Saturday 17th January 2026
Brecon Athletic 48 v Old Penarthians 7
Old Penarthians returned to mid-Wales last Saturday after an abortive trip two weeks earlier when their match against Llandrindod Wells was called off due to a frozen pitch. A decision which should have been made by the home team before Penarthians had travelled to the venue. This time the match against Brecon Athletic was never in doubt and whilst the result was also never in doubt from the moment the Division 5 East Central league leaders crossed for their first try in four minute, an understrength visiting team still performed with courage and commitment and managed to score the last try of the game in a 48-7 defeat.
As has been reported previously there is a fundamental flaw in the league structure that allows second XVs of clubs who appear in the Championship level of the WRU leagues to compete against genuine Division 5 players. The players from these teams are either former Championship players or are competing to play at that level. Yes, it is a challenge that the Division 5 players are pitting themselves against better players but ultimately a genuine contest is never going to result. As is shown by the fact that the two Athletic XVs dominate the top of the league table.
It is a less comfortable situation for Old Penarthians as the loss against Brecon, and a victory for Llandrindod Wells, sees the side drop into the relegation places
The game against Brecon was played at a lively pace with the home team forwards dominating the early scrummage set pieces and the threequarters running direct lines to create spaces out wide. And it was an amalgamation of these attributes that resulted in the first two home team tries and a 12-0 lead in eight minutes.
Penarthians were not without some attacking opportunities themselves despite limited possession and one thrust through mid-field by Connor Christie saw him break the defence to pass to Cae Williams. Williams ran with purpose but as he was about to release Ieuan Harris and Steff Davies he was tackled from behind and the ball went forward.
It was however mainly a defensive afternoon for the Old Pens and their commitment led by captain Joe Francis-Oaten, having probably his best game in a senior club shirt, could not be faulted. He was supported throughout the first half by Liam Brooks, Jack Chandler, Will Davis, Tyler Carter and James Reynolds but the pressure from Brecon was always too much and after 31 minutes they had scored 29 unanswered points and collected their 4-try bonus point
One further try before the break left the half time score 34-0 to Brecon. During the interval hooker Dan Jones had to leave the field to be replaced by Jac Davies, playing on permit from Sully Sports, with Josh Alcock replacing Liam Brooks. This meant that two front row forwards had left the field and Old Pens had insufficient front row cover and had to resort to passive scrums. To their credit Brecon allowed the visitors to retain fifteen players on the fields whereas the letter-of-the-law required the team electing to go to passive to play the remainder of the game with one less player.
The decision did at least blunt one of the Brecon advantages at scrum time and allow some better possession to the Penarthians threequarters. Opportunities did arise and Ethan Galsworthy and Ollie Moir distributed well to bring Williams, Christie and Richie Moir into the game. The Brecon defence however stayed strong and no real scoring chances resulted. The chances that did arise unfortunately fell to Brecon with the pick of the day’s tries coming from controlled phases of forward play in their own twenty-two before releasing the backs for a length of the pitch score under the posts. One other try followed for a 48-0 lead and the fifty points within grasp with 15 minutes still remaining.
Much to the visitors credit they rallied and with the final play of the game from a scrum on the right hand side of the pitch three quick passes put Harris into space who ran a line inside the opposition winger and around the defending full back to score a try which was converted by Ollie Moir. These seven points avoided the whitewash and brought the referee’s final whistle to a 48-7 defeat.
Next Saturday sees the first of two very important home fixtures, which could shape the rest of the Old Penarthians season, when they host Glyncoch at Cwrt-y-vil in a game which kicks off at 2.30pm before meeting with bottom of the table Treherbert a week later.