BARRY travelled to Dinas Powys for the second league game of the season no doubt remembering they had been turned over by their hosts in last year’s cup competition.

As has always been the case these games are always tense, hard fought battles and this proved true once again.

An indication of the tension on the pitch was highlighted by the referee sending both number eight's to the bin after only three minutes. The reversal of the initial penalty award gave Barry the chance to take the lead which they duly did through Scott.

Dinas showed their intention to run the ball at every opportunity and Barry were forced to ensure that their defence was adequate to nullify the threat.

Play became scrappy mainly due to an ever increasing number of penalty awards by the referee, which wasn't helping the flow of the game.

At this stage Barry lost O'Sullivan to injury, Glynn Jones replacing him.

At this stage the match was really between the Dinas attack and Barry defence played out around the half way line and ending in a stalemate with neither side able to gain the upper hand.

A further exchange of penalties was followed by really the first attacking foray by Barry, unfortunately only ending in a penalty award again slotted over by Scott after 24 minutes.

Barry were able to attack once again from the kick off when following a 50 yard clearance from Scott they were awarded a penalty nearly in front of the posts, however the same man couldn't put that one over to leave the visitors still six points ahead.

The game changed from the resultant drop out when the home number 8 was given a second yellow card.

That decision appeared to be the catalyst for both sides as the best rugby of the half was played in the minutes leading up to half time. During this period the home side created a good try in the corner following some good loose play, and in the last minute of the half a penalty gave them a deserved half time lead at 8-5.

The second half began as the first ended with attack and counter attack from both sides with Barry finding it difficult to make their numerical advantage count, and indeed it was the home side who moved further in front following a penalty award.

This was immediately followed by a bizarre breakaway try being scored by the home side, when with Barry in possession at the back of the scrum, a home player called for the ball which he duly received to score; obviously the referee didn't hear it. This put the home team ahead by 18-6.

All out attack was now the order of the day for Barry, and when moved across the backs they began to look dangerous, the award for this endeavour was just another penalty to reduce the deficit to nine points

At this stage with some 20 odd minutes left, Barry's extra man was beginning to tell especially in the scrum; regretfully this supremacy was not recognised by the referee.

The visitors were finally rewarded when following a fine three quarter move with good hands Provis scored Scott added the extras to leave two points in the game.

A fine drive involving Jones and Giddings took Barry back to home territory where a penalty was earned, the difficult kick being missed to keep the tension high.

Back came Dinas and after an inexplicable yellow card and a failure in basic skills, Barry found themselves further behind as the home side drove over from the lineout to lead by seven points with ten minutes left.

Once again Barry spread the ball wide able to beat a tiring defence with White scorching over wide out, with no added conversion it was back to two points.

Neither side was finished yet as a rare Dinas attack was rewarded with a penalty to put the lead back to five points with only minutes remaining.

It was Barry's turn to attack and a fine 40 yard touch finder from Scott gave them a platform to launch one more attack.

Having achieved success earlier by spreading the ball wide at pace, Barry chose the same option with once again White bursting his way over in the corner leaving a difficult conversion from wide out to win the game.

This was not the case and rightly so as the home side deserved to take something from the match, a draw at 26 points each.

Barry will be happy to come away from the game with two points, but the coaching team may have something to say at training this week.