Barry 2nd XV 42 Caerau Ely 5

Tries: Hadfield (2), Oaten, Adams, Gallivan, Busuttil

Conversions: Adams (6)

BARRY 2nd XV welcomed the visit of Caerau Ely, who were on a back of a defeat by the 1st XV, to Reservoir Fields for a Mallet Cup 2nd Round tie.

A spate of players unavailable due to touring Scotland for the Six Nations, and also Valentine’s Day commitments, meant that coach Rhidian Scott and manager Ken Chow gave a first start for Jordan Clarke on the wing, whilst there were also recalls for James Hadfield and Josh Flynn after long term injuries.

The home side started with an extra step in their stride, possibly because of the long time since they played a competitive game, and the visitors found it difficult to live with that tempo.

With Hadfield, Dominic Busuttil and Sion Vidal to the fore, Barry pinned their opponents early on as they pressed for the opening score.

After Ashley Adams had wasted an early penalty opportunity from kickable distance, Barry’s pressure was rewarded when Dave Evans’ crunching tackle saw the ball spilled by Caerau, and Hadfield was on hand to open the scoring with a simple try. Adams added the extras.

Then the floodgates opened.

Shifting the ball quickly out wide, Barry negated the power of the Caerau forwards to send Jamie Oaten galloping through from midfield, and despite seemingly running out of gas towards the line, he managed to touch down for a second converted try.

With still 10 minutes to go from half time the game seemed all but over, when Hadfield once again finished off a fine Barry move to score underneath the posts, with the conversion a formality.

Hadfield, however, has injured himself in the process, and his withdrawal sparked a mini revival from the visitors who laid siege to the Barry line, but were repelled by some typically stern tackling from John Miles, Lee Jones and Evans. At the interval the score was 21-0.

With the other scorer Oaten also withdrawn at half time, Caerau sensed a chance of a comeback.

However, that was quickly thwarted when quick ball generated by the Barry forwards and scrum half Gallivan gave Adams the opportunity to score a well-worked try. He converted the try himself to put Barry out of sight.

Using a combination of forward power and slick passing from the backs, Barry would add two more tries before the end.

Gallivan was the first to profit from a close-range effort, before Busuttil crashed over underneath the posts showing great determination and power.

To their credit, the visitors rallied late on with only 13 men and were rewarded rightly with an unconverted try at the death, but the day ultimately belonged to Barry who have now dispatched two of the favourites for the cup in the last two rounds.

The 1st XV will host Llandaff North next weekend, whilst the 2nd XV will return to action on March 7 when they play Llanishen at home.

Team: Mepham; Poole, Busuttil, Evans, Clarke; Adams, Gallivan; Morris, Vidal, Corne; Jones (C), Oaten; Miles, Hadfield and Rolfe

Replacements: Thomas, Flynn, Westall and Dimond

Man-of-the-match: Miles