Brecon Youth 18 Penygraig Youth 12
A WILD, wet and windy Saturday at Parc de Pugh saw Brecon Youth XV welcome table toppers Penygraig for a vital league clash.
The fixture was the return following Brecon’s visit to the Rhondda Valley in the first league game of the season, a journey that saw them returning home having suffered a narrow defeat.
Following the initial fixture, Brecon were aware that they were facing a strong and well organised outfit, although the earlier game on a narrow pitch had given them the belief that if they could compete with space available then they would stand themselves in good stead.
It was with some initial trepidation that the home team turned up in conditions that would not necessarily support a high tempo game, although the season has shown that this squad of players are committed to an expansive approach whatever the conditions.
Having won the toss, the home skipper Richie Davies chose to play into the strong wind blowing from the town end, a tactic based on containing the opponents game and looking to utilise their good fitness levels in the latter period.
The game, given the conditions took on a predictable pattern as the visitors pressed strongly to secure an advantage with the elements at their backs, with the Number 8 and fly half, in particular, impressing.
Skipper Davies, as he has done all season, led the way in directing the home team’s defensive efforts and he was ably supported by his forward pack colleagues, Olly Jones, Dan Stroud, Owain Williams, Rowan Starkey, Jon Davies, Harry Preece, and Callun James.
They were very competitive in the tackle area, with centre pairing James Price and Lee Parkinson also proving strong in these areas. Half backs Jac Powell and Wil Trumper were very composed in relieving pressure with some good yardage on their kicks, whilst the back three of Lauchie Rourke Davies, Ryan Price, and Dafydd Edwards looked to run the ball back against the elements, often to great effect.
The visitors pressed strongly for the first quarter however, and were duly rewarded when they scored the first try of the game wide on the right. A superb conversion from the touchline, in appalling conditions, gave them a seven point advantage from which they sought to build up a buffer that they could then defend against the elements.
Conversely however, this also coincided with an increasing confidence with ball in hand from the hosts, and they ran strongly back against their visiting opponents on numerous occasions.
Davies, Edwards, the two Prices, Powell, Trumper, and James were all prominent in this regard, and they managed to gain strong footholds in terms of territory and possession. This controlled period of possession and phase play ultimately saw James crash over the line for the home team’s first score.
The conditions meant that the try was not converted, although this did not deter the home team as they immediately ran back at Penygraig from the restart, and were soon camped deep in the visiting 22 metre area.
A similar pattern of play evolved as Brecon retained possession and pressed through putting the ball through the hands and phases with, this time, Will Trumper finally spotting an opportunity from which he plunged over the line to take the hosts into what was an unexpected, although well deserved, lead.
Again, the conversion failed against the elements, although the remainder of the half saw Brecon return to the attack immediately and, to initial surprise, a Penygraig indiscretion resulted in a penalty some 40 metres out from which the decision was made to kick for goal. Undaunted by earlier misses, full back Edwards stepped up to stroke the ball over to gain a 13-7 advantage for the host team as the first half drew to a close.
As the team’s regathered for the half time break, it was the home coaching team of Martin Keylock and Huw Phillips who would have been the happier with what, bearing in mind the influential weather conditions, would have been a relatively unexpected advantage.
The advice would have been to carry on playing with poise and confidence, and to ensure that there were no unforced errors and that the decision making was composed.
The visiting team however, were somewhat stung by the fact that they had not perhaps made full and effective use of the elements, and they approached the second period of play with real commitment and desire.
Brecon were guilty of a series of needless errors in the early stages of the second half, and this enabled the impressive visitors to gain significant possession and to press strongly, adapting the home team’s first half tactics of keeping the ball in hand.
This initial period of controlled Penygraig play was, rightly, rewarded with the men in black scoring a further try of their own to bring them within a point of their hosts.
The home support were becoming increasingly concerned at this time, as the Brecon team became increasingly guilty of some erratic decision making, and errors coming as they forced the play too much.
Penygraig were, ultimately, unable to take advantage of this, and it became clear that their strong forward pack started to tire as the half wore on. One of the more impressive facets of the Brecon squad this season has been the fitness levels of all the players, and the bench has been hugely influential in all games when used so far.
This proved to be the case again, as powerful forwards Chris Gould and Will Prosser played an increasing part in proceedings, and the whole team regained a certain level of composure that saw them take control of the final quarter of the game.
During this time they pressed strongly and repeatedly, and the pressure they exerted saw the visitors take more and more risks as they sought to press from deep. This pressure, allied to the fitness levels of the home team, meant that Penygraig started making mistakes of their own and also conceding a number of penalties.
Whilst some of these were not directly converted into points, from one Will Prosser took a quick tap from where he ran strongly from 20 metres out and, despite some desperate defence, he managed to cross the line for a score that proved invaluable to the hosts, increasing their lead to 18-12.
The pattern of the game at this stage meant it unlikely that the home team would let that advantage slip, and they were able to comfortably control the play until the final whistle of a game referred with empathy in the trying conditions.
It was the first time that Penygraig have had their colours lowered in the league, and the home team can be very pleased with a promising result against worthy opponents.
The league is evolving such that Brecon have brought themselves back into some level of contention, although they and their coaches will know that they need to work hard to maintain these levels, particularly fitness wise, for the second half of the season.