WRU NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION 1 EAST

Nelson 40 Brecon 37BOTH teams showed a determination to make the most of the spring weather and produced a feast of running rugby scoring a total of 11 tries.

It was Brecon’s second narrow loss to Nelson in four weeks. Their hosts, won by a single point at Parc de Pugh in March and on Saturday the margin was three points. The only consolation was Brecon travelled home with a losing bonus point to add to their try scoring bonus.

Brecon’s start to the game was disastrous. They were caught cold with Nelson’s first attack which resulted not only in a penalty try but also the sin binning of prop Andy Nicholl. Brecon’s first kick out of defence had led to a counter attack and soon the referee awarded a penalty try and sent Nicholl to the sin bin.

The response was impressive. The 14 men fought back brilliantly, in spite of being under severe pressure in the scrum. They took the game to their opponents and created chances. The first of those they spurned as they were brought down just short of the line but they took the next brilliantly. From a shortened line out they moved the ball wide and Ewan Williams made the half break in mid-field. Out of the tackle he expertly popped the ball up to Joe Evans who crashed over under the posts to give outside half Gari Davies and easy opportunity to level the score.

Nelson retook the lead when fly half Sam Evans saw the Brecon defence trying to fan out as quickly as possible and stepped back inside to make a clean break. With centre Ryan Jones in support he committed the last defender and put Jones in under the posts with the conversion a formality.

Although Brecon were now back to full strength it was Nelson’s turn to take control of the game. They played with pace and intensity and some good interplay between forwards and backs saw second row Lloyd Ford crash over in the corner.

Following two quick scores Brecon suddenly trailed by 12 points and needed to regroup. This they did inspired to a large extent by the work of captain Ewan Williams, Davey Herdman, his partner in the back row and front row Richie Davies and Jonathan Bowen. As the half was drawing towards its conclusion Brecon were rewarded for their industry. A neatly worked front line out peal led a penalty which Ewan Williams took quickly and again showed great hands as he popped the ball out of the tackle to Ioan Edwards who crossed for a try.

The second half started promisingly. Dean Gunter kicked an early penalty to reduce the deficit to four points as Brecon took territorial control of the game.

Once again they only had themselves to blame for not capitalising on that advantage. Three times the final pass in the left corner was either spilled or failed to find its target and that inaccuracy was to prove very costly. Another good attack from a scrum just 10 metres out created an overlap but the wide pass was picked off by wing Bleddyn Yates who sprinted unopposed the length of the field to score under the posts, allowing Alex Edmunds the simplest of conversions.

Brecon hit back with another penalty but now Nelson showed just how to be clinical in finishing. Brecon kicked out of defence but the chase was not well organised. Wing Edmunds spotted space behind the advancing line, chipped over, re-gathered and raced away to score a try which he converted.

Brecon now looked dispirited and were beginning to look desperate while Nelson were buoyant. Attempting to run out of defence Brecon lost the ball and Nelson gathered and drove over for their sixth try and a 40 points to 18 lead. As a contest the game seemed over with Brecon facing an embarrassing defeat.

However, the game took another twist as Brecon gradually started to take control at the scrum and while not being totally dominant it was enough to put Brecon the front foot. From a scrum 5 metres out Ewan Williams broke blind and scored what at first seemed to be a consolation try. Then Jake Crockett made a searing run down the left flank and as the cover got to him he was able to put Ewan Williams away for a try which Gunter converted.

A losing bonus point was now a possibility but with just minutes remaining that was all that it appeared to be until Crockett made another break which took him clear of the home defence and under the posts.

Gunter’s conversion put Brecon just three points behind but any thought of an unlikely victory was soon vanquished with the referee’s final whistle.