St Peters 23 Barry 7

BARRY went down to their first defeat of the season when they visited St Peters who had obviously recruited well in the summer.

The Rocks had the majority of the game in which their extra pace and possession caused Barry problems all afternoon.

It is however to Barry's credit that the Rocks were limited to one score, and that debatable, in the second half, as despite offering little in attack due to lack of good possession, the defence held firm.

An early defensive lapse gave the Rocks the perfect start as the the midfield was breached for a simple try and conversion and a 7 point lead.

This lead lasted only seconds as Barry regathered the restart and attacked the home line.Tying in the defence Barry recycled the ball to find Danny Ryan on the wide outside who crossed unopposed for a well worked try well converted by Kyle Barross to bring the scores level.

A series of penalties saw the Rocks pepper the Barry line but Barry held firm.The game at this stage was littered with penalties for both sides but generally being played in midfield as defences came out on top.

The stalemate was finally broken following a 22 drop out where Barry were penalised for some reason giving the home side an easy penalty and the lead 10-7.

The heavier Rocks pack was causing Barry problems giving the backs good ball to attack with but despite this pressure they survived.

The penalty count was rising and following three in quick succession against Barry, Rocks were to score their second try as the ball was moved at pace across the backs for a try wide out which went unconverted but a lead of 15-7.

As the game moved closer to the half time whistle it was Barry's turn to attack but those lacked cohesion and one or two possible chances were missed.

With the whistle due to go any second, a Rocks attack from a scrum was halted illegally by Barry and the resultant successful penalty saw them end the half 18-7 up.

The second half began with Barry on the attack only to again fall foul of the referee.

The penalty saw the Rocks break quickly and recycle to the wing.

The speed of the attack caught the referee behind play and whilst Barry claimed the winger was forced out of play, he decided the ball had been grounded and awarded the try, although not converted gave the Rocks a 23-7 lead.

The fact that this was to be the last score of the game did not reflect the efforts of both sides, but errors and wasted chances saw to that.

Barry's game improved but stubborn defending limited their opportunities when they came and their own defence needed to be solid to repel several Rocks attacks.

They nearly scored from a crosskick which unluckily failed to go to hand but other than that they struggled to break the home defence and the game petered out in the same vein.

The scoreline does not reflect the effort Barry displayed but if they can tighten up on the level of unforced errors they can certainly be a force in the league which looking at other results appears to be stronger than ever this year.

On Saturday Barry entertain the other promoted side from last season, Abercwmboi, kick off 2.30pm

The Lottery continues to roll over after last weeks numbers of 08 - 09 - 16 and 23 failed to produce a winner,one ticket matched 3 numbers to claim £10.

This week's jackpot will be £2,550.