Brecon Athletic brought their season to an end with an exciting cup final victory against Beddau Chuckles at Abercwmboi.

Brecon started the better of the two teams and claimed an early lead when outside half Gareth Price slotted a penalty between the uprights. 

Beddau were then forced to defend but showed great resilience and held out in spite of some powerful surges from the likes of props Iwan Dowling Jones and Josh Hamilton, the back row pairing of Davey Herdman and Matthew Williams and second row Will Prosser.

Apart from the stubbornness of the opposition, Brecon also suffered from an underperforming line-out. Frequently they worked themselves into good positions only to fail to win the ball cleanly at the set piece. Beddau capitalised and Kaelum Bundy levelled the scores with a penalty.

It wasn’t long before Brecon hit back to restore their lead with a superb try through Rhodri Jenkins, following good work from James Hellard, Rhys Peters and Ben Griffin. Price knocked over the conversion.

Brecon should have increased their lead before half-time as they dominated territory and came close on a number of occasions but Beddau remained in the fight with last ditch tackles and turnovers helping their cause.

In the second half, Sam Davies got on the scoresheet for Brecon with a brilliant interception try.

Brecon now led by 15 points to three, but Beddau upped their game. They earned their reward in bizarre fashion. It looked as if they had scored wide out on the left but the referee brought them back for a penalty to Brecon, only for that to be reversed on the advice of the assistant referee. Brecon player received a yellow card and Beddau took a tap penalty. Flanker Harry Bryant drove through a tackle and crossed for a try.

Now with the lead cut to seven points nerves started to jangle but not as much as they did when Beddau reduced the lead to just two points following a try from right wing Jordan Coombes.

Worse was to follow when almost immediately Brecon were caught offside and on the 76th minute, Bunday gave Beddau the lead with his second penalty.

The dream of a cup final win for Brecon almost seemed over but with Dewi Edwards, Matthew Williams, Davey Herdman and captain Josh Millichap, leading by example, won Brecon a penalty. With the front line kickers struggling with injuries the responsibility was handed over to Ben Griffin. He was forced to wait for several nerve-jangling minutes as an injury was dealt with but finally, he stroked the ball between the uprights and effectively sealed Brecon’s cup victory with just two minutes remaining.

At the final whistle Brecon were jubilant, while Beddau, who had fought back brilliantly and were within minutes of victory themselves, saw their hopes dashed with the referee’s final blast. 

In the final debriefing, team manager and coach, Gari Davies, who has managed the side brilliantly throughout the season, thanked the players for their efforts throughout the match and the season as a whole.