Barry 2nd XV 7 (Davies and A Adams) Rhiwbina 2nd XV 26

BARRY 2nd XV finally returned to league action with the visit of champions elect Rhiwbina.

Having lost heavily to the same opponents earlier in the season, Barry’s hopes were dented further with another spate of late withdrawals.

Manager Ken Chow was forced to call up three players from the 3rd XV squad to bolster a threadbare line-up.

With the strong gusty wind and slope against the home side in the first interval, Barry camped inside their 22 awaiting an away onslaught which duly arrived.

An early Rhiwbina penalty was turned down by the away side, opting instead to kick for touch, announcing their intentions straight away.

However, a majestic leap from Lloyd Dutton in the resultant set-piece stole a crucial ball for Barry, and the chance was gone.

Barry defended stoically for long periods, but was undone when a loose kick by fly half Ashley Adams was collected by Rhiwbina, and the resultant recycling of the quick ball caught a disorganised home defence off guard, ending up being a converted try.

The green-and-whites had precious little ball to use in this interval and found themselves further behind before half-time when Rhiwbina took advantage of some weak tackling to score a try under the posts, before pushing over with their pack in the corner for an unconverted score.

Chow rallied the troops at half-time, and with the wind literally in their sails in the second half, Barry came out all guns blazing in an attempt to reduce the deficit.

Dave Evans, Jason Evans and Liam Ring began to shine with their ball carrying, whilst Joel Williams was finally afforded the possession to dictate the game at scrum half.

After going close to crossing the Rhiwbina line, Barry were finally rewarded for their persistence when substitute debutant Nathan Davies picked up from the base of a ruck to dart through for an opportunistic try. Ashley Adams added the extras and the contest was back on with 15 minutes to go.

Rhiwbina, visibly rattled, were now making uncharacteristic mistakes, and the home side sensed a further score which would reduce the deficit further.

However, against the run of play, a long kick by Barry was not chased down by a tiring back line, and the result was an away try which all but extinguished the home side’s hopes of a fight back.

Barry battled on till the end, with Jason Thomas putting in several huge hits in the dying moments, and despite the result, all 19 players can be proud of their efforts in a match most would have predicted to be a landslide victory for the visitors.

Barry 2nd XV return to action next weekend away at Rumney, while 3rd XV travel to Sea View.

Team: Lee; T Adams, D Evans, Knapman, Bragg, A Adams, Williams, Thomas, Turnbull, Ring, Rolfe, Dutton, Lee Jones (C), Miles and J Evans

Replacements: Hall, Deyes, Lloyd Jones and Davies

Man-of-the-match: Dutton