominent. As the game reached the closing stages, Brecon sought at least a losing bonus point, but it didn’t come. With the final move, Bargoed scored. They forced Brecon to concede a drop-out on their goal line. The ball was claimed cleanly, and Brecon’s defence was exposed as Bargoed scored in the corner to, in all likelihood, close the door on Brecon’s battle to stave off relegation.