Barry Sport
Barrians beaten in tough away match
8:00am Thursday 2nd February 2012
THE BARRIANS were soundly beaten in this tough away fixture at Llanishen.
With many players unavailable or fatigued after Wednesday night’s fixture, it was always going to be a difficult task to face up to a well-organised outfit away from home.
The disorganised arrival of the away team was reflected in the first half performance, where Llanishen ran riot against a patched up Barrians defence.
The set pieces did give player-manager Ken Chow some positives, with the front row dominating in the scrum and the line-out functioning well with the available-again Dave Hosking directing matters.
Unfortunately the tackling was sub standard for most of the half, despite some decent individual performances, most notably from David Williams, Hosking and Owain Poole.
Chow made ruthless changes on half-time and brought on an array of substitutes, with all of them making a difference, particularly in the breakdown area.
Owain Poole had a great chance early in the second half when he broke through with the line in his sights, only to be tackled just short when he could have passed on to the supporting Kyle Rendall.
Llanishen found the going tougher in the second period as the defensive work by the Barrians line improved, especially after the introduction of Cieran Thomas, who was returning from long term injury.
Chow finally introduced himself into the match in the foreign position of full-back but he barely made an impact as the away side continued to struggle for possession.
Centre David Williams did finally manage a consolation score as his strong run was rewarded with a try in the corner. Substitute Ethan Dix bisected the posts perfectly from a seemingly impossible angle.
Ultimately the game was lost but in the second half the away side at least put up a fight and the players can return home with their heads held high.
Team: T. Poole; Boffy, D. Williams, M. Jones, Jenkins; R. Williams, Lee; J. Thomas, Hosking, Houldey; Lundy, Hall; L. Jones, O. Poole, Rolfe.
Subs used: Rendall, Summerhayes, C. Thomas, Dix, Chow.
Man-of-the-match: D. Williams.