BARRY travelled up to Glyncoch on December 21, with a depleted squad for their last game of the calendar year.

Coaches Darren Gibbons and Dai Griffith, and caretaker manager Ken Chow, were denied the services of several of their regular starters due to various reasons. In light of this, Jordan Flynn and John Miles both made their first team debuts, whilst Glynn Jones played his first game for the club in a year. Hywel Jones returned at Number 8 to captain the side.

In cold, windy conditions, the game began at a ferocious pace. Glyncoch tried to assert their physicality in the tight, but the Barry defence was not found wanting despite the home side attempts to intimidate.

The home outside half was using his boot at every opportunity to pin Barry in their own twenty-two, but despite their territorial advantage the away defence was watertight, marshalled superbly by Tanner, Jones and Scott.

With such physical exchanges it was no surprise when tempers flared, most notably from the Glyncoch bench, but also on the field where both sides saw red and it became 14-a-side for the rest of the match.

It was Barry who coped better with the disruption, as they regained lost territory via Einan Scotts boot at fly-half, but also some superb drives from the forwards.

From a well-worked move, Barry managed to create an overlap on the left, which saw Dave Provis feeding Ashley Adams out wide, who finished excellently for the first score of the match. Scott was unable to add the extras from out wide.

As the game wore on it became a contest of physicality of the forwards and it was clear that the game could be turned on a stroke of genius or indiscipline.

Unfortunately for the away side it was the latter, as two yellow cards saw Barry reduced to twelve men briefly, and the home side took full advantage by scoring a push-over try. The difficult conversion was expertly kicked by their full back.

After being restored to 13 men, Barry pushed forward in an attempt to look for a way to wrestle back the lead. The opportunity came when the away side stretched the Glyncoch defence sufficiently for an infringement to occur, and Scott was on hand to add three points from the tee to give Barry a slender advantage.

The game ebbed and flowed and two more yellow cards one for each side followed, as the home side pressed for a score. With huge territorial advantage towards the dying embers of the game, Glyncoch finally scored in the corner despite some heroic last ditch defending.

Barry rallied for the last few moments of the game but their efforts were ultimately in vain.

While the result was perhaps disappointing, it was encouraging to see such a brave performance from a Barry side in difficult circumstances. With experienced players to return in the new year, it is impossible not to remain optimistic.

Team: Ryan; A Adams, T Scott, Provis, Flynn; E Scott, Lee; Jennings, Evans, Hollister; Tanner, G Jones; J Adams, C Scott, H Jones (c)

Replacements: Pirso, Miles

Subs not used: Oaten, Hamonda

Man-of-the-match: C Scott