BARRY travelled to Gwernyfed near Talgarth for their latest League fixture and were rewarded with their first victory of the season following a tense match which ended 22-20.

Barry started brightly and following two early infringements by the home side took the lead after three mins with a penalty from Baros.

A well organised home side pack set out their stall by driving from set pieces to put Barry under pressure with some success, but the defence was secure.

Surviving several minutes of having to defend, Barry came back to secure a scrum in home territory which resulted in a Barry penalty which Baros converted successfully.

The home team were putting good tempo into their game with backs and forwards involved and continued to look threatening even to the point of turning down chances to kick for goal in favour of lineouts where they could use the drive as their main weapon of attack.

This proved a good decision as following a series sorties from, attacking lineouts Barry ran out of defenders to concede a try which when converted put the home side a point in front after 20 minutes.

From the kick off Barry lost the ball allowing the home side to exert pressure at the scrum forcing Barry to concede a penalty as they were driven back, with the kick successful to make the score 10-6.

At this stage Barry had rarely made it into the home 22 but were keeping themselves in the game with some tenacious defending and poor handling by the home threequarters.

However as half-time approached Barry began to gain some territory and were boosted when they were awarded a penalty as they drove a loose ball to give Baros a chance to reduce the deficit and he duly obliged.

Barry after a stern half-time talk began the second half brightly and from the kick off put some pressure on the home defence forcing errors which led to a penalty to take them close to the line.

Winning the ball gave Barry the chance to attack and with good linking between backs and forwards, Scott's half break found Poole in support to score a well worked try and with the conversion by Baros, Barry were in the lead 16-10.

The home side came back on the attack and threatened the Barry line, still refusing to take kicks at goal, they were halted by a mixture of solid defending and poor decision making which allowed Barry to survive this spell of the game.

Barry were forced into a change when they lost H Jones to injury to be replaced by brother Glynn. Barry's lineout was under pressure and following one such loss the home side drove to the Barry 10 metre line only to concede a penalty.

To the delight of the Barry supporters and players no doubt, Baros calmly struck the ball through the uprights from 60 metres to give Barry a nine point lead.

As expected the home side came back on the attack but unforced errors were costing them dear as they battled to get back into the game. At last, perhaps in desperation, they opted to kick at goal as the half moved on. Fortunately for Barry they were unsuccessful.

Barry changed Vidal for Such as they battled to keep the line intact, a task made more difficult with the loss a player to the bin.

The lineout following the penalty saw the home side take and drive and with Barry short in numbers cross for a try which when unconverted saw the lead down to four points.

Although having to defend, Barry occasionally managed to counter attack and when Scott found space with a deft kick to the corner they were unlucky not to score. This gave the team a foothold in enemy territory and continued pressure forced another penalty which Baros duly kicked.

The game was far from over as an error by Barry from the kick off allowed the home team to attack. Despite initially stealing the ball from the maul Barry were somewhat unlucky to concede a try after a second drive by the home forwards. The conversion would have tied the game but to Barry's relief it was missed.

The game entered its last dramatic six minutes where both sides nearly scored, the referee needed treatment, and Barry held out for their first victory of the season.

Perhaps Gwernyfed might reflect they didn't take their chances, but that should not take away any of the credit which must go to a team that produced a dogged performance on limited possession and maybe when they can get some parity from the set piece they will see their attacking ability at its best.

Next Saturday Barry are away again, this time at Dowlais, with the kick off brought forward to 1.30pm. The coach will leave the cub at 11.30am.