A MEMORIAL rugby match in honour of a much-loved Builth Wells man will take place in the town tonight (Thursday, July 29).

The Murray Beehan Memorial Cup will take place between Powys rivals Builth and Gwernyfed and will be part of both teams’ pre-season warm-ups. Kick-off is at 7.30pm at the Bulls’ Groe home in the centre of town. The game will be played in four 20-minute quarters and has been organised in memory of popular Murray, who sadly passed away on December 30 last year, aged just 34.

The game has been organised by Murray’s youngest brother Ryan, who is a current Bulls player.

Murray, who had three kidney transplants as a child and yet went on to win a plethora of medals in the pool at the British and World Transplant Games, was Builth 2nds’ rugby team coach for many years, while his father Pat and younger brothers Sean and Ryan have all played or currently play for the club.

The funeral for Murray, known affectionately by all those who knew him as ‘Muz’ and who was referred to as “Mr Invincible” by his family, having beat all the odds early on to live a full and happy life, was held at St Mary’s Church in Builth on Saturday, January 16.

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Even though he had shielded for much of 2020, having being put in a high-risk category of catching coronavirus due to his pre-existing health problems, and especially after his third transplant failed four years ago, a Covid-19 test days before Christmas proved negative. Muz died suddenly after collapsing at home.

After suffering kidney failure at birth, Murray was on a dialysis machine for four hours a day until the age of five, when his third kidney transplant was successful.

After that operation in 1992, he played football and rugby for Builth at junior level before being forced to stop aged 13 because had a knock or tackle damaged his transplanted kidney, it could have killed him.

Rather than wallow, Murray channelled his energy elsewhere – athletics and swimming; fields where hard work and perseverance paid off and saw him win gold medals in the 100-metre sprint, long jump and three swimming disciplines at the 2002 British Transplant Games. Those feats earned him a place in the Team GB squad for the World Transplant Games a year later, in France. He competed again two years after in Canada and again in South Africa in 2013 – winning medals on each occasion.

His life was summed up fittingly by the fact Tina Turner’s classic ‘Simply the Best’ was played at the end of his funeral.