Barry RFC prove that their ruthless streak does exist! (From Barry And District News)

Barry RFC prove that their ruthless streak does exist!

7:50am Thursday 4th February 2010

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BARRY RFC 59 COWBRIDGE RFC 10

BARRY displayed all the positives of Welsh club rugby last weekend - a superb Channel backdrop; a well appointed and freshly decorated clubhouse; and a team that was determined to prove they could justify their league position up with the leaders.

For the second consecutive fixture, the game had the benefit of a referee who was firm but prepared to let the game flow.

From the outset the home team confirmed their intention to play with ball in hand and not be sucked into what has become the normal and boring spectacle of 'kick now and think later'.

These tactics bore fruit: Barry took an early lead with a smartly taken try by Busuttil. There followed a period of pressure by the forwards, which paved the way for a try by Provis.

There was however, a penalty to be paid for this adventurous approach, with a Cowbridge centre intercepting a sloppy pass under his own posts and running in for a good try.

This was a sobering lesson for Barry that if you are intent on playing adventurous rugby, the basics still have to be executed correctly.

An encouraging feature of the first half of the game was a much-improved line-out performance, with Gee consistently finding the jumpers and King and Gill also taking some of their opponents‘ ball.

With the first half drawing to a close, the large crowd was 'entertained' by the home side dithering under a succession of highball from the visitors.

Barry had played this first session with a refreshingly open approach but Cowbridge, showing a lot of pace out wide, had taken both opportunities they were given to score.

With a 14-10 points interval lead, Barry started the second half as they had the first, but a desperate search for the bonus point clouded their approach.

The objective should have been to secure the game and not spurning every available penalty point on the altar of tries, which cannot be a good tactic.

This correspondent may, of course, be wrong, because in the second half tries came thick and fast. These scores were made possible by a very impressive performance from the pack which took total control of proceedings after the interval, with major contributions from Hunt, George and Jones.

Provis completed his hat trick before an acrobatic pass from Gee put Lee over in the corner for the captain to convert.

Barry could and should have been even more clinical, but in their enthusiasm to score, 'white line fever' struck on several occasions.

Barry’s superior fitness was telling and the fresh legs of Hollister and Oxenham enabled them to exert substantial forward momentum.

This resulted in a close range try for George and opened up the space for another try for Provis.

A very satisfactory afternoon’s performance was completed with a try from a blind-side run by Lee.

Barry were good value for this result: the style and panache they exhibited should attract more support over the coming weeks.

Their defence continues to perform well. An interesting statistic is that throughout the 13 national leagues, there are only four teams with a better defensive record than Barry.

Next game is away to Dinas Powys on February 20, unless previously postponed fixtures can be re-arranged.

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