BARRY RFC played against Cowbridge RFC with Barry winning by 48 – 19.

The Reservoir field was the setting last Saturday afternoon for Barry’s opening game of the new season in the newly created Division 3 East Central A. The visitors were local rivals Cowbridge RFC and judging on previous meetings between the two sides a hard fought encounter was anticipated by the players and supporters of both sides.

In the beautiful late summer weather conditions, which were ideal for open running rugby, both teams gave the spectators a treat with a total of 10 tries being scored, 7 by Barry and 3 by Cowbridge.

For the first 10 minutes or so of the game the sides were evenly balanced with play being shared equally between the two teams, both trying to settle down after the summer months of non competitive rugby. After 11 minutes Barry suffered the first casualty of the new season when Callum Scott had to leave the field and was replaced by Glyn Jones.

The spectators had to wait 15 minutes or so for the first score of the afternoon which came after a solid piece of scrummaging by the Barry pack. One of the Cowbridge players was deemed to be offside at the scrum and Barry outside half Einan Scott made no mistake with the ensuing 35 yard penalty.

This opening score seemed to be the catalyst that the Barry fifteen needed and for the rest of the first half they had the lion’s share of the ball and were encamped in the Cowbridge half for long periods of play. On the few occasions that Cowbridge did attack during this period their big strong running backs looked very dangerous when they got the ball, but Barry were resolute in defence and were always able to stop them in their tracks before they were able to do any damage.

The first try of the afternoon came after 25 minutes when after some good solid play by the Barry pack a loose ball was picked up by Einan Scott who made a long snaking run to go over for his first try of the afternoon which he duly converted to give Barry a 10 point lead. Barry kept the pressure up and went close to scoring on a number of occasions only to be denied by some good defensive play by Cowbridge. During this period Barry suffered their second casualty of the game when D. Busutil picked up a hamstring injury and was replaced by Tom Poole. After 30 minutes play Cowbridge were able to put their first points on the board with a well taken unconverted try. However the home team’s efforts were further rewarded in the 35th minute when a penalty was awarded to Barry. Instead of going for goal E. Scott found touch 10 yards from the visitor’s line. From the throw in Barry’s forwards were able to set up a forward rush eventually enabling flanker Owain Poole to go over for his first try of the afternoon and Barry’s second. The conversion by E. Scott was successful and Barry were 17 - 5 to the good at the half way stage.

The second period saw a much more determined Cowbridge side and they struck quite early in the half with a fine converted try to make the score 17 -12.

This fight back by the visitors seemed to shake up Barry and they responded with a well taken try by Owain Poole, his second of the afternoon. From this point on Barry were a completely different side and launched attack after attack on the Cowbridge line. This led to a second try by Einan Scott, the fourth of the match for Barry and a couple of minutes later Owain Poole went in for his hat trick after a powerful run in making it Barry’s fifth try of the afternoon. Not to be outdone in the 70th minute of play, Einan Scott went in for Barry’s sixth and his hat trick after a brilliant solo effort from 25 yards out.

Barry scored their final try in the 75th minute when a well placed penalty kick to touch by E. Scott resulted in a throw in on the Cowbridge 10 yard line. From the lineout, the Barry forwards were able to take and drive enabling prop James Hollister to score try number7 for Barry at the breakdown. The conversion failed and Barry were 48 -12 up. This should have been the final score but a few missed tackles in the final minute of the game gave Cowbridge the opportunity to score their third try of the game and add a further 7points to their total.

Final score Barry 48 - 19 Cowbridge.

This was an excellent game to watch and an encouraging start by Barry for the new season playing in the new league structure under the new coaching team of Jon Bryant and Liam Scott.

Although it seems a little unfair to single individuals out when the team played so well as a unit to win as they did, it would be very remiss not to mention the contributions of Einan Scott (28 points) and Owain Poole (15 points) who both scored a hat trick of tries.

Hopefully, this could be the dawn of a new era for Barry and if they continue to give performances like this there is no reason why it shouldn’t be.

The next game is an away game against Dinas Powis next Saturday, September 13 Kick Off 2.30pm.

Members please note that the club AGM will be on Wednesday, October 1. 2014 commencing at 7.30pm.

C.H