Fixture

Tries:         Rolfe, Case, Dutton

Cons:        Russell (3)

Barry 2^nd travelled to the capital to face Clwb Rygbi as they hope to build on the momentum from last weekend’s win.

Coaches Rhidian Scott and Martin Tanner were yet again rocked with the late withdrawal of Curtis Miller within hours of kick off, and were forced to reshuffle the pack.  There were recalls for Nick Rolfe, James Sullivan and Luke Bounds, whilst Joel Williams continued at fly-half after impressing last weekend from the bench.

In atrocious conditions at Llandaff Fields, both sides tried to play a brand of attractive running rugby from the off but soon regained common sense as the forwards took over.  It was the home side who adapted to the conditions quicker, taking advantage of some loose Barry tackling in the first quarter to score a try underneath the posts.

Barry were jolted into action and began to lay siege to the Clwb line.  Buoyed by the dominant front row of Gareth Hall, Lee Turnbull and Ben Such, who were winning scrums with ease, Barry made inroads deep into the home twenty-two and were finally rewarded as following a series of forward drives, Rolfe powered over for his first try of the season.  Matt Russell was successful with the conversion from an impossible angle out wide.

The momentum had swung and Barry continued to dominate in the set piece and were also winning the battle in the contact area.  Powerful surges from Remy Frenay, Lloyd Dutton and Ben Such saw another attack on the home line, and despite some desperate Clwb tackling captain Kyle Case was the next to score.  Russell added the extras to give the Glamorgan side a 14-7 lead at half time.

Barry seemed to be in control for most of the second half but with playing conditions deteriorating neither side could venture much into an attacking position.  It was the home side who had more possession, and often found space out wide, but good cover tackling from Rhidian Mepham, Dutton and Frenay prevented any score.

It took the official to intervene as he controversially binned Case after an offence in the ruck, and with a mismatch in numbers the home side equalised with a try out wide. 

With only 14 men Barry continued to probe and played a sensible game of tight rugby, putting the Clwb eight under enormous pressure.  Slowly gaining a foothold in an attacking position, the Barry forwards drove patiently for the line, and after a number of unsuccessful attempts, there was no stopping Dutton as he crashed over from two yards.  Russell was again on target with his conversion to give Barry a 7 point lead with just minutes to go.

Unfortunately just like last weekend, the green-and-whites failed to close out the game, and this time there was to be no reprieve as the home side took full advantage to score a try through some tired tackling. 

The home side mounted one last attack after a controversial decision by the referee at the scrum, but a superb cover tackle by substitute Luke Bounds put paid to that and the game ended on a pulsating 21-21 draw.

Whilst both management and players will agree there was room for improvement, the performance and effort in the last two weekends have been superb and after a slow start to the season Barry would hope to kick on for the rest of the campaign.

Barry 2^nd XV host Dinas Powys next weekend whilst 3^rd XV are home to St Albans.

Team:  Mepham; D Williams, Peake, Russell, Knapman; J Williams, Gallivan; Hall, Turnbull, Such; Dutton, Case ©; L Jones, Frenay, Rolfe

Replacements:  Sullivan, McTavish, Evans, Bounds

Man-of-the-match:  Dutton