Fixture

Tries:         Peake, W Jones

Cons:        W Jones, J Williams

Barry 2^nd XV were hoping to revive their league fortunes with the visit of Llanishen after a series of disappointing results.

Coaches Rhidian Scott and Martin Tanner were finally given the luxury of having just one late withdrawal on Saturday morning, and therefore were able to prepare a side that could potentially gain a result.

Dave Williams and Rhys Knapman both made their first appearances of the season, whilst there was a welcome return to injury for Joe Gallivan at scrum-half.

The better pre-match preparation was there for all to see as Barry adapted well to the conditions straight from kick-off, despite playing into the wind and against the slope.

The pressure applied by the Barry back-row of Lee Jones, Callum Scott and Curtis Miller told when Llanishen was forced to concede a penalty from kickable range, only for Wayne Jones to spurn that opportunity.

Llanishen came back into the game when they dominated territory in the second quarter of the half, but were unable to make the breakthrough as a combination of discipline defence and last-ditch tackling kept them abay.

Instead, Barry struck when a simple move initiated by Scott saw Garth Peake breaking through unopposed to score under the posts.  Jones added the extras.

The visitors continued to probe around the fringes but Barry held firm to lead 7-0 at the break.

Coach Scott sent on the reinforcements from the bench in the form of Ben Such and Joel Williams as the back-line reshuffled.  This initially did not have an impact as Llanishen reduced the deficit with an early penalty.

The backline settled somewhat on the hour mark, and there were clean breaks made by Knapman, Dave Williams, Peake and Miller, but none amounted to a score.

It was down to Wayne Jones, now at centre, who spotted a gap in the Llanishen defence to race through to score his second try of the season.  Joel Williams added the extras to give the hosts breathing space.

Barry should have gone further ahead but some poor decision making by backs and forwards alike saw opportunities spurned, no more so when Such ignored a six-men overlap to go for the line, only to saw himself held up just short.

Barry almost paid for their lack of ruthlessness with the try-line beckoning when Llanishen piled on the pressure in the closing stages following Kyle Case’s sin-binning.  With the clock ticking down the visitors earned a penalty try to reduce the deficit to 4.

With only a minute remaining Barry should have played out the game safely, but a combination of comical handling and good Llanishen recycling saw the visitors still within a chance of gaining an unlikely win.

The referee’s whistle to award a penalty to the hosts was a welcome relief for players and management alike, and Barry hung on for the first victory of the season.

The management would like to thank the players’ commitment this weekend and this just shows how much the squad could achieve if the coaches were allowed to prepare the team properly without having to deal with a ridiculous amount of late withdrawals.

2^nd XV visit Clwb Rygbi next weekend whilst 3^rd travel to Whitchurch.

Team:  Mepham; D Williams, Peake, Russell, Knapman; W Jones, Gallivan; Hall, Turnbull, Fortt; Deyes, Case ©; L Jones, Scott, Miller

Replacements:  Such, McTavish, Evans, J Williams

Man-of-the-match:  Deyes