On the opening day of the season, Brecon were left with a hard-earned, losing bonus point, gained at the death with an important final converted try against Newbridge, writes Ron Rowsell.

Brecon started the game superbly, dominating possession and territory and doing everything but scoring during the first 15 minutes. They were dominant in the line-out and played with pace and width.

But as time moved on, there were two areas of concern. The scrum came under pressure and failed to provide a platform for good ball. There was also the fact that the dominance was not reflected on the scoreboard. 

A penalty miss was costly but finally Brecon broke the deadlock. Alwyn Lee stole a line-out and centre Jack Dixon combined well with Matthew Williams to make good ground down the right. Williams linked with Sam Jones who cut infield to link with Logan McIntosh who crashed through the last defender to score under the posts. Jake Newman converted.

But for the remainder of the half and certainly for the third quarter, Newbridge took control. The Newbridge scrum got on top and they won a few penalties.

The two major factors were the respective kicking games and physicality at the breakdown. Newbridge outside half and man of the match Simon Veall delivered a masterclass when kicking out of hand. By contrast, Brecon’s kicking game was poor.

Newbridge’s kicking off the tee was also accurate. Full back Robert Turley opened his team’s account with a penalty after Newbridge won territory following Brecon’s first try. He then converted Veall’s try following a long period of pressure, to take the lead just before the half-time whistle.

The boot again dominated scoring in the early in the second half with Veall’s drop goal and another Turley penalty.

However, as the game entered the final quarter, Brecon hit back. Off a rejuvenated scrum on half way, two of Brecon’s stand-out players combined. Ryan Davies made the initial midfield before Sam Jones scored in the corner. 

Now four points down Brecon had an opportunity to pull themselves back into the game but successive penalties denied them. The first led to a line-out catch, drive and try for Luke Morgan and a Turley conversion followed by a third penalty.

Looking at returning home empty handed, Brecon responded. Joseph Griffiths made an impact off the bench with some powerful runs but just small errors prevented a score until Jack Dixon made a run for the line. He was halted short, but, with Newbridge on the back foot, hooker Geraint Clarke picked off he next pass and drove over the line for Brecon’s third try, which Newman converted. 

The final whistle brought the curtain down on the season’s opening encounter. 

With Brecon hosting Neath at Parc de Pugh next Saturday, life doesn’t get any easier but if they can sustain the, tempo, accuracy and patience they showed in the first 20 and final 10 minutes then there is reason to believe that a famous victory is a possibility.