Brecon travelled west to face Llanelli Wanderers knowing that, other than a mathematical miracle, their chances of avoiding relegation had evaporated.

Their opponents, on the other hand, started the match knowing that a bonus-point win would secure their future in next season’s Premiership. The Wanderers were, therefore, the team with the incentive to pull out all the stops and bring their relegation battle to a successful end. For Brecon, the contest was a matter of pride, mixed with the desire to head into the closing fixtures on a high.

They started well enough. They dominated possession deep in the Wanderers’ half, with Rhys Davies, Chad Thomas and Ioan Edwards prominent. However, in spite of what seemed to be a promising position, they could never quite break down the home defence and finally had to settle for a Jake Newman penalty to give them a three-point lead.

Brecon could have hoped for more from that opening salvo, but they would have been encouraged by the way they took the game to the Wanderers. However, what transpired during the remainder of the first half would certainly not have filled the squad with pride.

Brecon were almost immediately brought down to earth with a clinical piece of play which was beautifully executed and led to a try. Brecon’s clearance from the kick-off took play to a line-out on their ten-metre line. The Wanderers won the ball cleanly and, with quick hands, moved it to outside centre Nick Gale, who cut outside his opposite number, forcing the Brecon wing to move in to make the tackle and leave wing Lewis Jones in space. The pass to the wing was perfect and the home side took the lead.

The play was a warning of what Llanelli Wanderers were capable of, and for the remainder of the half Brecon found it difficult to deal with. Their problems were compounded as they regularly lost possession in contact, failed to consistently secure their line-out and their kicking out of hand rarely put their opponents under any pressure, either territorially or by allowing them to compete for the ball in the air.

It wasn’t long before the Wanderers extended their lead. A poor kick, followed by a dropped ball from the return, gave the home team an attacking platform. They again went wide and Jones claimed his second try.

Brecon lifted their game somewhat and, spurred on by the graft of the back row of Ioan Edwards, Matthew Williams and Kieron Parry, they created a couple of opportunities. Wing Chad Davies went close and Ioan Edwards was hauled down on five metres after a neat front-of-the-line peel. The failure to score was costly. A high tackle led to a penalty on Brecon’s 22. The Wanderers kicked for the corner, won the line-out and clinically scored from the ensuing maul, with Lee Watkins converting.

Again, Brecon threatened after good runs by Joel Price and Matthew Williams, but yet again Brecon lost the ball in contact and a huge clearance kick forced them to drop out on their goal line. The Wanderers attacked and play was halted when Brecon were deemed to have deliberately knocked on, with a player dispatched to the sin bin. It had been hard for Brecon with a full team; now, a man short, it was disastrous. In the remaining five minutes of the half they conceded two further tries to leave the field at half-time 29 points to 3 down.

At the start of the second half, Brecon’s play undoubtedly showed signs of improvement. They almost scored with a rolling maul, only for the referee to penalise the Brecon eight for what he deemed a “truck and trailer” action. That lost opportunity was costly. From a line-out on halfway, wing Lee Watkins carved through midfield and created a third try for Jones.

By now, however, Brecon were far more competitive. On five metres, Brecon’s front row of Andy Nicholl, Arwel Hughes and Iwan Dowling Jones drove the home pack back and forced a scrum of their own. From the base they went left and then switched play right with a kick for wing Llewelyn Brown. He gathered brilliantly, catching the ball on a dive in the in-goal area to score.

Sadly, Brecon allowed their opponents another opportunity when they knocked the ball on at the base of a scrum and conceded a penalty. Llanelli went for the corner, won the line-out, set a maul and scored to take the score to 41 points to 10 with ten minutes to play.

Brecon responded immediately when Brown scored his second try, winning the race to a kick through a flat defence. They then added their third when they won a penalty at a scrum. From the line-out in the home 22, their maul made ground to the try line and hooker Arwel Hughes scored.

The final score of 41 points to 20 was a fair reflection of a game which Brecon lost during a poor first-half performance.