Barry Sport
First home defeat of season for Barry RFC
8:20am Thursday 16th February 2012
BARRY RFC 11 ABERCWMBOI RFC 16
IT WAS a pleasure to meet old friends from North Berwick before and after the fixture last Saturday. The first game between Barry and the Scottish club was played way back in 1958 and many long-term friendships have been forged since then.
Conditions could not have been better with firm ground underfoot and a clear blue sky overhead. Neither Barry, nor fellow mid-tablers Abercwmboi, had played for a fortnight and the opening skirmishes exhibited the rustiness to be expected.
Playing uphill, Barry were in the lead after 10 minutes, courtesy of a long-range penalty by Lee. Abercwmboi now settled down to play some good rugby through their dangerous and speedy backs.
They created enough pressure to force Barry on to the defensive and earned a penalty on the home 10-metre line. The kick was well stuck and just cleared the crossbar to square the scores.
Each side each picked up a further penalty during another period of scrappy play. Unfortunately each side also picked up a yellow card, following a large-scale melee on the half way line.
Barry squandered a good chance for a try wide out on the left, running out of space when someone needed to have straightened the line. Despite the efforts of hooker Evans, Hollister and Parker, the end of the first half saw the match evenly balanced at 6 points apiece.
The second session started very brightly for the home XV, with a very good try for Provis from broken play. His fellow backs worked hard to free him from 40 metres and he made no mistake on the run-in. Lee completed the conversion with ease.
Following this reverse Abercwmboi roused themselves and began to put the home defence under continuous pressure. Whilst Barry ignored the obvious tactical choice of kicking downhill for position, they were always going to spend long periods defending deep in their own half.
The inevitable penalty arrived which allowed their opponents to cut the deficit with a further penalty.
Around this point the referee appeared to be reacting uncertainly to the situation. A mass brawl ensued and each side had a player red carded. A further yellow card for Barry meant they were finding it more and more difficult to repel Abercwmboi attacks.
With only 5 minutes left on the clock Barry looked to have edged the game, but their opponents had other ideas! They scored a well-engineered try near enough to the posts to make the conversion a formality.
A bitter blow was made worse when, on the verge of full time Lee suffered what appeared to be a serious elbow injury.
Barry: Hunt, Evans, Hollister, McTavish, King, Deguara, Parker, Jones, Lee, Ryan, Williams, Busitill, Provis, Evans, Adams.
Subs: Bowditch, Jones, Williams, Poole.
This Saturday, Barry are at home to Caerleon in the next round of the Swalec Bowl, kick off 2pm.