BARRY 3rd XV 19-0 St Peters 3rd XV

Tries: Dicks, O’Sullivan, Morris

Cons: Evans (2)

Barry 3rd XV entertained St Peters in the preliminary round of the Ninian Stuart Trophy in a cold January afternoon, looking for their first win of the season.

Selector Ken Chow and manager Frank Greig made several changes, handing a first appearance of the season to prop Glyn Pirso and wing Joe Chucas, whilst also recalling Martin Tanner and Luke O’Sullivan from injury. Joe Bertera and Nathan Davies awaited their debuts from the bench.

The inclement weather did not help proceedings to begin with for either side, as the muddy ground, swirling wind and slippery ball made it difficult for any flow of the game. St Peters appeared to cope better at first, making use of the slope to dominate possession and territory, but their attempts at assaulting the Barry line was repelled from some typically stout tackling by the home side, led by captain Lloyd Jones and his back row partners O’Sullivan and Jon Morris.

Neither side could find a breakthrough in the first half, as Dave Evans and his opposite number both missed kickable penalty opportunities, while both teams also had a member visiting the sin-bin for a minor disagreement on the field. The half was perhaps best summed up by an attempt to find touch from a penalty, only for the ball to be kicked backwards and lose the team yards.

At half time Barry knew that they were well in the game and if they could keep the composure in the second period, the match was theirs for the taking. The management reminded the players to keep their discipline and accuracy.

The players responded magnificently after the break, as following good forward drives from Tanner, Pirso and O’Sullivan, the ball was recycled quickly via Mepham and Evans, who in turn found Ethan Dicks out wide who beat all defenders to score in the corner. Evans’ misfortune with the boot continued as he failed with the difficult conversion.

The Barry scrum was now dominant after the introduction of James Sullivan and later on Chris Deyes, and this platform allowed the home side to lay siege to the St Peters line, using the slope perfectly to their advantage.

The only way for the visitors to relieve the pressure was via the boot, and from one such clearance kick they found winger Mike Jones, who comically dropped the ball from the floor before falling flat on his face.

Comedy aside, Barry was looking for a second score that would put the tie to bed, and it duly came when O’Sullivan sniped from the base of the scrum, accelerated and dove through to score under the posts. Evans added the extras to make it 12-0.

Barry would continue their domination in the dying embers of the game, and after Pirso was denied a score from a well-worked maul, the green-and-whites did have the final say in the last play of the game.

From a St Peters scrum on their five metre line, the ball spilled out from the back, and Morris was alert to dive on the loose ball to score his first try of the season. Evans’ conversion rounded off a good day’s work for the 3rd XV to record their first victory of the season.

The 1st XV will visit Cowbridge next weekend, while the 2nd XV host Clwb Rygbi and the 3rd XV travel to Taffs Well.

Team: Clarke; Chucas, Dicks, Evans, M Jones; Bailey, Mepham; Thomas, Ring, Pirso; Tanner, Hall; Morris, L Jones (C) and O’Sullivan

Replacements: Sullivan, Deyes, Bertera, Davies

Man-of-the-match: Pirso