Penallta 29 Brecon 16

BRECON travelled to face league leaders Penallta knowing that their opponents would be looking for a big win after they suffered their first defeat of the season in their last league match.

With rain being driven on by a strong wind and with the ground saturated it was a relief to know that the match had been switched to the Ystrad Mynach 4G artificial pitch.

Playing into the wind, Brecon knew that they would face early pressure and were well prepared. An early Penallta attack was halted when Davey Herdman stole the ball and broke away.

Brecon immediately showed that they were not going to be intimidated by the pace and confidence of their opponents and carried the game to Penallta. A lovely switch inside from Gari Davies led to an Eifion Jones break, which was halted just short of the line. Brecon did score to take the lead when Gari Davies kicked a penalty but in some ways were disappointed to come away with just the three points.

Stung by this early setback Penallta attacked first through their driving line out which Brecon held up just short of the line and then by sweeping the ball wide. Brecon resisted and cleared to half way but a clumsy tap back in the line out, put Brecon under all sorts of pressure and finally outside half Jonny Wright broke through to score in the corner.

The play that followed was fluent and surprisingly free from errors considering the wet slippery ball. Both sides went for width but defences held firm until Penallta finally found the way around the outside allowing right wing Elliott Keep to score in the corner and Wright kicked the conversion.

This was an anxious moment for the Brecon supporters as they wondered whether Penallta would now break away but the anxiety was unnecessary as Brecon worked their way back into the game. They gained territory and eventually were rewarded with a second Gari Davies penalty.

With Brecon’s front row of Ryan Harris, Elgan Lewis and Gareth Owens matching their opponents in the scrum and with Danny Howe and Daffydd Thomas working hard from the second row Brecon matched their opponents for the remainder of the half to go into the break just six points down.

Starting the second half with the wind at their backs Brecon looked to control territory. The pressure they applied led to a penalty and Davies reduced the arrears to just three points.

With the game beginning to swing in their favour Brecon deservedly took the lead. Andrew Hosie and Ewan Williams combined to steal a turn-over in the Brecon half and Jake Newman put in a high kick.

Penallta failed to cover the kick which hung on the wind and Newman was first to the bouncing ball. He hacked through and clear of the defence. With the ball bouncing awkwardly in front of him he showed great composure in waiting to collect and dive over for the try. Davies converted and gave Brecon the lead.

For some time Brecon held their lead and threatened but gradually Penallta began to sustain pressure and gain territory. With less than twenty minutes remaining they kicked a penalty to the corner. Their line out drive was halted illegally and from a quick tap penalty prop Andrew Dix drove over to give the home side a slender one point lead.

The build up to that try pointed the way forward for the Penallta team and once they gained a line out on the Brecon 22 there was no doubt about what would ensue.

The maul was driven and finally halted on the Brecon line but Penallta were not to be denied and when the ball emerged from the collapsed maul, scrum half Matthew Flanagan darted over and Wright again converted.

Brecon battled back but Penallta were now taking control of the game and scored a final try when left wing Matthew Brewer outflanked the Brecon defence.

Now with the game all but decided Brecon spent the final minutes pressing in the home 22.

In areas of the game where Penallta had been clinical, Brecon failed to score and the entertaining game ended as Penallta cleared the ball to touch.

In spite of the loss Brecon will have been heartened by the performance and will look forward to the challenge that Senghenydd will pose at Parc de Pugh on Saturday.