Fixture

Tries:   Evans

Cons:   A Adams

Barry 2^nd XV were back in league action against the same opponents who knocked them out of the cup last weekend.

Coaches Rhidian Scott and Martin Tanner and manager Ken Chow were afforded the luxury, for the first time this season, of no players dropping out after selection on Thursday.  This saw the return of Rhys O’Sullivan and Dave Taylor from injury to form a formidable front row, and also a first start of the season for Luke Bounds in centre.

With the underfoot conditions difficult for running rugby, it was a case of the two packs of forwards testing each other out in the early periods.  St Peters showed a better utilisation of the rolling maul from their well-executed line-outs, but Barry had the upper hand in the breakdown and scrum.

Barry soon found their rhythm and quick ball from Rhidian Mepham was turned into good territory and possession by fly-half and captain Joel Williams.  An infringement by the away side in front of the posts was converted into three points by Ashley Adams to give Barry the lead.

The away side could not find the right pass or tactics this time round to unlock the Barry defence, and strong runs from Jordan Clarke, Chris Deyes and O’Sullivan saw Barry force another penalty, again converted by Adams.

Barry missed several guilt-edged opportunities to score the elusive try, as the decision making in the opposition’s twenty-two, combined with some horrendous examples of white-line fever, saw chances go begging.

Instead Barry had to rely on Adams’ boot to further their advantage to give his side a 9-0 lead at the interval.

The away side briefly threatened to get back in the game early on in the second half, when a powerful rolling maul saw them stopped just short of the Barry line.  A secondary drive seemingly saw them cross the whitewash, but the potential scorer was held up by the impressive Clarke.  The resultant attacking St Peters scrum was demolished by Hall, O’Sullivan and Taylor, drawing a penalty to relieve the pressure.  St Peters were not to threaten the Barry line again.

The visitors’ answer to Barry’s powerful pack was to withdraw their prop forwards so that the scrum became passive, but the hosts responded by bringing on Lee Jones and Dave Evans to freshen up their pack to counter that tactic.

Barry looked the more likely despite the disruption, and after Taylor had narrowly missed out in scoring near the posts, more home pressure saw the ball finally spread out wide to Evans, who powered through multiple tackles to touch down for his first try of the season.  Adams failed to add the extras but the game was won.

This was a thoroughly deserved victory for Barry and all 19 players of the squad contributed to the win.  Let us hope this is a sign for things to come.

Team:  Russell; Clarke, A Adams, Bounds, D Williams; J Williams ©, Mepham; Hall, O’Sullivan, Taylor; Deyes, Dutton; Goodfellow, Frenay, Moyle

Replacements:  Turnbull, Evans, Jones, T Adams

Man-of-the-match:  Frenay