Fixture

After a week without a game, because their league opponents Porth Harlequins were still involved in the WRU Plate, it was back to business for the Barry 1^st XV last Saturday when they travelled to Clydach Vale for an East Central league 1 fixture against old rivals Cambrian Welfare RFC. With a number of regular first team players unavailable it was an opportunity for other members of the squad to make their mark and they did not disappoint the travelling supporters.

In calm but overcast conditions, the home side started well from the kick off and put immediate pressure on Barry for the first 5 minutes or so and it looked as though they might well take an early lead. However, because of some resolute defending by Barry and some long relieving kicks from their half back pair Kyle Barros and Einan Scott, they were denied from doing so.

Barry tried hard to set up some attacking moves but were denied by the home side who were equally resolute in defence and continually stopped them in their tracks. However, after a pointless 15 minutes or so play of the first half it was Cambrian Welfare who struck the first blow. A moment of transgression from one of the Barry eight led to a penalty being awarded against them and the home fly half Julian Huntley converted the kick from just outside the 25 metre line.  

For the next 10 minutes or so of play the game was evenly balance with both sides setting up attacking moves which the opposition managed to stop. Over zealousness by Barry in this period led to a penalty kick being awarded to Cambrian in their own half. The kick found touch 30 metres or so from the Barry line and from the resulting touch throw Cambrian set up a take and drive which was deemed to be pulled down by a member of the Barry pack. This led to another penalty which was duly converted by the home No 10 Julian Huntley.

With no points on the board Barry started to put pressure on the home side for the rest of the first half. In their over eagerness to stop this one of the home pack transgressed, and he was shown a yellow card.  Scrum-Half Kyle Barros made no mistake with the ensuing penalty kick putting three points on the board for the visitors. Minutes later after continuous pressure by Barry they transgressed again and Barros levelled the scoreboard with a fine kick to bring the sides level.

Half Time: Cambrian Welfare 6 Barry 6

With points on the board Barry started to attack from the restart and this put a lot of pressure on the home side. Five minutes later a penalty was awarded to Barry 50 metres out and Barros made no mistake with his excellent long range kick. The Barry fifteen were now in top gear and continued their attack to try and exploit the visitor’s weaknesses. The pressure paid off in the 55^th minute when one of the Cambrian backs was judged to be offside and Kyle Barros was able to add the extra points to put Barry into a six-point lead. 5 minutes later another penalty was awarded to Barry and reliable Barros added the three points from the half way line.

With Cambrian needing two scores to win and 15 minutes or so left, one might have expected Barry to take their foot of the gas but this was not to be. Barry continued to put pressure on the visitors and in the 78^th minute of play scored the only try of the match after a fine run by Brad White warding off defensive players in his wake. Barros added the extra points and Barry had a 22 to 6 points lead with only injury time to be played.

Full Time: Cambrian Welfare 6 Barry 22

This was a credible and gutsy performance by Barry to give them their second away win out of three played in their new division. One remarkable feature about this whole game was that it was predominantly played between the two 25 metre lines. The only time that either side got near to a goal line was when Barry scored their try in the 79^th minute.

Team: Alyn Evans, Lucas Davies, Sam Bowditch, Rob Williams, Sion Vidal, Garth Peake, John Miles Jake Goodfellow, Kyle Barros, Einan Scott, Tom Perry, Brad White, Ross Merrills, Wayne Jones

And Danny Ryan.

Subs: Dave Evans, Matt Jones, Frank Peake, Luke Hewitson and Evan wall

Next Match: East Central League 1 on Saturday October 26th versus St. Josephs home at Reservoir Field K.O 2.30pm.

Barry RFC Mega4 Lottery Numbers for Saturday 19^th October 2019:  3, 7, 16 and 23. No overall winner this week and prize increases to £5,500. Two tickets matched 3.

CWH