WRU Division East
Brecon welcomed the respected Caerleon squad to Parc de Pugh for an eagerly anticipated fixture.
The early exchanges of the first half were redolent of people’s perceptions of the relative strengths of both teams, with the gladiatorial confrontation of two committed forward packs being set as a counterpoint to the ambitions of the players, particularly the Brecon three-quarter line, to exploit the wider areas of the home team’s ‘fast track’ playing surface.
Home centres Efion Jones and Cam Gardner made inroads into the Caerleon defence but were unable to convert there attacks into scores, indicating a certain lack of accuracy at crucial times although the team was showing a positive attacking and creative intent.
Brecon were also guilty of some unforced errors and indiscipline and, with an early yellow card having put the home team on the back foot, the visitors pressed, initially landing a three point penalty and then setting a sold attacking platform through their driving line out, through which they ultimately scored the game’s first try, with one of their forwards plunging over. The conversion by the composed visiting full back, adding to his earlier penalty, gave Caerleon the advantage with fly half Dean Gunter’s penalty the only response from the home side.
This seemed to rally the home team who, back to full strength, started to gain the territorial and possessional upper hand.A Caerleion error as they pressed deep into Brecon territory, saw scrum half Lewis Cooke break away on a 50 metre dash before feeding full back Jake Crockett ,who was flying up in support, to run in under the posts unopposed, having outpaced the remaining Caerleon defence.
It was through a possibly more mundane, but notably effective, route that their next score came when, following a line out secured through a penalty, the home pack pressed forward with excellent control before releasing powerful flanker Chris Davies who, showing the more positive aspect of his lively contributions, drove over through a couple of tacklers to score a well deserved five pointer.
At this stage, Brecon looked to be dominant, and it would not be a disrespectful to the visiting team to say that the home support was looking to guess where the next try would come from.
It would come after deft handling saw second row Jarryd Davies released in the wider channels. He bounced off the Caerleon defenders before touching down for a try that was, collectively and individually, hugely impressive.
Further contributions from Gunter’s boot, saw Brecon leading 19-10 at half-time. The opening skirmishes of the second half saw Brecon look to move the ball at every available opportunity, and build on an increasingly powerful and dominant scrum. The home crowd would also have appreciated the effort of the visiting Caerleon squad who looked to rise to the attacking challenge.
It took a moment of real quality to break down the stubborn visiting defence with Gunter, taking on a more lateral route that was supplemented by an intelligent, and distracting, running angle from Gardner, managing to create sufficient space with a deft touch of hand that allowed partner Jones to split the visiting back line and take the aerial route to the try line as he ‘flew’ in under the posts.
The additional converted points gave the home team a reasonable cushion to give them confidence to seek to claim the victory a bonus point should they score a further try.
They attacked and probed through differing tactical means, with all players being prominent and buying into the team’s offensive ambitions. It was rather ironic therefore that the next score came through a counter attacking opportunity as Caerleon pressed strongly. Winger Dafydd Edwards was able to win the ball in contact from where he kicked over the opponents defence into space created by their earlier commitment to attack.
Full back Crockett showed great pace again as he pressurised a retreating defender, causing the ball to break free. Flanker Ioan Edwards was first in support and he gathered the ball to continue pressing forward. The visiting defence was in disarray and, as he was tackled, he had options either side of him that wold have led to a score. He chose the safer option of pleasing his mother as he passed to the ball to younger brother Dafydd, who had also followed his kick ahead, to receive the pass and outstrip the last defender to score in the corner, securing the bonus point. Gunter added the touchline conversion,.
Needless to say, and consistent with how they had performed throughout the game, Caerleon were not going to submit and accept that, particularly when the home team were reduced to 14, and they dominated the closing exchanges to such an extent that they added two further scores of their own, the first from some typically driving forward play, and the second a score of real quality as their fly half stepped the pressing defence and raced in from 35 metres for a converted score that, when the final whistle arrived, meant that the scoreboard showed a 33-24 scoreline that was a credit to both teams.