Porth Harlequins RFC 26

Barry RFC 12

AS much as last week's performance was seen as lacklustre, the same cannot be said of Saturday's visit to Champions in waiting, Porth.

Whilst the game was lost the final score did not reflect either the closeness of the contest or the fighting spirit of a side reduced to 14 men for much of the second half.

The early minutes saw the home side with the majority of possession with their solid set piece in both scrum and lineout providing a base from which to attack.

Varying their tactics they kept Barry on the back foot and needing a big defensive effort to keep their line intact

Barry were not being helped as they struggled to get decent set piece ball giving the home side further advantage.

Porth peppered the Barry line with a wave of forward drives and it was no surprise when they took the lead with the same tactic scoring wide out as Barry ran out of defenders, with the try converted Porth led 7-0.

Worse was to come as Barry despite creating chances of their own were on the wrong end of two yellow cards for technical offences.

The depleted pack were under tremendous pressure but despite Porth throwing everything at them and solid tackling by the backs the Barry line held firm and it was not until 10 minutes before half time that they managed to increase the lead with a try following a driven lineout, the kick being missed made the score 12-0 and somehow Barry managed to keep it that way till the end of the half.

The early minutes of the second half saw Porth control the game but yet again defensive heroics kept Barry in the game, but this was to change as Porth took a scrum against the head and drove to score their third try which with the extras gave them a comfortable lead of 19-0.

A side with less character might have thrown in the towel but the set back seemed to have the opposite effect and as Barry launched a counter attack from loose ball they suddenly surprised the home side with a try full of invention which passed through several pairs of hands to allow Barros to cross wide out for an opening try which went unconverted.

As their confidence rose Barry threatened the Porth line and were unfortunate not to score moments later with the final pass not going to hand. It was Porth's turn to defend, but a second yellow card reduced Barry to 14 men. However despite this they were not to be denied and as the ball was recycled Evans bullocked his way over the line to score under the posts and with the conversion added the score was 19-12

Now with their tales up Barry were dominating the game and had they been more clinical further scores would have followed as they constantly breached the home defence but could not make the final pass count.

Such was the pressure on Porth that they were happy to clear their lines any way possible.

Perhaps the efforts of the 14 men began to take its toll as the game reached its final minutes and Porth finally got into Barry territory and as they drove the seven man Barry pack, the space was created for a try, totally against the run of play which made the final score 26-12.

Barry's efforts certainly deserved at least a losing bonus point and all 19 players who took the field can be proud of this performance also bearing in mind that they played nearly half the game with less than a full team.

Next Saturday Barry are at home to Gwenyrfred, kick off 2.30pm

Tickets will be available at the Club this Saturday for the Club Presentation Evening which will be held at the Clubhouse on Saturday, June 11.

This weeks Mega Lottery numbers were 1, 8, 13 and 23 and with no winners. Next week's jackpot will be £1800.